7 Ways Elon Musk Is Your Average Dime Store Narcissist

Elon Musk
Source: Wikipedia

I gotta say I’ve been watching this whole implosion of Twitter story with interest. Not because it has anything to do with infidelity — although I did snark about Elon Musk screwing his best friend’s wife last July — but because it’s so text book narcissist freak.

But Tracy, Elon Musk is a billionaire super genius molded from congealed weasel fat! He’s not like mere mortals!

On the contrary, he’s like every awful boss/dim-witted Schmoopie/vainglorious council treasurer/huckster life coach/deadbeat parent/two-bit jerk.

Utterly predictable.

You’ve seen these moves, CN. You’ve lived these moves.

Different FW, same story.

To anyone not following the #RIPTwitter saga, the New York Post reports:

The chaos began Thursday night after Musk, who had fired half of the company’s 7,500 staff after his $44 billion takeover, called on the remaining workers to get on board with “Twitter 2.0” or leave by 5 p.m. A whopping 75% reportedly chose the latter, potentially resulting in an alleged 88% dip in the Twitter workforce since Musk’s acquisition, according to a tweet thread by Fortune techspert Kylie Robison.

Maybe this is three-dimensional chess and we cannot comprehend the deep sophistication of this business strategy.

Or maybe Elon Musk is just an average, dime-store narcissist.

I vote narcissist.

1.) He totally underestimates everyone. Who are these little people? Their contributions are invisible to me. I’m sure they will not be missed.

2.) He totally overestimates himself. I know more about the inner workings of Twitter than a thousand highly trained software engineers. Certainly my company is the only company in the entire world that these highly trained software engineers wish to work at. No one else would date you, Bryon!

3.) Demands unreciprocated devotion. Go hard core or go home! Your current exertions are insufficient. Exhaustion is baseline. Do more! Do better! (No, I’m not raising your pay.)

4.) Hoovers. Perhaps I was hasty. Don’t leave. You could still be of use. Pick me dance for the glory of my attention. I think you have a chance.

5.) Distracts from his self-inflicted mess with hail Mary plays for kibbles. Behold my chaos! I’ll let Trump back on Twitter!

6.) Is completely unprepared for the consequences. I have investors? This company runs on little people? Software engineers are employable elsewhere?

7.) Rebrands the shitshow. I meant it to work out like this. Schmoopie and I are getting married. This is my new business model!

Good luck with that, Elon.

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Anix
Anix
1 year ago

I have to say – I really don’t like this guy

Braken
Braken
1 year ago

Musk’s die hard fan boys are similar to my ex’s cheerleaders. He could do no wrong. Those things you experienced are not what you experienced, he’s a good guy really…

To me success is when I released my current relationship was one sided and off balance, I spoke up. When speaking up only brought excuses and more of the same, I left. I saw red flags of him having inappropriate boundaries with friend who posted erotica style pictures, plus in notifications a one sided drawn out flirting conversation and I refused to contribute to my own gaslighting.

I had a new job, a great apartment and now live in a coastal city I always dreamed of living. And I did it and the move within three weeks while he is surprise pikachu.

When it comes to these people you have to trust your own judgement and observations, don’t trust the “hype”, don’t trust people who make an alternate reality around themselves where up is down and the rules for ‘normal’ people don’t apply to special specimens like them!

Thanks to ChumpLady, a good therapist and good friends I have everything I need to build a good and genuine life. We don’t need narcissistic fake reality salespersons anymore.

Bubbachump
Bubbachump
1 year ago
Reply to  Braken

Good for you. I am in the same place. Not dating yet, but making new friends and anyone who shows me red flags is an instant no. If I see weak boundaries or issues with setting them it’s a no for me. I don’t need or want people in my life who can’t set boundaries for themselves because that’s eventually going to start becoming an issue for me.

My boundaries are strong and they will stay that way. Try to violate mine after I’ve stated them clearly and I show you the door. There is no three strikes, it’s one strike and you’re out. Anyone who tries to push boundaries after you tell them what your’s are will continue to do so. I don’t need to see it more than once to know that.

Silver Anniversary
Silver Anniversary
1 year ago
Reply to  Bubbachump

How are you making new friends? I’m 60 and since the divorce it is the thing I struggle with. I hate being so lonely. What is a senior in a small town to do? I work, I volunteer.

2nd Gen Chump
2nd Gen Chump
1 year ago

I started taking art classes at a community college, afraid that I’d be the old lady on campus ut there are a lot of people in our age bracket taking enrichment courses. We get together for dinner before hearing the orchestra’s recital, or an art gallery opening for our classmates, and get together to do homework. It is so much fun.

ChumpFromF
ChumpFromF
1 year ago

Hi SilverA, I’m 61 now and live in a small town too. I made a friend at a talk group about depression. We spend fun weekends on the nearby coast and in the mountains. I rescued a dog and join a dog walking group regularly. I also go hiking with another group, and sometimes have a drink with a group of internationals. I tried the boyfriend thing but I think I don’t want it any longer !!! I install solar panels on my roof and share my experience with workmates who are also expecting power cuts and want to do the same. I start a comics project with another AI engineer. I am scared of loneliness only because of all these people who believe being alone is awful.

Skunkcabbage
Skunkcabbage
1 year ago
Reply to  Braken

Rock on!

Rebecca
Rebecca
1 year ago

Very interesting that you chose to write about this. I’ve been having the same thoughts!

Not only are there many creepy things about Musk as a person, I question how he believes he can be solely responsible for reviewing content and posters? NPR aired a fabulous piece about Twitter’s response to questionable content in foreign countries. Apparently most of the foreign reviewers have left the company. Only a narcissist could think he alone could review world-wide content in multiple languages and keep off those who hope to harm others.

I doubt Twitter will disappear. There is far too much money at stake and somehow it will survive. But I do think we are looking at a self-inflated bully with deep pockets and a crazy mind.

ThankGodItsOver
ThankGodItsOver
1 year ago
Reply to  Rebecca

The Point is he does not see the need to review content … he has a very one sided view of what constitutes ‘free speech’ ( basically anything goes as long as the ‘free speech’ does not criticise him )

Bubbachump
Bubbachump
1 year ago

He’s a douchebag and always has been. He doesn’t believe in free speech he just believes in hate and bigotry. Just like all the other assholes and bigots just like him. If he was all for free speech he wouldn’t censor and bully his critics.

nomar
nomar
1 year ago

Also, “It may look like I made a huge mess, but this chaos will make it better than ever!” (Twitter 2.0 vs. marriage post-D-day).

And, “If you’re not with me, you’re a quitter, and any failure is YOUR fault!”

And, “Only un-evolved dimwits and drudges are bound by the rules” (monogamy and honesty vs. fiduciary responsibility and data protection).

Dude also has 10 kids by three women (none now his wife), several of whom want nothing to do with him despite his billions.

Another middle age bro-narc with hair plugs and a younger trainwreck girlfriend who still uses expressions like “extremely hardcore.” As the kids say, so much cringe.

ClearWaters
ClearWaters
1 year ago
Reply to  nomar

hair plugs. extremely hardcore. I am bawling with laughter.
I hope Elon has an algorithm to fish out this post and read the comments

M1
M1
1 year ago
Reply to  nomar

I get Boys from Brazil vibes from the mass of children. There doesn’t seem to be any parenting going on, just procreation. One of his older children disowned him as soon as they reached 18.

IcanseeTuesday
IcanseeTuesday
1 year ago

Hopefully, the talent leaving twitter will “gain a life” and create a platform which allows the global family to communicate in a healthy and fair manner.

Chumpkin
Chumpkin
1 year ago
Reply to  IcanseeTuesday

Wow. Twitter got caught shadow banning rival platforms like Hive Social. https://twitter.com/PaulTassi/status/1594770148078280705

OldButLearning
OldButLearning
1 year ago
Reply to  IcanseeTuesday

Mastodon seems pretty nice right now.

Chumpkin
Chumpkin
1 year ago
Reply to  OldButLearning

Mastodon has a learning curve. But another alternative is Hive, which is very similar to Twitter. Hopefully that platform will expand to other OS, like Android and web apps.

Ellen
Ellen
1 year ago

Can we use this instance to discuss the ways that people with Asperger’s/autism can use their diagnosis to wave off claims of narcissism?

CatsAreBetter
CatsAreBetter
1 year ago
Reply to  Ellen

Let’s not. I was diagnosed as autistic when I was seven. Most of us are far more likely to be victimized by narcissists and other jerks than to become abusers ourselves. I’ve watched a sociopath in an organization we both belong to manipulate at least two other people on the spectrum to serve as her enforcers with pretended friendship. It makes me sad for those people, who damaged their own careers through misguided loyalty, and unduly gleeful to have played a small part in making sure the sociopath is brought to justice. (I’m no angel.)

