• Elon Musk says that Rex Tillerson could be 'Excellent SecOfState'
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[quote]Clean energy entrepreneur [URL="http://fortune.com/2017/01/19/tesla-elon-musk-donald-trump-morgan-stanley/"]Elon Musk[/URL] tweeted that the former [URL="http://fortune.com/2017/01/11/rex-tillerson-donald-trump-hearing/"]ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson[/URL] had "the potential to be an excellent Sec of State" on Tuesday. That came just hours after a Senate panel voted to approve the former oil tycoon for the State Department role — and not long after [I]The Economist[/I] tweeted a December op-ed titled "[URL="http://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21711926-rex-tillerson-probable-next-secretary-state-could-be-one-more-competent"]Give Rex a change.[/URL]"[/quote] [URL]http://fortune.com/2017/01/24/elon-musk-rex-tillerson-secretary-of-state/[/URL] What will the Muskets say about this?
Why Elon, fucking why.
Musk is doing what he can to get his ass to mars before the world blows up.
I understand where he's coming from, he's gotta make friends with the dude instead of opposing him at every turn, with the hope that he can sway him on where to go in the next 4 years.
Literally anybody could have the potential to be a good Secretary of State, it's not guaranteed, though.
He could be excellent, but that relies on two things: 1) He works in the interest of the US, not in the interest of his very recently held corporate ties (at a time where his Exxon connections provide a direct CoI with Russia) 2) His previous views on geopolitics and the climate (which were actually fairly normal) are not replaced with views from Trump (which are not) Elon's assumptions about Tillerson will be for naught if he plays ball with Trump's rhetoric
[QUOTE=GrizzlyBear;51725576]Why Elon, fucking why.[/QUOTE] lol Elon Musk is just like any other corporate demagogue. He's no different from Tillerson, other than the fact he makes electric cars rather than drilling for oil. All he wants is to rake in cash, he couldn't give a good god damn about the general populace of the US.
[QUOTE=GrizzlyBear;51725576]Why Elon, fucking why.[/QUOTE] You can see his stated reasons in these Tweets: [media]https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/824149662366126087[/media] [media]https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/824054997507657728[/media] [media]https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/824147366844436481[/media] [media]https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/824054472850583552[/media] [media]https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/824011724357373953[/media] I think he's being optimistic but it's not like he's suddenly done a 180.
[quote]He has run operations in some of the most inhospitable parts of the world, from ice-encrusted Sakhalin in the Russian Far East, to poverty-stricken Chad. That has meant dealing with populist strongmen, from Vladimir Putin to Venezuela’s late leader Hugo Chávez, without bargaining away his principles on the importance of markets and the sanctity of oil contracts. He could also bring useful industry traits to the State Department and to a Trump presidency. Finding and drilling oil requires elaborate modelling—both of underground geologies and messy aboveground geopolitics—to make money over the long-term. Reputedly his engineering background makes him a stickler for evidence-based decision-making. He is also considered “patient and unemotional” on ExxonMobil’s side of the negotiating table. Such traits would make him very different from Mr Trump, who lives by the gut. Though once a climate-change denier, he now believes mankind has helped cause global warming. This year ExxonMobil applauded the Paris agreement on climate change. With luck, he will not only have the tactical skills to further America’s interests abroad. He will also have the integrity to talk sense into his boss.[/quote] Quoted the argument for Rex from The Economist Make of it what you will
[QUOTE=Zillamaster55;51725614]lol Elon Musk is just like any other corporate demagogue. He's no different from Tillerson, other than the fact he makes electric cars rather than drilling for oil. All he wants is to rake in cash, he couldn't give a good god damn about the general populace of the US.[/QUOTE] I find it kind of hard to believe that he doesn't have a bit of benevolence in him, considering his major projects are EV's, battery plants, space flight, and attempting to pioneer the future of public transportation. He's probably playing ball with Donald because his cabinet was acting hyper threatening towards him, attempting to deliberately sabotage his company (stop Elon from failing again) [editline]25th January 2017[/editline] also rex supports carbon taxes
[QUOTE=Zillamaster55;51725614]lol Elon Musk is just like any other corporate demagogue. He's no different from Tillerson, other than the fact he makes electric cars rather than drilling for oil. [B]All he wants is to rake in cash, he couldn't give a good god damn about the general populace of the US.[/B][/QUOTE]Doubtful. If that were true, why push for clean alternative energies? Why push for a zero-emissions vehicle (the actual vehicle being zero-emissions, not the production of it, but that comes later) to help mitigate contributing to climate change? Why push for self-sustaining energy production for your home? Why push for humanity to spread its wings and become a two-planet species if he didn't care about the US, or people in general. It's all just for the money to him?
