July 10, 2023

"On a continuum of good vs. evil, Zuckerberg is probably less evil than Elon. I don't like Zuckerberg, but Elon is a disgusting bottom dweller. I hope this is the nail in Twitter's coffin."

This is the top rated comment at the WaPo article "What we love and hate about Threads, Meta’s new Twitter clone/Threads may be the first Twitter alternative that really matters because it’s built on top of Instagram’s existing base of billions of users."

And it's a better answer to the question of what to "love and hate about Threads" than anything in the article, which suggests we ought to love Threads because it's easy to get on it via your Instagram account (which millions did without realizing that they can't delete their Threads account without deleting their Instagram account). 

Anyway, for me, the key thing to like (or "love") would be good, readable writing (and part of readability is the absence of visual clutter). But Threads won't let me look at it as a web page, and I won't accept the app without seeing that it's something I want. It's what people used to call a pig in a poke. Or, in some countries, a cat in a bag. At least with Twitter, I can see the pig/cat. 

And didn't Thoreau say, "Beware of enterprises requiring new apps"?

But let's think about that comment (in the post title). It states the "lesser of 2 evils" principle. I understand that in an election, but is this a lesser-of-2-evils situation? We don't need to choose one or the other. We can reject both.

Now, I'm reading the Wikipedia article "Lesser of two evils principle":

In Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle writes: "For the lesser evil can be seen in comparison with the greater evil as a good, since this lesser evil is preferable to the greater one, and whatever preferable is good". The modern formulation was popularized by Thomas à Kempis' devotional book The Imitation of Christ written in early 15th century.

In part IV of his Ethics, Spinoza states the following maxim: 
Proposition 65: "According to the guidance of reason, of two things which are good, we shall follow the greater good, and of two evils, follow the less."

I'm sure these wise men all realized that there are circumstances where you can choose neither. For example, I abstained in the last election, and I endorse abstention as an option and argue with those who say you're doing something wrong if you refuse to vote. 

I get diverted into the Wikipedia article "False dilemma." The best thing about that article is this cool poster from 1910:


ADDED: I'm just noticing that the scales held aloft by the Chief Justice embody the principle of the lesser of 2 evils. There are just 2 options, and the weightier one ought to win.

AND: At least the Justice is considering legal arguments as the 2 options and choosing between the entities who are the parties in the lawsuit. By contrast, in the WaPo commenter's formulation, the 2 options are 2 human beings — Zuckerberg and Musk. We're not expected to understand the substance of what we'd be getting if we chose Threads or Twitter. That's too hard and too sober for us, the social media people, who gravitate toward decisions that are personified and inflated with scary, emotive insinuations of evil.

78 comments:

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

The collective hivemind cancel-cult left used to love Elon.

Strange...

AlbertAnonymous said...

Zuckerberg? Wasn’t his whole Facebook thing created so he could pick up on girls?

Please.

Ampersand said...

Of course Wapo's deep thinking readers would despise Elon. What has he ever done for them?

Relatedly, it is unhealthy for a nation to have its capitol city populated by people with a belief system not only divergent from that of the remainder of the country, but actively hostile to it.

Dave Begley said...

Zuck is an active opponent to Free Speech. If possible, I won't patronize his enterprises.

mikee said...

I, for one, welcome our new reptilian overlord. I guess.

Robber barons of the past look up from their graves in envy of today's examples of commercial dominance.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

Zuckerberg Spent $43 Million on Security, but $5.5 Million to Back Defund the Police.


Precious.

mikee said...

May they both end the walk with grit in their shoes, right under their bunions.

traditionalguy said...

I’m still waiting for Elon’s Twitter to do evil, unless allowing free speech in the comments to include elected Presidents is ipso facto evil because it makes the Government narratives look bad.

Aggie said...

The Age of Polarization.

Leland said...

I went with neither, but not because I hold the hate the left has for the leaders of the companies. SMS messaging is sufficient for me to keep up with the people I want to follow.

Big Mike said...

Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss can explain who the true bottom dweller is.

Jaq said...

The problem with Twitter is that it allows fraternization with the enemy; that's a deal breaker for the people we used to call "liberal" without completely choking on the irony of the term when applied to them. When your arguments won't stand up to the slightest scrutiny or pushback, your only recourse is to ban scrutiny and pushback. Therefore Threads will do fine for those who are more concerned with having the same beliefs as their neighbors as opposed to those who are actually interested in thinking stuff through.

Kay said...

I don’t care who is running the show. I just hate both products.

rhhardin said...

