It Actually Happened
Our Savior, Elon Musk! part 2
So we’re here. It actually happened. Twitter agreed to Elon Musk’s purchase offer of 52.40 per share totaling around 43 billion dollars. Once the purchase is complete, Twitter will become a private company. No doubt, this is a pretty amazing development. However, my position still stands. Let’s wait and see what happens before we start making wild claims about this being the salvation of free speech in the West. It is definitely a good thing from the looks of it. Musk’s first tweet, after the deal was made, is a great sign.
Let’s celebrate that things are moving in the right direction and let’s pray that they continue to do so. I am somewhat surprised that the deal went through this easily which makes me skeptical of what is to come. But I’m also cautiously optimistic of what is to come. We should always be cautiously optimistic in these situations. I mean haven’t we been burned time and time again in situations just like this? Yet we can’t throw out hope and trust altogether.
Honestly, though, I do believe Musk when he says he wants Twitter to be a free speech platform. I think he will make good on that offer. All of these are good things. They are important happenings, but I don’t think they are final victories which is why I’m writing this article. What if, instead of the resurrection of free speech, this is the destruction of Twitter? I’m not saying it will be, but can you assure me that it won’t be? No, you can’t. No one can. Not even Musk himself.
So, you ask, what will signal a final victory in this particular battle? The battle will have truly been won, when Elon Musk no longer owns Twitter. When no one owns twitter. When Twitter is completely decentralized and basically runs itself most likely utilizing blockchain technology somehow. This will ensure that twitter is truly free. Otherwise, what happens when Musk dies or retires or gets bored with Twitter or thinks he’s done what he needs to and now it’s time to sell? Maybe the new owner or inheritor keeps things going in the same spirit, but everything gets corrupted eventually. How long until we are back in the same position we were yesterday?
Of course, perhaps, the decentralized twitter can also get corrupted. Maybe, in that system there are votes to implement new technologies and the masses screw everything up. The moral of this story? We don’t know what the future holds, so we must stay ever vigilant against evil!
-The Philosopher King