Is Musk’s Twitter Takeover the Start of a Wider Fightback Against Woke Capitalism?
The “coalition of financial super-powers” assembled by Elon Musk to take control of Twitter is of huge significance as it may be the start of a wider fightback against dysfunctional, sanctimonious woke capitalism, says Matthew Lynn in the Telegraph.
The markets are obsessed with ESG (environmental, social and governance) investing, driving it to the point of absurdity. It has demanded the winding up of the oil giants, even though it means soaring prices and dependence on Russian gas, and stopped investment in defence manufacturing, even though it leaves us vulnerable to attack, while prioritising diversity, home working and inclusivity over productivity, output and innovation.
Corporate chief executives have started outbidding one another in political virtue signalling, ignoring returns to their shareholders. And the banks, including the all-powerful central banks, have prioritised ‘green finance’ over such mundane matters as financing investment and controlling inflation.
The results have been dismal. Almost 15 years after the financial crisis of 2008 and 2009, we are heading into the new decade in worse shape than ever. The roaring twenties have been replaced by the stagnant twenties, with a terrifying mix of soaring inflation, flat-lining growth and massive debt mountains.
Sure, there are multiple explanations for that. But it can hardly be a coincidence that as the money markets and major corporations have been captured by narrow ideological interests the economy has steadily deteriorated.
With so much money assembled behind it, the same group of financiers, entrepreneurs and investors can move on from Twitter to other targets. Such as? Media companies, from Netflix to Disney, that prioritise preachy sermonising over entertainment. The multinationals such as Unilever that put political campaigning over making decent products at a fair price. And the investors who prioritise ESG over real investment. In truth, woke capitalism may soon be killed off – and it will be achieved through the relentless force of the free market.
Worth reading in full.
To join in with the discussion please make a donation to The Daily Sceptic.
Profanity and abuse will be removed and may lead to a permanent ban.
I suspect the opposite, it will be his mouthpiece to help sustain the phony bullshit his electric car empire is built on.
Well, maybe, but as long as he doesn’t censor anything I’d take that over what we have at the moment. I know people on here have many reservations about him, which may well be correct, but I really can’t see how Twitter could get much worse that it already is.
If a prominent owner uses a vehicle he owns to push his product, and it’s obvious that’s what he’s doing, but other than that lets people express their views unhindered, I find that preferable to an organisation that pretends to be politically neutral but that is in fact waging a systematic and ruthless campaign to make everyone think like them.
I agree with your assessment. He is unlikely to make it any worse. Whether he can facilitate free speech in the face of the UK’s coming online censorship legislation is another matter.
Julian, Tom, it can get a lot worse. Believe me.
I hope you are wrong
I guess we’ll find out
In an ideal world governments would force platforms not to censor but in the real world they do the opposite
Couldn’t agree more.
It’s been noted that the usual woke corporations, such as Disney, have kept very quiet over the leak from the U.S. Supreme Court re Roe vs Wade.
Perhaps the plummeting stock market valuations, serious pushback from consumers, especially conservative ones, is starting to have an effect.
No.
There is little currently more crony/phony capitalism than Tesla.
There is something decidedly phony about the “political virtue signalling” in general. How virtuous is Big Pharma? How virtuous are the banks? Is the military-industrial complex virtuous?
It’s simply the latest version of advertising, and about as honest as advertising usually is.
Musk did what any responsible business leader did to maximise profits for his shareholders. He raided the subsidy locker. That’s not anti capitalist or crony capitalism, it’s a business imperative. Had he left subsides out his business in some futile attempt to be some sort of ethical businessman he would have been sued from here to kingdom come by investors asking why he didn’t do the right thing for them. This idea that there are ‘ethical’ businesses out there is just complete nonsense. Rather, it’s entirely ethical to accept subsidies, it’s not only ethical it’s a legal requirement. What will Musk do with Twitter? Make money of course. He’s not buying it as a favour to mankind, he’s buying it to remodel what is, in effect, a terrible business model which can be turned into a good business model with the right investment. What Musk is a genius at, however, is sniffing the winds of change. He senses the tide is turning, well, in my opinion it turned some time ago, and this obsession over ESG died some time ago. The plans are already laid for the next future of western politics because this experiment has been a disaster. Political… Read more »
As someone with lots of experience getting a new hardware technology from seed to rapid growth stage, I cannot stress how correct you are.