Old Punch cartoon (in Laughter in a Damp Climate, a collection)

two pigs talking

Alphonse: Maurice, don't go in there! It's a poke!

Maurice: But Alphonse, there's garbage in there!

Kevin said...

Elon wasn’t a problem for these people until he bought Twitter.

Exposing censorship and making blue checks available to everyone was enough to turn him “evil”.

Lars Porsena said...

Elon had heroic stature until he let the unwashed onto Twitter.

Sebastian said...

"I don't like Zuckerberg, but Elon is a disgusting bottom dweller."

Even by prog standards, this is a little over the top. Elon built progs' favorite car company. He's sending up satellites we all depend on or will soon. He was a key player at PayPal. He's the most impactful entrepreneur of is generation. But of course he changed prog rule at Twitter and gives off vibes that he might disagree with prog gospel a bit. Evil!

Zuck on the other hand paid a good chunk of protection money in the 2020 election. Good!

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Like every progressive scheme Thr*ads is easy to get talked into to “try” but damned near impossible to extract oneself from without great personal cost. Big Tech sticks with the shady business practices that have been proven successful for them since the early days of spyware disguised as social media. Convincing the marks that they are “customers” or “app users” has been very effective for Zuck. And Elon is proving how hard it is to change that model even if you buy the company. Your silent partner Deep State is a large stakeholder in every app you download.

Spiros said...

According to the WaPo commenter, Zuckerberg is the lesser of two evils because his platform will actively promote censorship and help the government target citizens or groups it disagrees with. What a scumbag. The government can't destroy information and control speech (and thought) without the assistance of these sort of cretins.

...

Also Chaucer was the first Englishman to use the phrase -- "Of harmes two, the lesse is for to cheses".

rcocean said...

Zuckerberg already controls Facebook AND instagram (which he bought). Now, he's trying to destroy twitter and replace it with his version.

Why would anyone be in favor of that? That's almost creating a monopoly.

Why don't we just make Zuckerberg King? Then libtards and dumb losertarians wouldn't have to worry their poor little heads about politics or culture. They could just obey King Zuckerberg.

Quayle said...

The comments of Neo-Puritans. Far worse than anything Nathaniel Hawthorne envisioned and revealed.

Bill Peschel said...

Any comment in the story about Threads scraping everything off your phone, including your financial and health information?

That and Threads draconian censorship makes it a big nope to me.

And, yeah, when the Narrative is against Musk (without saying why), that's a Big Tell.

Eva Marie said...

Elon’s the cat.

MikeD said...

I understand Threadbare is becoming so.

Fred Drinkwater said...

Remember Zuck's little convo with Angela Merkel?

Zuck has long been a Fascist.

Gusty Winds said...

"Elon is a disgusting bottom dweller"

For the left, they guy [Elon] that put his money where his mouth is, and now runs the ONLY widely used Free Speech platform is a "bottom dweller". He fully exposed the gov't coordination with big tech to censor Americans who were posting the TRUTH.

The mentality of Wash Post readers is amazing.

If America is at the point where truth no longer matters and must be censored, we're doomed.

Big round of applause for the education establishment and college educated white women. They will love THREADS. They can swallow each other's lies and propaganda all day long.

Temujin said...

Elon- genius, quirky, bizarre at times- is dragging humanity kicking and screaming into the future. Few have done more productive things for the world, and have been more promotional about it at the same time, as Elon.

Zuckerberg has spent his brainpower on accumulating data, wealth, and power- seemingly for his own good. That's fine on its face. Except that he has used his power in multiple nefarious ways including mass censoring of information and people, and insinuating himself into local and national elections on a scale that has changed the course of both our country and the world. He is the Maven of Social Media and as such, holds a high place as a key driver of societal discombobulation.

Zuckerberg represents the worst impulses of humanity. Elon loves humanity so much he's having as many kids as possible and spends time ringing the alarm about below ground population replacement rates around the world. Zuckerberg wants everyone to stay home, use his products, and wait for he and his friends to tell them what else to do or think. Elon is about freedom and is currently looking to get Mars up and running because he knows we're going to need an escape.

I don't see how any conscious breathing adult could objectively prefer Zuck to Elon. You may not like either, but comparing the two as humans: only one of them is a hideous human being.

MayBee said...

Did people not on Twitter miss the fact that the intelligence agencies and FBI were actively meeting with the social media companies to tell them how to censor?

