Neal OnionsOct 15, 2024
Cory Doctorow

"There's nothing special about Musk, Altman, or Zuckerberg. Accepting that requires you to also accept that the world itself is not one that rewards the remarkable, or the brilliant, or the truly incredible, but those who are able to take advantage of opportunities, which in turn leads to the horrible truth that those who often have the most opportunities are some of the most boring and privileged people alive."

-Ed Zitron, You Can't Make Friends With The Rockstars
https://www.wheresyoured.at/rockstars/

You Can't Make Friends With The Rockstars

You cannot make friends with the rock stars...if you're going to be a true journalist, you know, a rock journalist. First, you never get paid much, but you will get free records from the record company. [There’s] fuckin’ nothin' about you that is controversial. God, it's gonna get

Ed Zitron's Where's Your Ed At
Oct 14, 2024 at 7:54pmWeb
Show threadCJ Paloma Likes Longer DaysOct 14, 2024

@pluralistic

Those who have the most opportunities do get tons more opportunities….

agree wholeheartedly, AND while I enjoyed the post, imo, it's even worse than only being privileged.

Taking advantage of many opportunities requires people to take advantage -of other people- and ruthlessly get their own needs met -at the expense- of other human beings or the environment.

Ruthlessness is (to me) a defining characteristic of these billionaires. Not something I aspire to.

Show threadCassandraVertOct 14, 2024
@pluralistic
Also taking advantage of other people is high on their list. They'll enshrine it in law if they can.
Show threadColin from Edinburgh.Oct 14, 2024
@pluralistic
The US and some other countries have discarded Democracy in favour of Oligarchy.
The people you mentioned are some of the Oligarchs.
Of course, you still get to vote.
Show threadWilliam GunnOct 14, 2024
@pluralistic I think I understand what that essay is trying to do - point at the role of privilege - but it's vastly overstating its case. A quick glance at the list of Nobel Prize winners reveals many from relatively humble backgrounds. The statement also requires people to deny the evidence of their eyes and ears. A lot of people have met someone who really is truly impressive, ambitious, and effective, who has gone on to do great things. Privilege obviously exists, and so does talent.
Show threadWilliam GunnOct 14, 2024
@pluralistic Also, there are many stories from people who have met Altman personally over the years and they all tell a similar story: the guy has a superpower at attaining power. Whether that's going to be net positive for humanity is yet to be seen, and the ongoing departures of executives concerned about safety from OpenAI is concerning, but it's hard to claim there's literally nothing special about the guy.
Show threadJames M.Oct 14, 2024
@pluralistic yeah, there's little if any correlation between wealth and merit, i.e. how much someone has benefitted the world. (Though in some cases, there's a strong negative correlation.)
Show threadMedea Vanamonde🏳️‍⚧️ ♀Oct 14, 2024
@pluralistic Ding!
Musk, Zuckerberg et al are all Chancers
An aspect of the world just snapped into hyper clarity .
And core to being Chancers they leave behind of wake of Stochastic Chaos in their moving thru the world .
Each of them is also like a Black Hole of Wealth money flows down hill to them .
And all our worlds of interaction are trapped in the accretion disks around those Collapsars of Capital.
About all that can take out a black hole is a localized vacuum decay event .
Which is basically changing the laws of physics right down in the metric .
Hmmm…the only way to take our billionaires is to change the laws of society and and the economy
Show threadFourshizzleOct 14, 2024
@pluralistic i just finished reading this substack and am speaking happy to see Ed circulating. I'm a huge fan of both writers, Cory and Ed
Show threadGary HoustonOct 14, 2024
@pluralistic capitalism rewards those who own the right thing at the right time, whether due to luck, or knowledge. Generally it would be luck, because somebody has to own it but nobody can see the future.
Show threadSoftwarewolfOct 15, 2024
@pluralistic Ed Zitron, cranking out bangers as always.
Show threadUlrich JunkerOct 16, 2024
@pluralistic and if you identify a little musk in your work environment, it is better to be cautious. Usually, they take all what you do and don’t give anything back. So don’t give them more than you need to do.