I have tried to get two (small) projects off the ground with no success in the past. It’s really, really difficult and I couldn’t manage it.
I’m onto a third and I’m struggling again. This is also small, but valuable to the NHS. It will reduce musculoskeletal conditions amongst staff dramatically. I’m onto dealing with a second university and they are as useless as the first.
Any help would be welcomed.
This is the innovation hub at York Uni (maybe you already tried them?) https://www.york.ac.uk/york-unlimited/get-involved/companies-and-foundations/ Which bit are you stuck on? Hard to make suggestions otherwise.
Just be careful and wary with this one. You don’t get to be the richest man on this planet through being a thoroughly nice person…
They said the same thing about Trump in 2016.
Then after Biden stole the 2020 election people came to realise that Trump hadn’t dragged them into yet another un-winnable war, he had respected the stock market, he’d valued American labour over immigrant labour, he’d sorted out the middle east, he’d told the world climate change alarmism was bollox, and he had Putin on a string. The biggest challenge was taking on China which he had made a good start on.
Why might Musk not replicate the success of Trump?
Is it your gut feeling behind your comments about Musk?
No, it a logical progression of thought. Why would he buy an already censored Twitter just to censor it more, and further contract the user base and therefore profits?
It’s a nice idea. But why don’t we wait and see if Twitter actually stops censoring before we anoint Musk as some sort.of free speech Messiah?
An announcement that Trumpm is welcome back (even if he doesn’t accept the invitation) would be a good start.
The most sensible comment so far. I don’t know whether Musk means any of what he says about free speech. I wait, hopefully, to see. Trusting anyone’s boasts in the political arena has hardly ever proved a successful policy – I mean just look at how virtually all our politicians since Maggie have let us down.
Up there with “the most sensible comment so far”.
Whilst we all love to predict political manoeuvres, we simply don’t have the information politicians do.
Journalist’s love to speculate armed with little more information than we have, in order to sell newsprint.
I used to trust government on that basis. Conservatives at least had a long term vision of a prosperous future. Labour politicians also have a long term vision, but they daren’t articulate it; that their desire is to be the elite of a socialist government where all wealth but theirs is redistributed.
I don’t believe Boris or Starmer have the ability of Maggie’s vision of a better Britain. We haven’t had a government for the last 30 years, we have had EU caretakers, and it’s showing now. No party in this country has the slightest clue how to run a government.
“I don’t believe Boris or Starmer have the ability of Maggie’s vision of a better Britain. We haven’t had a government for the last 30 years, we have had EU caretakers, and it’s showing now. No party in this country has the slightest clue how to run a government.”
Well articulated. Love her or loathe her whatever else you could have said about Maggie – she had both vision and ability.
Where though does that leave us if no party has a clue how to run a government?
No. If anyone is a deep state lackey it is Musk. He is neck deep in that world. Check out his history.
My own theory is conservatives were leaving Twitter in droves and many were banned. That meant they scattered to many different smaller platforms they don’t control.
I strongly suspect this is is to lure them back to one central place where they can easily keep an eye on them. It is also a way to hamper the development of conservative-friendly rivals.
Bingo. You got it.
He is rebel bait.
Sorry mate, whilst Musk may not be what he presents himself as, he’s thinking 20 or 30 years beyond the rest of us all.
Just like the WEF.
Odd that.
Klaus Schwab, thinking 20 years ahead. Don’t make me laugh. Are Putin and Xi going to be ordered about by Walter Mitty?
Don’t be such a mug.
No. Agenda 2030 & 2050.
They are both on board.
Klaus is just the head of media.
Don’t be so uninformed.
I know you mean well but you are hopelessly behind.
Like I said. Why would Putin and Xi take orders from Schwab? He’s a lightweight fantasist running a Ponzi scheme thats suckered in Gates and Bezos etc.
