Mastodawn

Over on the disinformation platform, its owner Elon Musk claims “Hitler was a socialist, therefore all socialists are Hitler”.

This post got 111 million views and apart from his claim being factually incorrect, it also shows that politicians of the remaining free countries should not support his social medium by posting there, because it is not about promoting free and informed dialogue — it is about spreading false myths using an algorithm design by Elon Musk to benefit Elon Musk.

Fazal Majid 13h ago

@randahl he probably thinks that is a compliment.

contrasocial 11h ago

@fazalmajid @randahl

This coming from the Nazi Salute guy, yeah. Kind of reveals that he knows its a lie or (less likely) considers himself a socialist. I'm thinking the former.

Allan Svelmøe Hansen 13h ago

@randahl Could make some jokes here about Musk throwing salutes from a stage not so long ago.

Musk is a nazi... so he does what nazis do.

(It's a 'canard')

https://www.britannica.com/story/were-the-nazis-socialists

Were the Nazis Socialists? | Britannica

Were the Nazis socialists? No, not in any meaningful way, and certainly not after 1934.

Encyclopedia Britannica

Torgeir Fjeld 13h ago

@randahl Fine logic, previously associated with Erasmus Montanus: "Stones can't fly. Mor Nille can't fly. Ergo Mor Nille is a stone."

🍄🇪🇺ashtime🇪🇺🍄9h ago

@tor It reminded me of exercises in school-back then we had a class ‘Reading with understanding’

@randahl I'm more concerned that 697k liked it.

a.k.a. low-profile

@Brokar @randahl Yes. And the 24K that bookmarked it. Weird asses.

Aron Lindegård 13h ago

@randahl The Democratic People's Republic of Korea is a dictatorship. Therefor all states who call themselves democracies are dictatorships.

@randahl
And somehow I am even more annoyed that his post is basically the prime example given for how not to do logical inference.

Ole Wolf 13h ago

@randahl "Nazis are socialists" was *literally* the original Nazi propaganda.

Kierkethumbs up convincingly 13h ago

@randahl Elon is an inbred idiot. Therefore all inbred idiots are Elon. Time to divvy up the funds

Alpha, Beta...13h ago

@randahl This guy is shameful...

sj_zero 13h ago

Maybe he was saying it because he thinks it's true, but maybe he was saying it because he thinks it's clearly absurd and it should be clear why the logic makes it absurd.

There's an obvious parallel to the opposite point made routinely by socialists: That Hitler did X therefore everyone who does X is like Hitler and therefore a fascist. Reductio ad Hitlerum was a common logical fallacy before the 2010s and 2020s, but really ramped up in that era to unprecedented heights.

Consider that the entire Earth's establishment media sources decided to claim that Musk raised his arm in salute, Hitler raised his arm in salute, therefore Musk is Hitler. He's been a direct and personal recipient of such fallacious logic.

But I dunno. I was never on Twitter on the first place, and I don't follow tweets by Elon or anyone else. Maybe he's just an absurdly literal person who never says anything but robotic expressions of literal truth. That would be an odd thing for a snake oil salesman to be, however.

MarjorieR 13h ago

@randahl apart from the claim "Hitler was a socialist" being untrue the sylogism fails anyway.

"A is a B" doesn't imply "all B are A".

"Wolves are Animals" doesn't imply "all Animals are Wolves".

But then Elon (and presumably his followers) were never great at logic.

Roberto von Archimboldi 8h ago

@marjolica it is worse than that isn't it? Hitler is a particular, so it is more like:
Wolfy McWolfface is an animal.
So,
All animals are Wolfy McWolfface

The mind boggles

MarjorieR 6h ago

@RobertoArchimboldi indeed.
Lets try another one, pehaps Elon might get this one:

The Tesla Roadstar in orbit is a car therefore all cars are a Tesla Roadstar in orbit.

https://www.spacelaunchdb.com/en/roadster

Tesla Roadster in Space - Live Tracking Data | SpaceLaunchDB

Track Elon Musk's Tesla Roadster currently orbiting in space. Live position data, orbital mechanics, and journey through the solar system.