Kinda silly how people overreact to someone saying one of trump's appointments might be decent. Read the tweets Morgen just posted before you kneejerk decide to never buy a tesla and refuse to watch any more spacex launches.
I hope he's right and that Tillerson might see sense. But I have a feeling that Musk won't be able to control him.
[QUOTE=Killer900;51725666]Doubtful. If that were true, why push for clean alternative energies? Why push for a zero-emissions vehicle (the actual vehicle being zero-emissions, not the production of it, but that comes later) to help mitigate contributing to climate change? Why push for self-sustaining energy production for your home? Why push for humanity to spread its wings and become a two-planet species if he didn't care about the US, or people in general. It's all just for the money to him?[/QUOTE] Plus if it was about the money he could've just bought an island and retired after selling PayPal. Instead he reinvested everything into Tesla and SpaceX, to the point that he had friends giving him rent money. He still sleeps at Larry Page's place sometimes.
[QUOTE=Killer900;51725666]Doubtful. If that were true, why push for clean alternative energies? Why push for a zero-emissions vehicle (the actual vehicle being zero-emissions, not the production of it, but that comes later) to help mitigate contributing to climate change? Why push for self-sustaining energy production for your home? Why push for humanity to spread its wings and become a two-planet species if he didn't care about the US, or people in general. It's all just for the money to him?[/QUOTE] Because.....there's money to be made in that?
[QUOTE=Cutthecrap;51725682]Because.....there's money to be made in that?[/QUOTE] So he's literally like everyone else in the sense that he needs money to get shit done?
Bah another corporate sellout. I knew this Elon Musk was up to no good. Never trust a capitalist.
The Economist article makes a much better case for Tillerson than I've seen anywhere yet including from Trump's transition team itself, but I feel like an important assumption is being made both in the op-ed and from what I've seen on FP. I'll quote the relevant passage[QUOTE] Moreover, his defenders are adamant about his integrity. “The chances are better that Mother Teresa was stealing money from her charity than Rex Tillerson will do anything with Putin that is not in the best interests of the United States,” says Mr Randall, the friend from college.[/QUOTE] Putting aside how curiously similar this statement is to what Musk said, I don't think the real fear is that Tillerson is going to sell out the United States to the Russians directly so much as it is that he will prioritize wealth for himself and his associates over long-term diplomatic connections with other countries. The Economist touts his handling of dictators in Chad and Venezuela as geopolitical experience but I imagine it's much easier to work with those governments when you have something to trade, like a business opportunity. What happens when all you have is diplomacy?
[QUOTE=Zillamaster55;51725614]lol Elon Musk is just like any other corporate demagogue. He's no different from Tillerson, other than the fact he makes electric cars rather than drilling for oil. All he wants is to rake in cash, he couldn't give a good god damn about the general populace of the US.[/QUOTE] well that or maybe he just has an opinion of his own that's a possibility too
[QUOTE=LtKyle2;51725562]What will the Muskets say about this?[/QUOTE] You don't fix problems by insulting the people in power. You fix problems by working with them. Musk saying anything bad about the administration right now would be detrimental especially since they've seemed to grant him access to the President. Musk was at the White House after the Inauguration and met with Trump two other times, once in private. You can't expect everyone to be your political equal in politics, the best you can do is work with what room you have. Believe it or not, but Tillerson might be our best bet for getting some Climate action out of this administration. Trump may have ordered the Climate pages expunged from government websites, but look who still has theirs: [url]http://corporate.exxonmobil.com/en/current-issues/climate-policy/climate-perspectives/our-position[/url]
Elon Musk breaking the narrative for some people. Love it. I for one am super happy Musk is on the Trump train to MAGA.