WEF and Musk comparison …
Just add Digital ID program and we have just about everything the globalists are shooting for.
Nice visual.
He’s another WEF mouthpiece. Shady as hell.
Bollox. He’s probably fleecing those morons.
The guy is playing them all for suckers.
Like Musk needs the WEF and wants to cosy up to a lightweight Walter Mitty clone like Klaus Schwab.
New World Order under the WEF? Think about it for a nanosecond. Like Putin and Xi will take orders from Klaus? Are you kidding me?
India, China and Russia are on the same side, with half the worlds population.
Suddenly Schwab’s New World Order is Half a New World Order. How does that work?
The man is a Ponzi con man who has suckered in intellectual lightweights like Gates, Bezos, Ardern, Macron etc.
The WEF is not the top of the pyramid, just the front face.
The regional powers are jockeying for position but the final table is agreed. Domination over their respective populations through technocracy is agreed.
Only the wilds of Africa, some red state and Eastern European holdouts and some South & Central American states are in contention.
Musk will not help us. Putin, Xi and Modi will not help us.
Don’t be such a simpleton. Modi and Xi have half the worlds population to contend with. Schwab has none. It’s just fantasy to imagine he’s going to influence these people with a few billion dollars. Why didn’t Xi or Putin buy Pfizer or Moderna’s vaccines? Because they have their own resources. There’s nothing Schwab can offer them that they can’t either get elsewhere or self generate.
Xi and Modi are dragging their populations from abject poverty into the 21st Century. They don’t personally need money and they have their own way of governing. What can Schwab offer them to change their minds?
WEF are just a PR mouthpiece.
Wake up man.
He wants to implant chips into peoples brains a Karl Schwab wet works dream.
He is a climate hysteria vampire that either believes the crap or just simply uses it to make money.
He wants to make sure everyone on Twitter gets their identity verified, Digital ID program.
If you think he will save us you are still not paying attention.
I don’t want a Twitter account but I like to read certain people’s tweets (before they are taken down). Have done for years.
Now, though, I can’t scroll down more than 3 posts before I get the “Stop right there” sign-up page.
Was hoping things would change under new management, but sadly, its just as bad.
Ah well.
Yup we should be concentrating on Rumble, Odessey etc and grow them.
He’s only made an offer for the company.
The man is a self-absorbed nutter, who wants to turn us all into obedient transhumans, and a Space colonialist who views Mars as a site for building thousands of factories run by robots.
He should be running a children’s comic like the old Eagle, not taking over one of the world’s most important social media platforms to push his twisted, anti-human ideology.
https://vaccineimpact.com/2022/elon-musk-champion-of-free-speech-or-wolf-in-sheeps-clothing/
It’s absolutely abysmal that you just ask such idiotic question and also how many people fall for this Musk/Twitter illusion!!!
People nowadays are so ignorant and gullible!!!
Wish Elon Musk could take over homeland security, the fda, cdc, MHRA, and the WHO. Run them like a business, with smart people at the helm.
It all depends how he intends to ‘authenticate’ all humans. Fingerprints? Digital id? Eye pattern? You are then fully traceable, trackable and open to insepction by the Thought Police. QED.
You think they can’t find you right now?
Don’t like to read too much into what clothing people wear, but didn’t he wear a NWO shirt once. A shirt like that should at least make you wonder what his intentions are
The shirt was printed with what is on the back of a $1 bill.
I’m not going to rush back to Twitter. I was thinking how Rumble is like a Pub with a lock in, talk about anything and all night if necessary. Very refreshing.
“The roaring twenties have been replaced by the stagnant twenties”
And those of you with a modest knowledge of history will know what the 1930’s brought forth. Any bets on the 2030’s?
Still you know what to do about it, follow Elon’s lead and go out there and takeover something digital immediately. What else are you going to do with all that money?
Who will buy out Rupert Murdoch’s media empire? How about Facebook? How about ITV/Channel 4/BBC??
Just buying Twitter won’t change the world.
Creating a reservation for the woke to ‘live in a safe space’ is the best solution. They can’t come out of their reservation and we can’t enter into it.
It might be apartheid, but everyone would be happier with it.