SpaceLaunchDB

פְּרִי 13h ago

@randahl Well, I mean if you want to make an argument, you could say that he has means and is using those means that he has to provide a free service to other people who need it. So you can say that it's meeting the definition of socialism right? So yeah, ex-twitter is socialism.ergo musk is a socialist. /S

VA3EKR, KK7TMS, Scott 13h ago

@randahl i understand why you posted this, but fear that for the sociopath narcissist any magnification of their utterances gives them the oxygen to survive. This is muted when every citation has the explicit label of "sociopath narcissist" or similar. I just hope that careless ketamine experimentation will pay a dividend.

Paskajärven kaunis Charlotta 13h ago

@randahl 🤡 ”A whale is a fish, therefore all fish are whales”

Julius Jääskeläinen 12h ago

@randahl saying nonsensical inflammatory things is a way for the fascists to discredit the whole idea of serious discussion, because they believe all discussion and analysis is futile and a sign of weakness. There’s just the mystically infallible will of the Chosen Leader and the obedience of his people.

Sweet Home Alaberta 🇨🇦 🇺🇦 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️ 🇲🇽12h ago

@randahl
The allies didn't use hitler's printing presses for good reasons. Ethical politicians is something we aplear to have lost.

Paul_stilgar 12h ago

Mmmh it seems that this asshole didn’t read The Apprentice’s Sorcerer
Liberal Tradition and Fascism by Ishay Landa

The Nazis’ economic policy was based on hypercapitalist principles rooted in the ideas of “social Darwinism.” The Nazis were therefore not socialist and, in an alliance with the right wing in power, they worked to physically destroy the workers' movement, both in its socialist, communist or anarchist components.

https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/isbn/9789047443810/html

The Apprentice’s Sorcerer

20th-century European Fascism is conventionally described by both historians and political scientists as a fierce assault on liberal politics, culture and economics. Departing from such typical analysis, this book highlights the long overlooked critical affinities between liberal tradition and fascism. Far from being the antithesis of liberalism, fascism, both in its ideology and its practice, was substantially, if dialectically, indebted to liberalism, particularly to its economic variant. Fascism ought to be seen centrally as an effort to unknot the longue durée tangle of the liberal order, as it finally collided, head on, with mass democracy. This brilliantly provocative thesis is sustained through innovative and incisive readings of seminal political thinkers, from Locke and Burke, to Proudhon, Bagehot, Sorel and Schmitt.

De Gruyter Brill

@randahl This sounds like an argument to be had over there, rather than boosting Musk's bullshit bait post here.

Jhooper 11h ago

@karadoc @randahl If you engage with him on his site, you are increasing traffic and as revenue for this shit head. By discussing it here, he won't see a single cent of it.

I will remind you that when Musk bought Twitter, I joked about him once and was banned for life. You are NOT going to have a meaningful conversation over there, don't be a fool.

TheBigUke 12h ago

@randahl sadly the addictive nature of wannabe influencers outweigh any moral responsibility

⁂ Fish Id Wardrobe 12h ago

@randahl *literally* false equivalence. (as well as being factually incorrect.)

Nochem ben Shlomo 12h ago

Musk is a Nazi. Therefore, Musk is a socialist.

@randahl Hitler was also a man....... (If we're diving deep into logical fallacies)

@randahl
He seems to forget the socialist tax rebates that facilitated the purchase of his cars by Americans, SMH

@randahl Jeffrey Epstein was a pedofile and a human, and since elon musk is also a human, we must conclude that he is also a pedofile.

Hans Dampf 12h ago

@randahl Elon was (is) a jerky asshole, therefor all jerky assholes are Elon 💩

Wendinlondon 🇺🇦12h ago

@randahl @JonChevreau 110.5 million of those views were by Musk’s own masturBots. Don’t let it impress you.

Jez DuBois 12h ago

@randahl Affirming the Consequent for fun and profit.

Huntn00 11h ago

@randahl My feeling, he is like Trump constantly trying to find a flexible angle to manipulate/scam people for his benefit. He’s definite dictator, fascist, Nazi-like in his displayed mannerisms.