Even Zuckerberg has said the were censored wrt COVID in ways that turned out not to be true. So now he has tried to create a platform where people just won't talk about those things.
So far, for me, Threads is full of positive affirmation postings and brands acting silly. People in the dorm the first week of college, trying to get a feel for how they can shed their high school personas and be the cool college kid. There's a rule about not being angry and not rocking the boat. I see a lot of people I don't follow.

Cappy said...

But, is the writing worthy of a 2 minute hate?

hombre said...

The thing about the left by now is it's all about who they hate. Zuck is a turd, but oh, Elon.

Cutting through the lies they are defined by: abortion, open borders, energy dependence, inflation, weapons to Ukraine, influence peddling, maiming children, same sex marriage, corrupt federal law enforcement, anti-Constitutionalism, Critical Race Theory, the climate change hoax.

Considering the impact of those things it's clear they also hate the country. There is no going back from that.

Enigma said...

As Zuckerberg is the devil incarnate and this has been proven 1,000 different ways, deNile isn't just a river in Egypt.

Musk was loved by the left until he demanded and took action to preserve free speech. He broke the Brave New World narrative.

hombre said...

Yes, but what makes Elon a "disgusting bottom dweller?" "He just is! Everybody knows that."

It works better than, "Free speech is dangerous!"

gilbar said...

remember a few years ago?
Back when the left LOVED Elon? back before he came out in favor of free speech?
In the Immortal Words, of SE Hinton.. That Was THEN, This Is NOW

Crimso said...

“Throughout history, poverty is the normal condition of man. Advances which permit this norm to be exceeded — here and there, now and then — are the work of an extremely small minority, frequently despised, often condemned, and almost always opposed by all right-thinking people. Whenever this tiny minority is kept from creating, or (as sometimes happens) is driven out of a society, the people then slip back into abject poverty.

This is known as 'bad luck.'”- R.A. Heinlein

Jersey Fled said...

Zuckerberg went all in with the Left to spread disinformation and censor the truth. Why wouldn’t they love him?

alanc709 said...

Zuckerberg is evil for what he does, Musk is evil for not doing what the left wants. As for the WaPo, they are collectively much more evil than either. So what does this say about people that source their political views from the likes of the WaPo or NYT? Too many in this country and around the world have embraced evil. Enjoy your insect-burger while you're in the gulag.

minnesota farm guy said...

From what I have seen of Zuckerberg's interference with political dialog versus Musk's willingness to suffer divergent opinion, I have to give the Slimy Bastard award to Zuckerberg.

Wa St Blogger said...

Some 250 years ago, these Elon haters would be saying the same thing about Jefferson. Elon is evil because he stands for the (former) American value of free speech. Zuckerburg, on the other hand favors state sanctioned truthiness. The republic is dying a slow, self-indunced death.

Michael K said...

All those 400 million Zuckerbucks bought a lot of friendship on the left. As for Musk, I have read a biography of him and his Space X project is really impressive. I don't care much about electric cars but Musk has been successful in a couple of big and useful projects. Facebook is useful for exchanging baby pictures.

Mark said...

Yesterday Elon called Zuck a cuck as well as suggested they have a dick measuring contest.

I am sure advertisers are rushing out to spend on Twitter when you could be featured next to tweets like that from the owner.

I am pretty sure Zuck is living rent free in Elon's head right now. Especially with the last week of web traffic info just released. All the lulz

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

Temujin - impressive and correct.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

The collective hivemind left adore censorship - when they are the ones doing the censoring.

They get to slap a disinformation label on whatever they want.
Of course "disinformation" = anything that doesn't fit the obedient leftwing narrative.

iowan2 said...

Tossing about the word, 'evil,' automatically defines the writer. A person lacking the ability to analyze. A person who's opinion means nothing.

MikeR said...

Anyone who actually cares about global warming should worship Elon Musk. He is pretty much the only human being who made a real difference.
But they don't actually care, they care on a politics level. Politics wins.

iowan2 said...

Zuckerberg has spent his brainpower on accumulating data, wealth, and power-

yep, him and gates, some others have operated in the same mold of old time robber Barons. They play act doing very public "good" things, (likely a paid employee manages his public persona) but spends his energy consolidating power. Power is only the goal. All the rest is just leverage to use getting and growing power.

Jupiter said...

That comment was probably written by ChatGPT.

Prof. M. Drout said...