Possibility #1: Narcissists and borderlines are very good at playing whatever role will get them instant gratification, or simply lying. You may have encountered a few of them. If a Cluster B has family members or associates who are genuinely on the spectrum, they have a model to copy.

Possibility #2: When we aren’t sure what to say or do, autistic people may use “scripts” to respond to other people, repeating words and/or actions we have seen others use*, or that we learn about from books or films. What happens when an autistic person unwittingly picks a bad role model? I was raised in a classic unfortunate cluster: a covert narcissist parent who was a master of the Karpman Drama Triangle, and a borderline sibling who was and is an habitual liar and serial cheater. I didn’t know anyone else well for the earlier part of my life, and I’m positive I made some mistakes using those models of human behavior until I figured it out and unlearned some flawed assumptions. Life is awkward when the “normal” you grew up with is Dysfunction Junction.

*Example of method acting that worked out well: I went to a bar for the first time in my life as a college student, and had no idea what to order, so I thought of the most sophisticated person I knew, one of my aunts, and confidently asked for what she always had. I ordered a VSOP cognac, and I wasn’t even carded. I found out later that the bartender assumed I had to be much older than I looked because the other undergraduates drank cheap beer.

ISawTheLight
ISawTheLight
1 year ago
Reply to  CatsAreBetter

I’m happy to see so many other fellow autistics here!

I agree – we are much more likely to be victimized. I am very honest (I was often called “blunt” as a child, since I said exactly what I thought and hadn’t developed a filter yet, nor did I have automatic deference to authority figures and had no issues questioning teachers, etc.), and until my unfortunate marriage/abuse opened my eyes, I assumed most people were honest as well. It made it a lot easier for my ex to manipulate and lie to me, as I took him at face value. I cannot always tell when someone is joking or accurately read emotions, so it was hard for me to tell what was really happening for a long time. My ex was a consummate actor as well, and the emotions I did see looked genuine. Also, having been on the outskirts all my life and struggling to make friends and connect with people (I always felt like I didn’t get that manual, while everyone else seemed to know just what to do), when my ex appeared to be genuinely interested in what I had to say and took the time to get to know me in spite of my shyness (and frankly rather off-putting demeanor), I fell pretty hard for him. I mean, even though I am an attractive woman, I rarely get hit on (not that I mind that, but I would hazard that I don’t radiate a welcoming persona). He turned that around later as a way to hurt me – telling me that no one liked me and they thought I was “weird”. I totally believed him because I’d been such an outsider as a child, and been called weird my whole life. Turns out a lot of people liked me and thought I was nice, but I regarded everyone with suspicion while my ex was feeding me that bull.

OHFFS
OHFFS
1 year ago
Reply to  Ellen

We certainly can, Ellen. We can discuss people who use having brown eyes to wave off claims of narcissism while we’re at it.

A person can be on the spectrum and be a narc, but there is no known connection or correlation between the two. Perhaps you have had personal experience with somebody who does this, but one’s own narrow personal experience is certainly not evidence for a generalization.

Hell of a Chump
Hell of a Chump
1 year ago
Reply to  Ellen

Hmm, complicated and hazardous subject. First you’d have to accept that they’ve even been credibly diagnosed with the condition and aren’t just making faddish claims. Remember when Seinfeld retracted his whimsical comment about being “spectrumy” after getting major blowback from the autism community? https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2014/11/12/for-some-parents-of-autistic-children-jerry-seinfelds-self-diagnosis-was-a-slap-in-the-face/

60% of individuals on the spectrum are low to nonverbal, only about 14% will ever live independently and only a very small percentage are “gifty.” Yet because some have tried to armchair-diagnose dead celebs like Einstein and Mozart with the condition (arguably untrue in both cases, plus this violates the Goldwater rule against diagnosing in absentia https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7265022/), some think the label is appealing. One big problem with this, aside from minimizing the real struggle of people actually affected by the condition, is that the armchair diagnosing has also opened the door to specious claims that historical psychopaths like Hitler were on the spectrum and some shitty and heavily publicized pseudo-scientific speculations that autism relates to the “zero empathy gene,” “the serial killer gene,” the “school shooter gene” and the “dictator gene” which are like fatwas against an already endangered population.

People who whimsically dabble in sparkly speculations about autism or seek latent diagnoses because they think it’s “cool” (or is more flattering than being labeled with a personality disorder) don’t realize the Pandora’s box they’re helping to open. At the very least it can lead the public to assume that, since affected individuals are so gifted, we shouldn’t have to pay billions in taxpayer funds to support them. But any bit of shallow fabrication can make an issue more “porous” to bs in general so that even positive sounding false claims can be dangerous as they can just as easily flip into demonizing views. Anything that increases cynicism and irrational public fear of affected people and in turn boosts institutional rationalizations for mistreatment is unconscionable. Not only are children on the spectrum five times more likely to die from seizures, heart failure and accidents, they also die at an alarming rate due to institutional abuse and from police excessive force. The GAO reported in 2014 that disabled children– especially those with autism– are being injured and dying in schools and institutions due to use of abusive “discipline” tactics like restraint and seclusion which are defended by institutions and school administrators as “necessary for safety.” Yet the GAO found that, in the vast majority of cases which led to deaths, the behaviors being disciplined were merely disruptive, not dangerous. Furthermore, there’s no central tracking of these deaths and injuries and almost no accountability: staff who are responsible for these deaths are rarely prosecuted and are simply transferred to other institutions. In 1998, the rate of disabled deaths from institutional abuse was about 3 a week in the US. Since the rate of disability has skyrocketed since then and nothing has been done to curb restraint and seclusion practices (which, again, depend on demonization), we can only imagine that the deaths have increased.

I spent one very dark summer researching the issue for a group of special education attorneys after the GAO report came out. Because there’s so little official accountability, none of us had any idea how bad it was and what we dug up caused collective shock, particularly the bit about how city coroners will often facilitate institutional coverups by claiming these children died of “cardiac insufficiency”– the same claim that German doctors made about deaths in Nazi child killing centers during the T4 program. In any case, this is an arena where angels should fear to tread.

ISawTheLight
ISawTheLight
1 year ago

“60% of individuals on the spectrum are low to nonverbal, only about 14% will ever live independently and only a very small percentage are “gifty.” ”

I’m curious as to where you got your numbers. In the communities I’m in (autistic adults), quite a few of us are living independently. We are or have been married/in relationships, have kids, jobs, etc. Maybe 20 or 30 years ago those number would have made more sense. The diagnostic criteria have expanded and are no longer restricted to those who are “severe” (though of course, putting autists on a scale of mild to severe is missing the whole point that every autistic person struggles in different ways). I would not have been diagnosed as a child, but I’m 99.9999% sure I’m on the spectrum (adult diagnosis is prohibitively expensive, but I have had two medical professionals – my GP and a therapis – agree with my self-diagnosis, based on many online resources as well as the experiences of other autistic adults whose experiences match mine very, very closely). Most more “highly functioning” autistic adults slip under the radar because we have learned to mask very successfully, and appear neurotypical to the outside world. My son has been officially diagnosed since he was 2 1/2 (he’s 10 now), but I have every confidence he will be able to live independently. He is highly verbal (though he was speech delayed) and smart as a whip, and the sweetest kid, who displayed empathy even as a toddler.

I do agree that autistic kids are often treated shamefully in the education system (though we are fortunate that that hasn’t happened to my son) and the stories of violence and restraint are terrifying and heartbreaking. There are a lot of damaging myths about autism that lead to these sorts of situations, along with things like ABA “therapy” which is abusive.

nomar
nomar
1 year ago
Reply to  Ellen

Pretty sure Asperger’s doesn’t cause people to *gloat* about their abusive behavior.

Nut Cluster Free Zone
Nut Cluster Free Zone
1 year ago
Reply to  nomar

The narcissistic 😏 smirk

Apidae
Apidae
1 year ago
Reply to  Ellen

I’m sorry your ex tried to blame their alleged autism for their choice to be a shitty human being, but it would be super great if you didn’t use that as a green light to crap on everyone else with autism.

Meanwell
Meanwell
1 year ago
Reply to  Ellen

For what it’s worth my therapist told me that one of the key determinants between Asperger‘s and narcissistic traits is that people with autism‘ spectrum traits are never deliberately malicious or manipulative, they don’t have the neurological capacity
And if you are able to point out to them they have hurt someone they experience great remorse
Also the narcissist can be so self involved they appear to have the same behavioral deficits as autism but do not.

CakeEater'sDaughter
CakeEater'sDaughter
1 year ago
Reply to  Meanwell

I am inclined to disagree there.