Omnivore 11h ago

Elon Musk X @elonmusk
Hitler was a socialist, therefore all socialists are Hitler.
Last edited 08.00 08/05/2026
111M Views

Andy Incarnate (He / Him)11h ago

"He's creepy,
He's weird,
He cannot grow a beard,
Elon Musk....
Elon Musk...."

Just Me 11h ago

@randahl Lol... Musk is a billionaire therefore all billionaires are called Musk 😜

persistentdreamergames 11h ago

The guy who did a Nazi salute on live TV wants people to believe Hitler was a socialist.

@randahl
We need to be able to recognize fallacies.

@randahl
All soccer players run, therefore all those who run are soccer players

ᴮᵉⁿ ᴿᵒʸᶜᵉVOTE IN THE PRIMARIES 11h ago

a good example of a totalitarian nightmare country is the *democratic* people's *republic* of korea. the DPRK. north korea

therefore all *democracies* and *republics* are totalitarian nightmare countries

how am i doing?

it's got "democratic" and "republic" right there in the name of the country

i mean, screw critical thinking skills and realizing words can be lies or twisted aspects of historical change

(i joke, but there are millions who "think" on this level of "analysis")

Isabel Ruffell 11h ago

@benroyce @randahl
It is a well-worn joke (at least in my circles) that countries with "Democratic" in the title are nothing of the sort. The same has been said for countries with "Socialist" in the title being a good pointer for an absence of socialism.

But yeah the Nazis were a socialist workers party in the same way our latterday fascists, #Reform represent the working class. One wonders where they got that idea from.

ᴮᵉⁿ ᴿᵒʸᶜᵉVOTE IN THE PRIMARIES 11h ago

@iaruffell @randahl

all evil is built on big lies, because people are unwilling, or unable, to see the lie

GJ Groothedde 🇪🇺11h ago

@benroyce
The latter is sadly true, but do we really think Musk is stupid enough to be among these?
Granted he's deluded, but he's mostly evil.
@randahl

ᴮᵉⁿ ᴿᵒʸᶜᵉVOTE IN THE PRIMARIES 11h ago

@Eetschrijver @randahl

it's the same formulation when you see that reply guy make that sort of comment we all know and "love":

is this person a fucking idiot? or do they think they're a clever troll?

same with musk/ thiel/ trump/ putin/ etc:

is he stupid? or is he evil?

i've come to realize that it does not matter, and we should stop trying to figure it out. we treat them the same way either way

GJ Groothedde 🇪🇺11h ago

@benroyce
I definitely agree it makes no difference for the result. However, it could require a different strategy when fighting this poison. But my take is that Musk isn't stupid -- he's banking on the Twatter community being pretty obtuse on average, and rightly so.
@randahl

ᴮᵉⁿ ᴿᵒʸᶜᵉVOTE IN THE PRIMARIES 11h ago

@Eetschrijver @randahl

and thus

we are here on mastodon

away from the zombie cesspit

GJ Groothedde 🇪🇺11h ago

@benroyce
That's definitely a beginning. Lots of real good people here.
@randahl

Pino Carafa 11h ago

@benroyce @Eetschrijver @randahl

Musk calling May day
Zombies thrash in the cesspit
Mastodon's better

There. Now it's a Haiku

ᴮᵉⁿ ᴿᵒʸᶜᵉVOTE IN THE PRIMARIES 11h ago

@rozeboosje @Eetschrijver @randahl 😂

GJ Groothedde 🇪🇺10h ago

@rozeboosje
From chagrin great poetry is born.

There. Now it's an aphorism.
@benroyce @randahl

ᴮᵉⁿ ᴿᵒʸᶜᵉVOTE IN THE PRIMARIES 10h ago

@Eetschrijver @rozeboosje @randahl

"helaas pindakaas"
said the american fool
the dutchman grimaced

GJ Groothedde 🇪🇺10h ago

@benroyce
I was wondering
When this would show up again
The wait was not long
@rozeboosje @randahl