As someone of German ancestry, I'm pretty disgusted that some of my co-ethnics who have so prominently and fully embraced totalitarianism. William Wilhelm (fake name Bill deBlasio), Gretchen Whitmer (ignore that fake h), and Mark Zuckerberg (yes, he's Jewish, but of German-jewish ancestry, and that makes a big difference) are among the most egregious freedom-wreckers in contemporary America. No wonder Zuckerberg was snuggling up to Merkel (of "you can take the girl out of the Stasi, but you can't take the Stasi out of the girl!" fame). When German-Americans act like dictators or work to enable dictators IT IS NOT GOOD FOR THE GERMAN BRAND. Shape up, Dummköpfe, before more people notice and we end up with another 75 years of (somewhat justified) anti-Germanism.

Original Mike said...

Does their beef with Elon have anything to it other than he stopped their little clique from censoring those they consider beneath them?

Bruce Hayden said...

Zuck’s Threads is a really scary app. As many, by now know, you download the app, and now you can’t get rid of your account without deleting your Instagram account. You also apparently give him access to much of your medical and financial information.

THE ‘THREADS’ APP IS FILLED WITH DECEPTIVE DARK DESIGN PATTERNS – WE SPOTTED MORE THAN TEN

Original Mike said...

THE ‘THREADS’ APP IS FILLED WITH DECEPTIVE DARK DESIGN PATTERNS – WE SPOTTED MORE THAN TEN

"8. Perhaps one of the most malicious dark patterns lies in how much data the app collects on you. Even though Threads is essentially just a microblogging platform, the app has access to your health data, financial data, and even your location. In fact, ex-CEO of Twitter Jack Dorsey shared a snippet of the amount of data the app collects on you and it’s shocking. If you’re in the EU, you probably don’t have access to Threads for this exact reason, because the European Union has some incredibly strict laws on data gathering."

Yeah, this guy's totally not a bottom dweller…

NMObjectivist said...

Nothing better illustrates the left wing movement towards totalitarianism than this hatred of Musk for his support of free speech on Twitter.

Hey Skipper said...

For example, I abstained in the last election, and I endorse abstention as an option and argue with those who say you're doing something wrong if you refuse to vote.

That is an empty statement — the odds of your abstention affecting the election were zero; no consequence attended you lack of choice.

Reframe the problem: same election, but there are only three voters, and you are one of them.

rehajm said...

These are same assholes are so full of....Hopium. I predict it will be true because I need it to be true...

Krumhorn said...

At every turn, it is relevant to point out that the lefties are hateful and nasty little shits.

- Krumhorn

rehajm said...

What will help kill Twitter is the new anonymous viewing policy and preventing the scrapers from reposts. The more eyeballs the better but you're stopping eyeballs...

RJ said...

Big Mike beat me to the punch with: “Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss can explain who the true bottom dweller is.”

The next honest dollar Zuck earns will be the first one.

GRW3 said...

Shades of U2, and their push poll release of their album to iTunes. Expect a class action lawsuit later this year from people who want to keep their Instagram account but could care less about Threads, since it collects your data even if you don't use it.

As soon as they announced those big opening numbers, I assumed that it was some sort of "Try Threads (forever)" ploy. Turns out I was correct. Many of the white supremacists (that is people of all colors who believe in e pluribus unum and the melting pot nation) have already been banned, clearing field for the progs and their Eloi followers. The question I have is: Will the nattering Karens of the perpetually offended left be happy when there is nobody to lambast and correct? I think not.

Patrick Henry was right! said...

The the is about 2 things. Envy and hate. Act (and vote) accordingly.

M said...

It’s funny to me how Elon used to be an icon for many in the left. The soy latte drinking, expensive hiking clothes wearing Leftists. Now I see UTTER HATRED of him from those same people, and the rest of the left. They want him DEAD. They want him to SUFFER.

The word has gone out from the High Globalist Commie Command that Elon must be destroyed. He is an Enemy of the State, an Enemy of the People. Democrats are so predictable. Even more so than Republicans. Republicans have certain hard mores. Democrats don’t. What is good today may be the highest form of evil tomorrow. How can they live like this? No wonder they rank so high for anxiety, depression and mental illness. That kind of shifting belief system would cause anxiety in even normal people.

Free Manure While You Wait! said...

Zuckerberg's empire began as a platform specifically designed to objectify college girls. He's really no different than Joe Francis of Girls Gone Wild infamy.

Free Manure While You Wait! said...

Zuckerberg v. Musk is just one more Progressive proxy for Biden v. Trump. They've got a million of them.

Free Manure While You Wait! said...

"When your arguments won't stand up to the slightest scrutiny or pushback, your only recourse is to ban scrutiny and pushback."