My own father was in all probability autistic (of the high-IQ variety) _as well as_ a proud Machiavellian, and serial cake-eater.

I could supply many details as to why I think he was autistic, but rather than try to justify my opinion, just laying it out there that I believe this combination can happen. We are still at such an early stage of investigations and research around autism, with much yet to be understood.

weedfree
weedfree
1 year ago
Reply to  Meanwell

My son’s paed said the opposite ~ her observations of ex were he was “more autistic than (our) son” and that highly intelligent people lie even if they are autistic. Ex is a pathological liar, probably autistic, definitely a narc.

ISawTheLight
ISawTheLight
1 year ago
Reply to  Meanwell

Also, the term “Asperger’s” is no longer used, so if your therapist is still using it, they are not up to date. (Mostly because Hans Asperger was a Nazi doctor with…questionable methods.) It is all autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Nut Cluster Free Zone
Nut Cluster Free Zone
1 year ago
Reply to  ISawTheLight

Thanks for the info.

ISawTheLight
ISawTheLight
1 year ago
Reply to  Meanwell

“people with autism‘ spectrum traits are never deliberately malicious or manipulative, they don’t have the neurological capacity”. Um… We absolutely have the “neurological capacity”. It just makes me feel icky, so I don’t do it. Though, yes, often what is taken as “deliberate” maliciousness or an attempt to manipulate is just social ineptitude. Or, more often, it is neuroptypical people’s desire to read into any action things/motives that are not there. At least, that’s been my experience. Autistic people usually say what we mean, and others want to ascribe all kinds of ulterior motives and hidden meanings that don’t exist. FW certainly did (like, my “tone”, when in reality, I have no idea what my tone of voice is, or what my facial expressions are most of the time).

OHFFS
OHFFS
1 year ago
Reply to  ISawTheLight

My FW used to do the same thing about “tone” and accusing me of ulterior motives. Pure projection. I actually find it extremely difficult to not state my motives clearly, to manipulate or to lie. I could do it if I had to for the sake of the greater good, but it would feel terrible. For FW it is as natural as breathing.

The truth is what I value above everything else but compassion. I do reserve my compassion for those who can benefit from it and who deserve it, though. Somebody like Musk would certainly not be one of those people if he was in my life, nor is the FW. I don’t worry about the truth hurting the poor widdle fee-fees of toxic people like that.
Most people on the spectrum find it difficult to be dishonest or to be oblique and cagey. Therefore, manipulation is an effort. For a narc like Musk it is effortless.

Frustrated (more by the minute)
Frustrated (more by the minute)
1 year ago
Reply to  ISawTheLight

OMG yes, you are spot on. Neurological capacity. Jeezus.

First clue that a therapist doesn’t have proper training regarding autism: They toss around the term “Asperger’s” as though it’s still universally used and talks about an autistic person’s “capacity” as if such generalizations are even slightly appropriate or accurate.

Whenever anyone generalizes about chumps the ways people are missing CL’s points and generalizing about autistic people in this thread, we chumps would all freak out.

Involuntary Georgian
Involuntary Georgian
1 year ago
Reply to  ISawTheLight

I’m not autistic but I’ve gotten lots and lots of “check your tone” emails from XW. This is a tactic they use that has nothing to do with autism, though I can believe it’s harder to deal with if you’re autistic and therefore have trouble perceiving tone.

On occasion I have even tried to rebut accusations of “hostile tone” by stating that – as the person who actually wrote the phrases in question – I can assure XW that I did not feel, or intend, hostility. XW rejected my explanations, claiming either (a) that I was lying, (b) that I didn’t know my own mind, or (c) that “intent” was immaterial because it felt hostile to her, and moreover that in attempting to explain that I was not hostile I was denying the validity of her feelings. It was exhausting at the time, and it’s exhausting just writing it out now.

If I’m worried about my tone, I run stuff by OBS (the now-XW of the guy my wife was having an affair with). Most of the time OBS says “Your tone is fine. My XH said something much worse to me just last week. They’re such hypocrites”.

Dontfeellikedancin
Dontfeellikedancin
1 year ago

“(c) that “intent” was immaterial because it felt hostile to her, and moreover that in attempting to explain that I was not hostile I was denying the validity of her feelings.”

IG, aside from the fact that a-c are a complete mindfuck merry-go-round package, c in particular drove me in.sane. FW would claim I did something hurtful which drove him to cheat. I would say, that’s not how it happened and here is my journal entry, or an email, or a voicemail, or the story my family tells every time we talk about that day.

FW would say, well I don’t remember the actual EVENTS but I remember how it made me FEEL, and that is the point, that you are mean and make me feel bad.

Well Jesus H. Not only do I have to walk on eggshells so I don’t cause you to “shut down.” Now I’m responsible for how you feel about things I didn’t even do/say. Stop the merry-go-round! I’m getting off.

ISawTheLight
ISawTheLight
1 year ago

I think you are right, that FW’s use this talk about tones to gaslight us, but it certainly makes it harder if you’ve grown up with people frequently ascribing emotions to you that you don’t have (I often had people claiming I was angry when I was not at all angry, just calm; you know, RBF) or with people constantly misunderstanding you, thinking you’re being rude or whatever, when you’re just asking a genuine question. I also can’t always tell whether I’m speaking too loudly or too softly (I’ve been told I’m “shouting” or “mumbling” and honestly it all sounds the same in my head). FW exploited all of that. And once he’d decided how I “really” felt, there was no disabusing him of his invention.

Frustrated
Frustrated
1 year ago
Reply to  Ellen

No — because anyone can use any thing to write off any shitty behavior. To call that thing out as specifically causative of that behavior paints the thing as the problem, not the behavior, thereby suggesting that everyone with the thing is prone to the behavior.

(Example: If I said we should talk about how everyone I had ever seen or met named Ellen was a person who screamed at children and said it was ok for them to do it because they were named Ellen, I doubt loads of people named Ellen would calmly respond “yeah, I can see why you feel that way, Ellens can be like that”.)

Quetzal
Quetzal
1 year ago
Reply to  Ellen

There’s an overlap between autism and narcissism/sociopathy , but because either condition can run exclusively, there is little point in focusing on that. A jerk is a jerk, no matter their diagnosis.

Sincerely, an autistic Psychologist & chump

Lizza
Lizza
1 year ago
Reply to  Quetzal

“There’s an overlap between autism and narcissism/sociopathy , but because either condition can run exclusively, there is little point in focusing on that. A jerk is a jerk, no matter their diagnosis.”

YES! My ex probably has autism, but he is highly narcissistic. I was told by our marriage therapist that he probably has a personality disorder.

On the other hand, one of my children has been diagnosed with Asperger’s but they are still a caring person. People with autism do not have to be jerks.

Meg
Meg
1 year ago
Reply to  Lizza

Correct. The “autistic people can’t have empathy” thing is a lie. Most of us are deeply and intensely empathetic. His autism is relevant, but it is in no way *why* he’s narcissistic. Musk does harm to autistic people bc he’s an Asperger’s supremacist and insists on using the term despite it no longer being a diagnosis. He also supports genetic research for a “cure,” when there is no such thing unless you eradicate us from the gene pool.

portia
portia
1 year ago
Reply to  Quetzal

I know that there are many conditions that people have which causes them to react to information and other people differently. I don’t pretend to understand. There are too many variations, and I am not educated in this area.

I do know when someone acts like a jerk, I don’t particularly need to know why. If they are a jerk, I look for the closest exit. I have learned to protect my best interests by leaving a jerk and gaining a better life.

doingme
doingme
1 year ago
Reply to  Ellen

Let’s no go there.

Hcard
Hcard
1 year ago
Reply to  Tracy Schorn

CL , that actually left me with my mouth open, head spinning. Took a minute to believe he really said that. Eye roll

ISawTheLight
ISawTheLight
1 year ago

Also a narcissist’s belief that the rules don’t apply to them. Elon offers to buy Twitter for an INSANE amount of money. Tries to back out later. Forced to do it because that’s how contracts work. And a huge reason why he seemed to want it is because he wanted to stop people from insulting him.

Honestly I’m quite sad about Twitter’s likely demise. I found wonderful people there, got involved in the academic community, met people from all walks of life and learned a lot from them. Plus the freedom to interact with absolutely anyone, which allowed me to chat to several favorite authors, and even was able to be a beta reader for one of them (which was amazing). I will miss it.

Innocencelost
Innocencelost
1 year ago
Reply to  ISawTheLight

I don’t Tweet, but I thought he had to go forward with buying it because his Tweet about doing so caused a large change in the stock price and he didn’t want to get into trouble for illegal market manipulation

TwinsDad
TwinsDad
1 year ago

“unreciprocated devotion” – the reality behind unconditional love.

