The Ick(s) Factor

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Twitter is now called X (at least by a few). An odd name. Twitter was losing its shine, and the  cast a shadow. Whether by association or because it was a cheery name and logo, clicking the little bird gave a touch of satisfaction. It had a pleasant bit of self-deprecation to it: I'm just going to gabble with my birds of a feather. Now I'm mildly repulsed by links that use the new logo to access the social media platform. Maybe it's the X, but maybe it's the strange fellow who gave Twitter that name.

Elon Musk went from visionary to megalomaniac. I'd like to say this happened quickly, though as I age time flies faster and I don't quite trust my perspective on it.

As people get richer and more influential, they lose the ability to empathize with others. It has been interesting to watch this happen so significantly in this case.

Some people say Musk is a rich kid who never cared for or about others and just got lucky in his acquisitions, but that seems like a stretch. Certainly some of his investments have failed, but they seemed well-intended. Solarcity's shingles, for example, seemed like a good idea; they just haven't panned out.

His company Tesla gets much of the credit for generating interest in electric cars. What's more, he was willing to share some of the car's essential technology. He seemed to actually care about our planet, despite his obsession with colonizing another one.

Which brings us to where we are now. Maybe the dream of remaking a dusty red planet with almost no oxygen led him to despise those of us more comfortable with this beautiful blue ball. In any case, he now displays the all-too-typical, sometimes-crazy hubris of the rich and powerful. He blames advertisers who recoiled at his antisemitic post on Twitter of blackmail. Musk himself feels no responsibility for the decline of Twitter (which he renamed to a delete symbol); it's all the fault of others.

I had intended to ramble some more about the new, ickier Elon. But I'm not alone in my sentiments. John Oliver says what I had to say, and more. And with more humor and wit. Watch and listen: