Was this a mask off moment for Elon? Is he truly a White Hat, or is he a Trojan Horse infiltrating the movement, or is he just a useful tool for the White Hats to use? I personally don't trust him as an individual, but I still believe that he can be a strategic chess piece in the process.
Why is he engaging with concern troll posts and insinuating that a large percentage of MAGA are contemptible racists that need to be rooted out from the party? The way he has handled this whole debacle has raised a lot of red flags on him for me as an individual.
Clott Adams parrots a post of a dem operative pretending to be outraged by the H-1B debate
Scott: "MAGA is taking a page from Democrats on how to lose elections while feeling good about themselves".
- The post he is referencing is by Neera Tanden who claims the H-1B debate is an example of why being a Democrat is the only choice for her and Indian Americans.
- Even Jack Poso responds pointing out her questionable background: "Neera Tanden works for Soros and Podesta"
- Sauce: https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1872744295884841262
How does Elon respond to this double whammy of a concern troll post? With agreement and more threats:
- "Yes. And those contemptible fools must be removed from the Republican Party, root and stem."
- "The "contemptible fools" I'm referring to are those in the Republican Party who are hateful, unrepentant racists. They will absolutely be the downfall of the Republican Party if they are not removed."
This on the back of Musk also vowing to go to war on the H-1B issue the likes of which we cannot possibly comprehend.
My big problem with all of this, is who is defining what qualifies you as being an "unrepentant racist"?
- I have observed the discourse closely over the past five days and the vast majority of people raising their concerns just don't want to be displaced and have their culture subverted.
- This is where they will hit you with the good ol', "America is a nation of immigrants" line.
- Statements like this are used to shut down discussion and also ignore all context and nuance on the matter.
- Never before in our nation's history has our country been flooded from all angles on such a level. There must be a mass halting followed by major reformations, and that is why this debate has been so important.
Another question I have is why does Elon interact with Ian Mile Cheong so much?
- I have noticed him both reposting and responding to him quite a bit recently.
- For those that aren't aware of who Ian Miles Cheong is, here is a small glimpse into his shaky history: https://x.com/CensoredMen/status/1755680100060651670
- An example of their recent interactions: https://x.com/stillgray/status/1872798065142485214
Ian: Some of these subtards are going to be incredibly disappointed to find out you're not a racist like they are.
Elon: The point was not to replace DEI, which is one form of racism/sexism, with a different form of racism/sexism, but rather to be a meritocratic society!
Even here I find Elon's statement to be wild and misleading. Likening the current discourse as another form of DEI is both extremely disrespectful and intellectually dishonest.
- The vast majority of the MAGA movement arguing against H-1B's are not against meritocracy.
- They just don't want American jobs to be displaced by corrupt systems that allow them to hire cheap labor under the guise of "muh top .1%" when in reality these programs in large are not recruiting the best and the brightest.
- Even the records show that the H-1B hires at Elon's companies are mostly entry level positions receiving less pay.
- Here is a great thread analyzing the past 5 years of H-1B data and how problematic it truly is: https://x.com/RobertMSterling/status/1873174358535110953
I respect the decision to reserve judgment and definitely can see it as being kabuki theater to move the needle on the issue publicly. I agree with your assessment about the situation regarding the universities, and I also want to add that the fact that this has all been done by design is what made Vivek's comments even more enraging to me.
The problem is, his jab at our culture was intertwined with lies, truths, and half truths. It was a poor attempt at creating a scapegoat, failed to encapsulate the full picture, and insulted Americans in the process. In some ways it put the blame on the shoulder of the American people for what they chose to value, rather than calling out the real multi-headed hydra that created this situation.
For example, the idea of valuing the jock over the valedictorian. Is this fully true? Even if it is, how far back does it go? Afaik Americans have always valued physical prowess, and even still we remained at the forefront of innovation around the world. Think about the movies Revenge of the Nerds, that concept was already being played out in the 80s, and even at that time we were still leading innovation. Was our culture a major hindrance then? Is our culture the main culprit now?
I will cut him some slack and say, yes our culture has slipped further since the 80s. But how do we quantify the amount? How do we quantify the actual impact on the quality of engineers, and is that the main reason we have to result to hiring foreigners that don't share our values on H-1B visas? Is there even a shortage of engineers and STEM graduates in the US like they suggest is the case? From what I've seen with people pouring through the data, the answer is no. So why then are we doing it? Is it for cheap indentured labor? Not only that, it gets worse when you dig into the quality of workers we are really getting from these programs. Are they really sending their best and their brightest? In most cases from what I've seen, I don't think so. So when you digest all of that and then read Vivek's elaborate speel on us arriving at this point due to problems with our culture, it then can be seen for an even bigger slap to the face.
What's worse, is that people trying to vent their frustrations and not knowing exactly how to do so in the most fruitful manner are getting labeled as racists. It's like when someone instigates violence against you in a school setting and the teachers didn't see it, but then you retaliate out of defense and end up being the one getting in trouble and labeled violent. It's fucking sick, and this is the type of shit that radicalizes people because they feel they have no voice. Especially those on the MAGA side who don't frequent places like GAW where they can see the bigger picture and cool off.
Anyways, my rant is getting too long. I didn't even get to respond to the other parts of your post. I'm sorry about your current struggles fren and I will be praying you are able to find your way. I've been in a bit of a similar boat in recent years, all we can do is keep on pushing and do our best to follow our souls towards what we hope will be the right path.