Kim
Kim
1 year ago

I love you CL but I’m going to disagree, at least partially.

There’s probably a certain level of narcissism going on with him, although I also think he’s on the spectrum and lacks empathy.

But what he’s doing st Twitter is a strategy a lot of companies use….Elon is just vocal about it.

Twitter isn’t profitable. Unless someone willingly bankrolls that it can’t continue long term. Dorsey has said as much. He’s trying to see who the productive employees are by seeing how they react to tough talk. I doubt most of this will continue, and once the productive people are identified they’ll start hiring people to fill the gaps of those who either quit or got let go.

Money isn’t everything….people matter too….but they can’t lose money forever. The model Twitter had wasn’t working financially…if it was this purchase wouldn’t have happened

Meg
Meg
1 year ago
Reply to  Kim

Being autistic does not mean lacking empathy, if that’s what you meant to say. Please be cautious not to spread harmful stereotypes about us.

Lizza
Lizza
1 year ago
Reply to  Kim

“But what he’s doing st Twitter is a strategy a lot of companies use….Elon is just vocal about it.”

I disagree. Here’s what Business Insider (dot) com has reported:

“Some parts of the company no longer have any employees, three people told Insider. The finance and accounting departments were hit hard by Thursday’s resignations, with all employees working in payroll, US tax, and its financial-reporting department now gone…”

That is not a “strategy” anybody would use. He is an out of control jerk. And now that people know that he’s a nut job, Tesla is dropping in value, too.

Hell of a Chump
Hell of a Chump
1 year ago
Reply to  Kim

Please see my earlier comment about equivocating autism to “zero empathy” or armchair speculations about various creepy public figures being on the spectrum. Those assumptions wade into hazardous waters.

New Beginnings
New Beginnings
1 year ago
Reply to  Kim

Kim: ‘Tough talk’ is not how you identify the ‘productive’ people. That’s how you identify the desperate people that don’t have any other choices. The ‘productive’ tech workers have choices and, for the most part, they will choose to work somewhere else. As a tech worker, I would have left. I’ll take my talents to some place that respects me.

OldButLearning
OldButLearning
1 year ago
Reply to  Kim

I always find it interesting when the Elon defenders come out – as if billionaires need them.

I am a software engineer in leadership, and what Elon has self-published about his actions from his understanding of the architecture and technology, is juvenile. He has had experienced engineers give him good advice, and he’s not only ignoring it, he’s openly mocking them for that sound advice. It’s not genius at work, and even if it was, it wouldn’t excuse his lack of integrity.

Limbo Chumpian
Limbo Chumpian
1 year ago
Reply to  Kim

This whole “it’s a test to see who the hard workers are” thing screams of the Q-anon folks and their “Trump is just trying to expose the mole in the midst” garbage. Musk isn’t saving Twitter with his tough talk. I just have no idea if he’s intentionally trying to tank it or not 🤷‍♀️

KarenE
KarenE
1 year ago
Reply to  Limbo Chumpian

Yeah, how exactly would that work? I’m an adult, doing an adult job, and someone starts threatening to fire me if I don’t put in toxic work hours and submit to bullying. I decide to quit. My colleague stays, for whatever reasons they have (such as a work visa they lose if they quit, or just fear of being out of work….). How could that possibly differentiate ‘hard workers’ from those who are slackers and not productive?

It’s also well known in software development that two hard working, well educated, experienced coders may have a difference in productivity by a factor of 10, quite easily. Partly based on what kinds of tasks they are doing, and partly on … god only knowsm, but it shows up quite predictably. So, as an employer, would I rather have the person who works 5 hours and produces the same amount as 5 other employees working 8 hours? Or the one who’s not that productive, but is willing to put in those 10 and 12 hour days and give up their weekends?

There’s no justification for Musk’s behaviour. This isn’t ‘new management, give them a chance’, it’s red flags on top of red flags.

nomar
nomar
1 year ago
Reply to  Kim

Most productive employees are already gone. Many of those who remain are foreign nationals on H-1B visas who may have to leave the county if their employment at Twitter ends. Many have been in the US 5, 10 years or more. They are essentially economic hostages and easy targets for Elmo’s uninformed tough-poser talk. As CL said, it’s a big pick me dance, demanded of those with huge sunk costs and few options. Twitter will survive in a much smaller form (mostly Elmo fan-boy types) with far less reach and worth a fraction of the purchase price.

Apidae
Apidae
1 year ago
Reply to  Kim

No, this is not a strategy any functional company used to remove underperforming workers. In fact what you end up with doing this “whaling and cutting” is chasing off good workers who have options to go elsewhere. Only the most desperate people will stay on a sinking ship captained by a capricious manchild.

And let’s not forget that he is tanking Twitter’s ability to raise revenue by scaring off advertisers en made.

ISawTheLight
ISawTheLight
1 year ago
Reply to  Kim

“I also think he’s on the spectrum and lacks empathy”. Can we PLEASE stop referring to autistic people as lacking empathy? We don’t. Most autistics, myself included, are hyper empathetic. We may not show it the way that neurotypicals do, but we most certainly feel it. Sociopathy/lack of empathy is something different to simply being autistic. A person can be both, but the lack of empathy is not a result of autism.

OHFFS
OHFFS
1 year ago
Reply to  ISawTheLight

I’m also on the spectrum with high empathy, SC. Many of us actually have so much empathy that it makes us uncomfortable being around others due to emotional contagion. I certainly have that problem, plus an extreme sensitivity to sensory input. It makes large social gatherings pure torture.

Doingme
Doingme
1 year ago
Reply to  ISawTheLight

Thank you. It’s amazing to see such ignorance.

SouthernChump
SouthernChump
1 year ago
Reply to  ISawTheLight

I totally agree with you and it’s frustrating when people go down this rabbit hole.

Wow
Wow
1 year ago
Reply to  Kim

Kim: I’m an HR person. Studies have shown that employees will do more, work more for those that they respect & like, not ones that they fear. It will only look on the outside that they’re doing more for a tyrant, but it’s optics. I disagree with Musk’s methods & would never advise an employer to manage in this way.

KB22
KB22
1 year ago
Reply to  Wow

I’m an HR person as well and you are accurate that you’ll get more from your employees if they have respect for people leading the company. I think Elon Musk is making a huge mistake by broadcasting sweeping terminations, get in line or else, etc. but from what I have recently read a lot the Twitter employees left in protest of the Musk takeover. Getting canned from a job by some crazy wing nut is one thing having a hissy fit and taking your ball home like a spoiled brat is quite another. As an HR person I would hesitate to consider someone that quit a job in protest before they gave new management a chance. It would look a lot better on their resume to search for a job while still employed.
This may not apply to Twitter (I don’t tweet and have no plans to start) but I take issue with employees dictating whether or not they come into the office to work and demand to work remotely when they were initially hired to to work in-person for the company.

CatsAreBetter
CatsAreBetter
1 year ago
Reply to  KB22

I’m a credentialed Agile Project Manager, and that type of management by terror is the absolute worst strategy, unless your true objective is to end up with a turkey farm run by a dodo until the predators come in for lunch. The “best” people can and will leave. Anyone who would stay on after the new owner so comprehensively shows his pasty rear is a fool or a tool. Musk has an extensive record of poor decisions at his other companies that is not at all difficult to find online.

Not putting up with sexual harassment, racism, wage theft, homophobia, or bullying isn’t “having a hissy fit” it’s having a modicum of self-respect and practicing self-care. Unless of course one is inclined to see bullying as a power move. I don’t, so I became a union steward. Winning judgments for wrongful termination is my jam.

Apidae
Apidae
1 year ago
Reply to  KB22

I would hesitate to work for a company where the HR person thought employees are “spoiled brats” for refusing to stay at a company taken over by a reckless narcissist who punishes anyone that dents his fragile little ego.

KB22
KB22
1 year ago
Reply to  Apidae

Well good for you. However, it seems quite possible in this case the reckless narcissist who punishes anyone that dents their fragile ego is working both ways.

Apidae
Apidae
1 year ago
Reply to  KB22

How so? Because Twitter employees who have other options looked at EM’s track record as a manager, and rationally decided they wanted no part of it? “But maybe he’s changed, give him a CHANCE!” Yeah, where have we all heard THAT before.

Frustrated
Frustrated
1 year ago
Reply to  Kim

Hm.

1) Being autistic doesn’t certainly mean a person lacks empathy. That relationship is far from 1:1. The perspective is based in very old thinking that empathy only exists if it’s visible in a very narrow range of behaviors. Modern descriptors have shed that false notion. Plus, it’s very easy for non-autistics to lack empathy. Best to stick to behaviors and leave any autism assumptions to the side.