[QUOTE=BlackMageMari;51725674]I hope he's right and that Tillerson might see sense. But I have a feeling that Musk won't be able to control him.[/QUOTE] You want corporate leaders to control our government?
[QUOTE=Tudd;51726036]Elon Musk breaking the narrative for some people. Love it. I for one am super happy Musk is on the Trump train to MAGA.[/QUOTE] Elon is on the trump train in the sense he knows he can be bought with words that inflate his ego.
[QUOTE=Zillamaster55;51725614]lol Elon Musk is just like any other corporate demagogue. He's no different from Tillerson, other than the fact he makes electric cars rather than drilling for oil. All he wants is to rake in cash, he couldn't give a good god damn about the general populace of the US.[/QUOTE] If his goal was financial gain, he picked the two hardest industries to do it in. He was a multimillionaire when he was in his 20s. He could've invested his hundreds of millions and been out on top drinking pina coladas on an island. If you've done any amount of research into him you would see his motivations are developing new technologies. He was going to be a Standford grad student working on battery tecnology, decided to start a business instead. When he made his millions, he was going to fund entirely a mission to put a greenhouse on Mars, which would've likely bankrupt him. After the purchase of a Russian ICBM fell through, he created SpaceX. [I]At the same time[/I] he began investing and working on the board of a little company called Tesla Motors, which was suffering from shitty management. He reluctantly became CEO and has since turned it around, working 80+ hours a week on either of them, and commuting in a jet so he can be everywhere at once. He spends his free time at OpenAI, making sure we don't accidentally develop Skynet. He's a pretty good guy.
[QUOTE=ThurnisHaley;51726051]You want corporate leaders to control our government?[/QUOTE] I meant something much less sinister than that; I meant as in be able to convince him to see his way and not completely fuck up the environment.
[QUOTE=Radical_ed;51726055]Elon is on the trump train in the sense he knows he can be bought with words that inflate his ego.[/QUOTE] Ah so what you mean is; He is willing to work with Trump cause they are business men that can make awesome things happen despite political differences. Awesome, all the better. I call it a Trump victory to have him able to work with Elon Musk.
[QUOTE=OvB;51726063]If his goal was financial gain, he picked the two hardest industries to do it in. He was a multimillionaire when he was in his 20s. He could've invested his hundreds of millions and been out on top drinking pina coladas on an island. If you've done any amount of research into him you would see his motivations are developing new technologies. He was going to be a Standford grad student working on battery tecnology, decided to start a business instead. When he made his millions, he was going to fund entirely a mission to put a greenhouse on Mars, which would've likely bankrupt him. After the purchase of a Russian ICBM fell through, he created SpaceX. [I]At the same time[/I] he began investing and working on the board of a little company called Tesla Motors, which was suffering from shitty management. He reluctantly became CEO and has since turned it around, working 80+ hours a week on either of them, and commuting in a jet so he can be everywhere at once. [B]He spends his free time at OpenAI[/B], making sure we don't accidentally develop Skynet. He's a pretty good guy.[/QUOTE] Also at the new "Boring Company" :v:
[QUOTE=Morgen;51726081]Also at the new "Boring Company" :v:[/QUOTE] Maybe Elon Musk really is a supervillian. He's just the Underminer instead of Dr.Evil.
[QUOTE=Tudd;51726076]Ah so what you mean is; He is willing to work with Trump cause they are business men that can make awesome things happen despite political differences. Awesome, all the better. I call it a Trump victory to have him able to work with Elon Musk.[/QUOTE] How did you extract that from what I said? Trump's ego is very fragile, if anything, Elon will be exploiting this weakness, as are many other CEO's.
Trumps ego would be very easy to exploit if you were in a position of power, I'd feel. [I]"Hey Trump how you doing? That's quite the wall you got planned up.. I really like your hat. Wow, your new Oval Office is really top notch.. say... Isn't it sad that America hasn't been to Mars yet? I hear those Chinese are gearing up to go to the moon..... gee willikers I wish we had a plan to beat them."[/I]
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