This happened to me with a Progressive newspaper called Minnpost. I started reading it and then commenting using my real name, as required. Well, some asshole named RL Holbrook -- a die-hard Progressive -- didn't like what I wrote and could provide no real arguments to counter it so, he responded to a comment with the claim I was not me. Then he told told the paper I wasn't really me. Minnpost sent me an email to my Gmail address, which is my name, indicating that if I didn't prove my identity, they'd ban me. I asked if they wanted me to send them my SS card or my drivers license. It was meant to be sarcastic. They told me my drivers license would suffice. I replied, "Wow! Just wow."

There is nothing Progressives hate more than actually having to support their beliefs using reason. It must be very painful.

chuck said...

I don't find Elon evil, or even a disgusting bottom dweller. Of course, some of the WaPo commenters do. Because WaPo.

Free Manure While You Wait! said...

"Elon is about freedom and is currently looking to get Mars up and running because he knows we're going to need an escape."

For sundry reasons, Mars is unhabitable. I seriously doubt the Earth will ever reach a point of degradation where Mars becomes the lesser of two evils.

Drago said...

Bill Peschel: "Any comment in the story about Threads scraping everything off your phone, including your financial and health information?

That and Threads draconian censorship makes it a big nope to me."

There will always be tens of millions of little brain Dumb Lefty Mark's who adore such things.

BTW, SpaceX and the Boring Co are teaming up for a TX based underground hyperloop to continue moving high speed transport of humans forward on Earth which will become a critical core activity on other worlds.

Poor Dumb Lefty Mark. He can't read as fast as Musk companies are moving.

And wasn't X./twitter supposed to be dead by now instead of launching pay and linkedin competitor apps?

Or maybe the lefties simply remain angry about the reduction of child porn on X/twitter? Given everything else we are seeing from Team Groomer across the board, that Musk move had to leave a "mark".

Free Manure While You Wait! said...

"That is an empty statement — the odds of your abstention affecting the election were zero; no consequence attended you (sic) lack of choice."

Here's George Carlin's rebuttal:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPW8AaOuvDs

retail lawyer said...

Sorry to see Zuck divert attention from the metaverse.

Oligonicella said...

The mere fact that they embedded a lock that only takes place without your knowledge after you join makes the whole thing nefarious.


A door that locks behind you, garnering your personal data for their secret use, censoring what you can read and post: Yet you can post little textual blurbs on it. That should make you comfortable.

Oligonicella said...

The mere fact they had a secret door that locks behind you makes it nefarious.

Steals personal data, can track your location, censures what you can read, censures what you can say, cross-feeds their other products...

But you can post little meaningless texts. Garner what comfort you may from that.

Mason G said...

The left loved Twitter when it censored those on the right. Now that Twitter doesn't, they are hoping for it to fail. Nice.

Pro-tip: If your ideas can't stand up to criticism, they are crap (looking at you, leftists).

Zev said...

What's actually evil is the way leftists brand as "evil" anyone who disagrees with them politically.

Drago said...

Best Musk quote ever in “Everyday Astronaut”: “At SpaceX we specialize in turning things that are impossible into things that are late.”

Little brains just melted...again.

Heatshield said...

Climate change is supposedly an existential threat. Elon has done more than any person on the planet to mitigate it - electric cars, batteries and solar panels. But because he refuses to censor conservative speech on one lousy platform- he is now evil. So that tells me climate change must not be all that important.

Brylinski said...

Just a couple of days ago WaPo had an article written by the infamous Taylor Lorenz bashing Elon Musk and the actions he has taken since acquiring Twitter.

Josephbleau said...

Midnight in the garden of Elon and Zuck.

Mark said...

Hey Drago ... if you are already have Instagram, they already have that data. Perhaps you should have paid attention to that before getting your first Meta app.

But go ahead, protest about what you already clicked ok on.

Drago said...

Dumber Than Usual Lefty Mark: "Hey Drago ... if you are already have Instagram, they already have that data."

I have never been on Instagram.

Dumber Than Usual Lefty Mark: "Perhaps you should have paid attention to that before getting your first Meta app."

I have no Meta apps.

Dumber Than Usual Lefty Mark: "But go ahead, protest about what you already clicked ok on."

I am not protesting.
I dont use those apps.
I never "clicked ok" on them.

You're kind of "slow", aren't you?

Tim said...

Don't have Instagram, have no intention of getting Threads. If my friends and family were not on Facebook, I would be gone in a minute. I spend most of my time on Facebook looking at pictures posted by friends and family, posting a few of my own......and permanently blocking advertising and studiously avoiding giving ANY clicks to ANY advertiser.