2) Common corporate bad actions and damaging strategies are usually based entirely on decisions made by highly toxic narcissist leaders who are focused solely on their own gain and glory. People don’t typically reach high level corporate position levels through altruism, empathy, and crediting and rewarding others for such work. Nobody has made an “Angel Wears Prada” sequel yet.

3) All social media generates massive advertising revenue. All wealth generators (human and corporate) are experts at creative accounting, including massive writeoffs to avoid taxes, and they have more options for both because tax systems reward and favor existing wealth. Twitter isn’t profitable on paper solely because that appearance works to Twitter’s advantage.

All of CL’s observations still seem spot on to me.

OHFFS
OHFFS
1 year ago
Reply to  Frustrated

💯% right, Frustrated.

ISawTheLight
ISawTheLight
1 year ago
Reply to  Frustrated

Thank you for point number 1. God it’s exhausting to have to explain this over and over as an autistic person.

Lee Chump
Lee Chump
1 year ago
Reply to  ISawTheLight

I appreciate point 1 also. I almost skipped today’s subject because it was about Musk. Glad I did not especially because of the discussion about on the autism spectrum and the idea that some who are lack empathy. Thanks.

Hell of a Chump
Hell of a Chump
1 year ago
Reply to  Lee Chump

Consider the sources of those crappy claims. I remember how Prof. Simon Baron Cohen (cousin of Sacha but only inadvertently funny) got pilloried for his weird “zero empathy” arguments in which he repeatedly asserts the moldy claim that people on the spectrum uniformly lack empathy. He tries to pull the punch in one of his books by qualifying that people with autism don’t *mean* harm, but the book’s title is “The Science of Evil” for f*ck’s sake so the damage is done.

I ended up reading that awful book while researching a series on the modern resurrection of fascist “crime gene” theories for disability lawyers. Baron-Cohen cites these studies and theories but fails to mention that all are founded on blatantly racist science. If racist foundations aren’t enough, Baron-Cohen tosses a bit of misogyny on the flaming heap. Another bizarre claim he makes (apropos of nothing) is that Marilyn Monroe suffered from inherent borderline personality disorder because of how unstable her relationships were. Never mind that Joe DiMaggio beat the crap out of her and she was repeatedly raped from childhood on– Baron Cohen doesn’t let things like mitigating fact get in the way of his weaponized “born criminal” theories. The funniest part of the book is the intro where he makes drippy assertions about his own empathic “pot of gold” which he claims is bequeathed to him via his family’s apparently morally transcendent genes. Nice way of exempting himself as he demonizes entire subsets of people with sweeping claims.

Kim
Kim
1 year ago
Reply to  Kim

Here’s a better explanation then I could give:
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1593434329153245185.html

portia
portia
1 year ago

When people are overly concerned with the outward signs of success it clearly indicates to me that they have a much different definition of success than I do. It does not mean you cannot enjoy pretty or nice things. It means you are not necessarily nice and pretty because your things are.

One of the reasons so many counterfeit products are available on the market is that people want to own the trappings of people they consider successful. Many confuse wealth with success. My FOO were working class people — farmers and coal miners, laborers. My parents were the first in their families to complete college and worked as teachers. I was not raised with a silver spoon, but I was lucky enough to have a spoon, and eat every day. In my mind, we were successful because we had a home, food, functional clothes, and we functioned as a family. We may have been dysfunctional in many ways, but we took care of our possessions. We were able to go to the doctor and dentist.

If we wanted to see pretty things, we could watch tv or movies, read books, go to a museum. We did not have to live the lifestyle of the rich and famous to be happy. A birthday card, or cake could be a celebration. We never expected to be treated like royalty or be treated with the deference the wealthy expect. We never asked anyone, “Do you know who I am?”

When I hear people described as “successful businessman” because they achieved wealth, I always wonder what the people who worked for them had to sacrifice so that they can be wealthy? What natural resources did they exploit so that they could be wealthy? What tax breaks did they receive, privileged loans did they have from the government to make them wealthy? What did the taxpayers, working class folks, have to pay for these folks to achieve wealth? Why do they have so many marriages, so many residences, cars, clothes, possessions?

If a “successful” person doesn’t pay taxes because he is “smart”, doesn’t pay workers or honor contracts, because he is “smart” enough to bankrupt companies, buys a company and then lays off half the people who work there, without even knowing what they do, creates a hostile work environment for those who stay — I have to wonder if they really are smart or successful? I would not describe them with those terms.

I am not against the desire people have to work and build a business for themselves, work to have a better home and life for their families. I am against greedy people who never have enough, never appreciate anything, or give a thought to the feelings and needs of the less wealthy people of this world.

Marathon Chump
Marathon Chump
1 year ago
Reply to  portia

Portia, would you please run for public office? This is a brilliant analysis and we need you in Congress.

portia
portia
1 year ago
Reply to  Marathon Chump

I would never enter politics. I tend to speak my mind and try to be truthful. Those are not political skills. Besides, I live in a very red state where the people do not like change, or new ideas, or any way of thinking that is not approved by the old school religious interpretation of the King James Bible. I know some very good people, personally, but their minds snapped shut a long time ago, and they would find my ideology shocking, if only they knew!!!!!

Jade
Jade
1 year ago
Reply to  portia

Well said, Portia. I come from a similar background. People like Elon Musk will not understand what true wealth is.

Personally, I hope the remaining workers unionize (evil laugh).

Bruno
Bruno
1 year ago
Reply to  portia

Couldn’t agree more.
To put a seasonal spin on it:
Musk=Mr. Potter=Scurvy little spider
https://youtu.be/WcY8G3vrG5c

They call me Alimony
They call me Alimony
1 year ago

“But Tracy, Elon Musk is a billionaire super genius molded from congealed weasel fat! He’s not like mere mortals!
On the contrary, he’s like every awful boss/dim-witted Schmoopie/vainglorious council treasurer/huckster life coach/deadbeat parent/two-bit jerk.”

You mean, he’s essentially just like his own father… and on track to do all the same shit short of losing all his cash. Let’s all hope he bypasses impregnating a step-daughter.

FYI
FYI
1 year ago

Yours is the greatest screen name ever.

Wow
Wow
1 year ago

Your narcissist list is bang on. Musk is just another ego-driven wind-bag who hurts people to get what he wants. No cost is too big for him. All his partners, children, employees are just little chess pieces to move around or knock over at whim. He was raised by a narcissist creep dad so I feel bad for him when he was a kid. But he could’ve went to therapy for that & not chosen to be a chip off the old dad block when he grew up.

paigeup
paigeup
1 year ago

Exactly how the USPS has been dysfunctioning for years.

Ph.D.inChump
Ph.D.inChump
1 year ago
Reply to  paigeup

Non sequitur much?

KADawn
KADawn
1 year ago
Reply to  Ph.D.inChump

right? And also not even remotely true, even at the height of Trump trying to destroy the USPS.

Nut Cluster Free Zone
Nut Cluster Free Zone
1 year ago
Reply to  KADawn

(Where do the missing pieces (sent and never received) of mail go ? Why does my neighbor’s mail end up pushed through MY slot ? There are days when our block doesn’t get any delivery at all. Amazon, UPS, FedEx and DHL come by several times a day though. Rant over)

chumped48
chumped48
1 year ago

Spot. Fucking. On. Brava!

SouthernChump
SouthernChump
1 year ago

He is a flaming narc! Any narc survivor who has healed and understands the tall tail signs of a narc can see him 1,000 miles away along with the sludge of dead souls he has crucified.

I feel for the innocent children that he has fathered into this shit of a clown show. They will never have any resemblance of a healthy parent/child relationship because he’s a narc and the women he impregnates are clearly unhealthy for even gravitating toward this D-bag!

Even his ex wife is under the veil of his evil charm…..just listen to her TedTalk. She empathizes with him (GAG!). And, not just a little. She suggests that he went off the deep end after their baby passed away bc he couldn’t take the emotional burden.
(Nah, gurl! That flaming shit show of a narc left because it’s was a great excuse to get out of a responsibility and stick his dick in crazy pussy to, you know, “do his part to populate the world” as he so calls it.).
It blew my mind how a smart and articulate woman who seemed like she had her head on somewhat straight was downplaying his disgusting pasty white narc ass. She was peddling that BS as if her life depended on it. Which made me realize she was just as unhealthy as he and his followers.

Those poor kids! They may have all the money in the world but they will NEVER have a healthy relationship with their father or their mothers. They are all going to be raised in one big cesspool of mindfuck. It will be like the Hunger Games Musk style😒

Persephone
Persephone
1 year ago
Reply to  SouthernChump

Elon Musk appears to have breeding fetish, trying to impregnate as many women with as many children as possible. You know, like a director of a fertility clinic who turns out to be the father of all the children from donated sperm at his clinic (happened, and not only once). Like Michael Jackson. Eppstein, Weinstein, prince Andrew, he’s too rich for somebody around him to tell him he’s weird/ sick in his head/ wrong/ dliong something illegal.

SouthernChump
SouthernChump
1 year ago
Reply to  Persephone

You are spot on! He talks about how we all need to do our part to populate the world.

Nut Cluster Free Zone
Nut Cluster Free Zone
1 year ago
Reply to  Persephone

Don’t forget Nick Cannon 🤦‍♀️

I.love.Tuesdays
I.love.Tuesdays
1 year ago

You have just described Silicon Valley…

Latitude
Latitude
1 year ago

Since the advent of competing platforms of global social media every freak, Narc, maladapted discontent and self-serving, attention-seeking cause has become the new normal. Any freak show can now present front-and-center to the world.

Notice the lack of quality discourse, persons with time-tested credentials, humble servants of humanity, proven leaders, and respectable leadership present among those monolpolizing media.

New generations are being raised on this example of success. Is it any wonder the crud crawls out from under the rocks to be seen and heard? None of this would exist without a platform and useful mouthpiece – often bought and paid for by those least fit for leadership of any kind.

Chumpnomore6
Chumpnomore6
1 year ago

“Elon Musk is a billionaire super genius molded from congealed weasel fat”

😂😂👏👏😆😆
CL, you’re brilliant.

I wouldn’t touch Twitter with a 100 foot pole, but your synopsis of Musk seems spot on. Having billions doesn’t stop you from being a narcissistic piece of shit, just makes you a rich one.

I said this on the other Musk post, having read Robson’s The Psychopath Test, Musk ticks a lot of boxes. 🤮

❤️ Velvet Hammer ❤️
❤️ Velvet Hammer ❤️
1 year ago

The company I own with Traitor Ex makes parts for Tesla. I can say with authority that how someone treats one person is how they treat everyone. The “everyones” often don’t believe that. That is especially the case with chumps, who see the OP as the recipient of “love” from the cheater, and themselves deprived of “love”. Character is Exhibit A, and is the incontrovertible evidence of how someone treats others. All others.
Trust that they will get everything you did. Chumps, lied to and deceived, actually experience the better version of the person. But it’s fake. Affair accomplices knowingly choose the Dorian Gray rotten portrait hiding in the attic. Not very bright, IMHO.

Here in San Francisco, a beautiful jewel of a city, we have been slimed by the tech bro frat boy, overrun by those greedy lemmings suffering from character rot. Just last Saturday, I saw a billboard on 101 for a dating app based on a high income level. As if that meant jack. Blecch.

No surprises here. As I said, Elon just keeps proving that how someone treats one person is how they treat everyone. Wise people run from those who fuck over their family and friends.

https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-lawsuits-former-workers-claim-racial-discrimination-sexual-harassment-2022-3

Chumpasaurus45
Chumpasaurus45
1 year ago

“Wise people run from those who fuck over their family and friends.”
Absolutely true, VH, I agree with that.
Elon has been a bizarre curiosity. Is he a some kind of alien? Is he one of the rare individuals who have seemingly been put on this earth to advance civilization? Or is he a destructive force that we won’t be able to fully grasped the effects of until 100 years have passed us by? Hard to know.
He’s definitely someone who needs tremendous power and the limelight to function and will topple who or whatever he needs to get there.
So I’d say, yeah, he’s a standout genius with tremendous capabilities but also a high level malignant narcissist who is unable to reign in his unquenchable desires for control. All that he sees in his view, he wants power over, at any and all costs.
Can he be a force for good? Yes, he probably can.
Can he be a force for evil? Yes, he probably can.
Hard in my mind to fully call it yet. No one any person should get too close to I’d say, or feel safe with.
His goals and entitlement are so massive, he will crush anyone who denies him that. Once someone has more wealth than they could ever need, it’s power and attention that appears to motivate them.

Involuntary Georgian
Involuntary Georgian
1 year ago

Hey! I’m heading to SF tonight for Thanksgiving. My daughter moved out there for a job a couple of days before the Metapocalypse, She was employed for exactly 48 hours.

❤️ Velvet Hammer ❤️
❤️ Velvet Hammer ❤️
1 year ago

Involuntary, let me know if you want to grab coffee while you’re here. Tracy can connect us.

XXOO

I.loves.Tuesdays
I.loves.Tuesdays
1 year ago

I saw that billboard…
The real fun has been watching the various bros losing their money to the crypto fraud FTX.
So called millionaires now zero-aires.

If Chumplady wants to see a den of sociopath-narcs, look into Sam Bankman-Fried CEO of FTX.
His parents are BOTH Stanford law professors.

❤️ Velvet Hammer ❤️
❤️ Velvet Hammer ❤️
1 year ago

I loves, I should be grateful whenever shallow people identify themselves and conspire to stick together….

MyRedSandals
MyRedSandals
1 year ago

In my 45 years of professional employment, I’ve worked for some absolutely horrible, nightmarish bosses — self-absorbed tyrants who ruled by intimidation and threats, condescension, secrecy and first-class assholery — as well as for others who expected just as much unbridled loyalty, dedication, productivity and output but for whom I’d not hesitate to walk barefoot through cut glass.

The difference?

The horrible bosses make everything about themselves so they reap all the benefits, gain all the recognition and take all the bows. Me, me, me, me, me!

On the other hand, the stellar bosses make everything about their team and they continually work to build more cohesiveness, more transparency and more synergy so that everyone benefits; each team member is recognized and appreciated for their unique contribution, they feel included and valued, and they know that the team as a whole was successful only because each individual member did their part to work for the common good.

I wouldn’t last more than 5 minutes working for Elon Musk. Everything about him and his methods abhorrent to me.

Confused123
Confused123
1 year ago

I can explain the Elon Musk and the Twitter shit show in one word..”Hubris”. It a word that should be associated with all Narcissists. And he’s a narcissist if nothing else. I hate the guy. Always have. I deleted my Twitter account the moment he bought it. I don’t need to support him in any manner including Tesla.

Nut Cluster Free Zone
Nut Cluster Free Zone
1 year ago
Reply to  Confused123

May his hubris be his nemesis.

KADawn
KADawn
1 year ago

All I can say is… when your entire payroll and accounting department is gone, I don’t think the last 6-months of code from however many remaining coders there are is really going to save your ass, Elon.

Persephone
Persephone
1 year ago

Fun fact: do you know who’re ‘quiet quitters’? No, they aren’t people who’re quietly looking for another job. These ‘re people who don’t want to walk an extra mile but just work according to their job descriptions, i.e. don’t want to work for free (like Musk expects from his employees – and not only him). Apparently, these employees are now becoming a big problem and a subject of management and other similar studies.
Yeah, Elon, no, have you heard recently of global skill shortage, especially in IT?

Skunkcabbage
Skunkcabbage
1 year ago

Perfectly stated. Had a conversation with a co-worker about what motivated Musk’s behavior. It was my assessment too that its just another megalomaniac narcissist doing their thing.

Edie
Edie
1 year ago

Justine Musk, Elon’s first wife and the mother of their 5 living sons and one deceased son, has a very compelling take about what it was like being Elon’s trophy wife, and how he changed when get got wealth. Reminds me of the Chump Spouse Appliance experience.

https://www.marieclaire.com/sex-love/a5380/millionaire-starter-wife/

Wow
Wow
1 year ago
Reply to  Edie

I’m glad she got out from his control-freakness !!!

Apidae
Apidae
1 year ago
Reply to  Edie

The thing that jumps out at me is her recounting of how their first son died in her arms. Elon is now telling this story about how HE held their son when he did. I don’t discount his grief and real loss, but how like a narc to always make himself the hero of every story.

walkbymyself
walkbymyself
1 year ago

“Maybe this is three-dimensional chess and we cannot comprehend the deep sophistication of this business strategy.”

There are 44 billion ways Musk reminds me of my ex, and certainly suckering people into believing his every idiotic utterance is secretly brilliant beyond our mere human comprehension, is one of them. My husband used to claim his financial management was so complex nobody but him could really understand it.

I understood it pretty well: he was stealing money. It’s amazing how many people were willing to believe that he was just managing it in a way ordinary mortals couldn’t possibly understand.

MegaMeh
MegaMeh
1 year ago
Reply to  walkbymyself

That’s how Bernie Madoff suckered folks in too. His stock market and money handling “strategy” were just too complex for the ordinary folks to understand. Look how that worked out. He was just more low key than the MuskRat, but a total narc as well.

Leftbehindlily
Leftbehindlily
1 year ago

I think it is a pity that it takes a guy from another country to teach America about free speech. Also, I do think he’s a lot smarter than most of us. I may not like what someone says, or how or where they say it, but I understand that either we all have free speech, or none of us has free speech.

GTO
GTO
1 year ago
Reply to  Leftbehindlily

Yeah, free speech is feedom from government, not freedom from consequences. Would love it if more “patriots” would actually understand that.

OHFFS
OHFFS
1 year ago
Reply to  Leftbehindlily

Except he is not providing free speech, LBL. He is banning people for mocking and criticizing him or his products. He’s a complete hypocrite.
You didn’t think a guy like him actually has principles, did you? Nope. He’s a completely self-serving, dishonest jackoff.

neversawitcoming
neversawitcoming
1 year ago
Reply to  Leftbehindlily

I don’t think he is smarter than MOST of us – he has a pathological need to acquire.

The first Amendment was never intended to provide for absolute freedom of speech. There have always been limitations in the interest of the public good. The first Amendment provides that the Government cannot limit the right of the people to speech (again with certain exceptions for the common good) and freedom of speech never included freedom from the consequences of that speech.

Daisy
Daisy
1 year ago
Reply to  Leftbehindlily

He just tweeted he’s limiting “negative” comments.

OHFFS
OHFFS
1 year ago
Reply to  Daisy

Yeah, the “free speech” lasted a hot minute. He started banning people who were criticizing him almost immediately. He explicitly stated that he would allow parody accounts, then banned accounts that were parodies of him.
The man is contemptible.

KarenE
KarenE
1 year ago
Reply to  Daisy

Especially negative comments about him. Can’t have that!

Hell of a Chump
Hell of a Chump
1 year ago

For anyone prone to romanticize self-appointed “geniuses” and think they deserve endless elbow room beyond forgiving them a few harmless quirks, there’s a funny, very concise book by Stanford organizational psych professor Robert Sutton titled “The No Asshole Rule” which contains perfect descriptions of Muskery (Muskisms?).

Dirty Water
Dirty Water
1 year ago

“Free speech” doesn’t mean what you appear to think it means. It means the government can’t censor speech (except in limited cases, for example, you can’t shout fire in a crowded theater). It does not mean that anyone is entitled to a particular platform from which to communicate, e.g. Twitter can decide who it wants to have access to its platform. Free speech also does not mean that there are no consequences for what someone chooses to say, e.g. you can tell your friend that you don’t like her dress and she can choose to end the friendship.

MARCUS LAZARUS
MARCUS LAZARUS
1 year ago

I never signed up for Twitter and have pretty much abandoned Fedbook as well. I’ll never get the 10 mins back I spent reading the parody account tweets of the now unemployed twits making 400K a year with unlimited lattes. My first job paid $2.35/hr so I have no pity for the enlightened code monkeys nor their South African zookeeper. He doesn’t pay my bills.
In MIB, Agents J & K used the New York Post as their source to locate Edgar (the bug) which pretty much is my position with that rag. I think Major General Igor Konashenkov’s reports on stopping the 8 year genocide of Russian speaking Ukrainians is a tad more important.
Narcs exist in corporations and governments at every level, not just at the top. Narcs seek control of their slaves and “the rules” don’t apply to them. They are “exempt”. My last engineering position with 19 years invested ended with being locked out of my corporate office computer and then a 3 minute closed door HR session, so I know what it feels like to be objectified, devalued and discarded (ODD). Which is the same process I experienced with my x afterwards.

Maybe someone will invent a THEY LIVE pair of sunglasses or app to identify them, but until then actions rather than words will have to suffice.

thrive
thrive
1 year ago

i dont believe in giving narcissists oxygen. to them any attention is better than no attention. recovery from being cold-cocked by a narcissist is hard and focus on doing nice things for ourselves, taking care of ourselves and building our self worth works better than focus on what shitheads these people are. hugs to the newbies.

Damechump
Damechump
1 year ago

I sold my stock in Tesla this morning. I like the ecological benefit of the electric cars, and I support innovation there, but he’s just lost his freaking mind. I really question his judgment. Buh-bye.

❤️ Velvet Hammer ❤️
❤️ Velvet Hammer ❤️
1 year ago
Reply to  Damechump

Dame, the carbon footprint of the manufacture of a Tesla is huge. The batteries have their own eco-issues.

As someone who manufactures for the electric car industry, and Tesla, my very humble opinion is that only green vehicle is a horse. IMHO.

Damechump
Damechump
1 year ago

Thank you, VH

OHFFS
OHFFS
1 year ago
Reply to  Damechump

Good for you, DC! 👏
I have an electric myself, but not a Tesla. No way am I buying anything that asshole is selling.

M
M
1 year ago

I find many narc are impulsive

They often do stupid things out of impulse, then try to dial them back later

And they are surprised at how easily others can see through them

Many times my ex would say “how did people know it was me that did that??” I would say because people see your pattern. Duh.

Incandescent Chump
Incandescent Chump
1 year ago
Reply to  M

Yes, my stepmother is that kind of narcissist too. She thinks she is being really subtle when being gratuitously nasty or cruel in social situations. I have even heard her congratulate herself later about how subtle she thinks she was! She gets this smug look on her face when she is doing the putdown behavior that is truly chilling. Everyone, and I do mean *everyone*, immediately sees exactly what she is doing and why. She has made no real friends over the decades I have known her, has only a few rich people she sucks up to opportunistically because she wants to share their status. Even her employees are shocked at how coldly she treats members of my father’s family. She does not realize what people really see about her–spends many thousands of dollars on stylish designer clothes in order to present a perfect exterior–but people see through that immediately the minute she starts the “subtle” putdowns and cruelties. She thinks that real warm people that know how to bond and offer real friendship are just chumps for her to exploit; again I have heard her make jokes about them to my father. I wish that she could learn what really makes a person beautiful.

Marco
Marco
1 year ago

Apparently Twitter was full of narcissists. Now they’ve had their morning lattes and gourmet lunches taken away. How cruel and they are now expected to work. Bwahahahaha! Hilarious!!!

New Beginnings
New Beginnings
1 year ago
Reply to  Marco

Wow, really? You think al Twitter employees were lazy narcissists? You know there are people on in this group that work for Twitter…. and you have just insulted all of them.

Chumpkin
Chumpkin
1 year ago

Isolating your targets is another part of an abusive narc’s MO. I bet that destroying the platform feels like a win for him, because it throws into chaos respectable discussions/connections by those who don’t respect him: journalists, artists, and intellectuals. What looks like weakness to us looks like strength to them (me alpha, look I destroy!) But hopefully we’ll see more consequences than that.

OHFFS
OHFFS
1 year ago

It’s such a shit show over there. He has been claiming it is now a bastion of freedom of speech, but is banning accounts that mock him. Then, of course, more people create accounts to mock him for banning those accounts. I feel sorry for anybody left working there. The workload must be crushing, plus they have a dictatorial twat for a boss. Talk about a toxic workplace. He’s making Twitter into an extension of his ego, like he does with everything. Dude is textbook NPD.

Lillian Rayward
Lillian Rayward
1 year ago

I’m not sure I agree with you on this one. He may be a narcissist, but he also makes all his inventions public, so any electric car manufacturer can benefit. Regarding Twitter, about time someone stood up and changed Twitters “selective users who agree with us, if not, you are banned” leaders. All public platforms should be open to anyone, regardless of opinions, race or religion. The exclusiveness of “the woke” is at best discriminatory, and at worst divisive and intolerant. It seems to be a world wide phenomenon to encourage divisiveness rather than inclusiveness, as we’ve all seen with “fact checkers” that are simply removing information that doesn’t agree with their “leaders” philosophy, rather than genuine facts. So I’ll take Elon Musk (narcissistic and adulterer) any day over Zuckerberg or other “woke” discriminators whose aim seems to be to spread oppression and division, rather than inclusion.

OHFFS
OHFFS
1 year ago

Oh, brother. Whataboutism has now hit CN. 🙄
It’s not a binary choice, you know. We don’t have to “take” either of them. I’m betting nobody here likes Zuckerberg either.

You’re saying Musk is creating a bastion of free expression and inclusiveness while he bans those who criticize him and his work, and has even launched lawsuits against them for doing so. This means you have no business even using the word facts, because what you say is factually unsuppprtable. Enjoy the chance for pious hypocrisy while it lasts. It’s rapidly running out as Musk proves he believes in the exact opposite of what he proclaims.

OHFFS
OHFFS
1 year ago
Reply to  OHFFS

Excuse the typo. I meant to say unsupportable.

Sally McNab
Sally McNab
1 year ago

And I might add that Musk donated $5.7B …that’s BILLION in Tesla stock to charity in 2021. He did not announce it before or after the huge donation was made. It was discovered instead by the SEC. Tell me again that he’s a narcissist….please.

ISawTheLight
ISawTheLight
1 year ago
Reply to  Sally McNab

Oh, because narcissists are never philanthropic. LOL. You somehow knew about this without it being announced. It’s GREAT for image management. And when you’re fabulously wealthy like he is, you don’t feel even that huge sum. It could also have been useful for tax purposes.

My ex volunteered and did charity work, and people thought he was such a great guy. Meanwhile he was abusing me daily behind closed doors. Clearly the image management is working, since you equate charitable donations with being a good person.

Sally McNab
Sally McNab
1 year ago
Reply to  ISawTheLight

Musk is generally private about most of his philanthropy as he was with the latest $5.7B donation. It’s easy enough to find online how the donation was uncovered by the Securities and Exchange Commission and in fact was not divulged or announced by him.

I don’t necessarily equate philanthropy with a person’s character, particularly those that I don’t know. Just as I don’t make character judgments about people I don’t know personally.

I cannot be so dismissive as some of Musk’s philanthropy which has been transformative in the lives of many. I also don’t buy into the hype that is spewed by the media about him, politicians or anyone else I don’t know. I can see the media spin is working on those who choose to blindly buy in.

Unpopular opinion alert. Painting everyone with a broad brush because of what we may have experienced with a past significant other is unhealthy and frankly pathetic. We all have responsibility for how we act, both out in the world and in our personal relationships. Perpetual victim-hood is a useless cloak to wear.

I have noticed that this forum has been alternately useful and destructive in terms of my personal healing after infidelity. The constant negativity, name-calling and dismissiveness has driven me to meh.. about this blog.

That is all.

OHFFS
OHFFS
1 year ago
Reply to  Sally McNab

I meant to add that it’s interesting how you coopted the same language fuckwits using when blame-shifting and trying to excuse their behavior.

“pathetic.”
“perpetual victim-hood”
“negativity”
“judgment”
“blind”

The only thing you left out was asking us why we don’t believe Musk rather than our lying eyes.

If you really were a regular reader here, you’d know we trade mostly in humor to cope with our pain, not “negativity” or “perpetual victim-hood.”

OHFFS
OHFFS
1 year ago
Reply to  Sally McNab

“Just as I don’t make character judgments about people I don’t know personally.”

“Painting everyone with a broad brush because of what we may have experienced with a past significant other is unhealthy and frankly pathetic. We all have responsibility for how we act, both out in the world and in our personal relationships. Perpetual victim-hood is a useless cloak to wear.”

“The constant negativity, name-calling and dismissiveness”

Good to know you don’t judge people you don’t know personally.😄 I guess those of us on this blog whom you have grouped together to lambast with this post don’t count as people?

False piety and and smug hypocrisy don’t cut it around here. If I had to guess, that’s probably what really bothers you about the blog. If you were meh about it, you wouldn’t be here posting an angry rant cloaked in pompous hectoring.

Ooh, and you used the savage, devastating “that is all” closer, too. You sure put us in our place.🥱

Look, I can see why you might be a bit miffed. You’re clearly a Musk fangirl, so you got pissed off and felt the need to defend him by trying to discredit those who criticize him, including CL and CN. I don’t personally get it because I’ve never been a big enough fan of any celebrity to do such a thing, but I understand that others are. It might be a smart idea to just tell the truth without all the hostility and pious window dressing next time. Like this;
“I admire Elon Musk’s work and philanthropy, so I resent the fact that others are criticizing him. I don’t really understand the basis of your dislike for him, CL and CN. Could you please explain?”
There. See how easy it is?

DrChump
DrChump
1 year ago
Reply to  Sally McNab

Sally, I do love this blog but at times I am reminded that we all have different opinions. I come here because misery enjoys company, and it is comforting to be around people who understand.
I held off commenting on this blog because I like Elon Musk, or should I say I find Mr Musk to be very interesting and brilliant. He is publicly showing us how he is running Twitter. He cannot be more transparent. He will no doubt make mistakes but is testing different solutions and we are witnessing it in real time watching him transform the company. He may fail but I wouldn’t bet against him.
He gave his employees a choice to stay and work or leave with a package and many took the package. That is on them. Zuckerburg just laid off 13% of Meta employees. Amazon also has cut workforce. FB and Amazon employees didn’t have a choice. Musk Gave his employees a choice. That one move immensely cut overhead. That puts Twitter one step closer to the road of being profitable. It has been reported from some sources that most of the engineers and coders stayed.
He is probably a Narcissist and maybe even a FW, but he is no fool and has proven that he knows how to build/run a company.

OHFFS
OHFFS
1 year ago
Reply to  DrChump

Dr C, a choice to be unemployed or work for somebody who is demonstrably a tyrant to his workforce (this is well known and can be uncovered with the lightest of research) could be described as a Sophie’s Choice.
So it doesn’t mean what you think it means about his character. He’s fired many employees without cause in the past. Again, this is well documented. He gave these ones a choice because he needed them to get his ideas for Twitter up and running.

I’m not sure what you mean about being transparent, but he certainly lied about allowing freedom of expression. It seems what he really intended was to let people like Trump keep on lying and making libelous accusations shamelessly while banning his own critics for telling the truth.

As I was explaining to the other Musk fan, one does not sign on as approving of Zuckerberg or Bezos because one disapproves of Musk. Happily, we can dislike them all. So making those kind of comparisons aren’t useful when discussing this.

It sucks finding out somebody you admired has feet of clay. We all found that out about our FWs. We learned to face it rather than deny it. So why be chumpy about some celebrity? I don’t understand this attitude.

ChumpFromF
ChumpFromF
1 year ago

I am an AI engineer and Elon Musk was my hero. His achievements exceeded my wildest dreams. And then… I learnt that his dad is super rich and made his stepdaughter pregnant. I began to see a weird mentality. Then Elon told people to have more children at the exact moment an ecological disaster is unraveling. He cancelled the hyperloop, all the work was for nothing and had destroyed another project that was not as exciting but would have suppressed traffic jams. I learnt he has not invented anything at Tesla. And now, Twitter. How can you run a company without its engineers ? The initial picture we were sold is far from reality I’m afraid.

Daughterofachump
Daughterofachump
1 year ago

As usual, you’re right, Chump Lady! On all 7 points.

It was reported on various sites that Bloomberg reported Twitter was asking people laid off to come back. I can’t check for myself because I don’t subscribe to Bloomberg.

It seems like Musk is unclear on the concept that he doesn’t own his employees. If they’re laid off, and asked to come back, they can choose not to! And if people don’t want to commit to work longer hours, guess what, they don’t have to!
And if he ends up without enough people to run the business, well, tough whatever! Have fun trying to replace them in the current labor market. ( I lived through this at a past employer when half the department left, and it took months to replace and train them.)

And yes, I do get the impression from media coverage that he thinks engineers from his other companies are interchangeable with Twitter engineers. (???) Seem like he’s, to put it politely, unclear on a lot of concepts.

ISawTheLight
ISawTheLight
1 year ago

If he was that concerned about homelessness or food shortages, he could have used $44 billion dollars to make a sizeable dent in solving those problems instead of buying a company that was “bleeding money”. Instead, he’s looking for people on Twitter who are making fun of him and banning them, even when they followed his inane rule about labeling parody accounts.

And as someone who has both worked from home and from the office…I don’t see anything “entitled” about working from home. I was more productive at home, saved gas (and all the carbon emissions from drivingg), got more time with my son, got more sleep, had a better work/life balance, saved money, and stayed healthier. I’d do it again in a heartbeat if my job would let me, and so would 90% of my coworkers. Instead, I had to sit 10 feet from coworkers who had covid, listening to them cough. I’m currently in a building with no heat when it’s below freezing outside, bundled up to my ears and miserably cold, because someone higher up decided we all needed to be on site for no good reason. I can do 100% of my job using my computer and a phone. Shut the “huge headquarters” down by all means and have employees continue to work from home – it is certainly more ecologically friendly.

Sally McNab
Sally McNab
1 year ago
Reply to  ISawTheLight

Must be nice. To work from home that is. Sorry you were forced to sit in proximity to coworkers with the sniffles, or hop in the car and drive to work.
Lest you forget that some of us, who work in Healthcare, have been forced to work away from home, for extremely long hours throughout the pandemic, directly with Covid patients. Working from home is a luxury and a huge entitlement. Only a narc would see it through the lense of how it is great for me, me, me.

ISawTheLight
ISawTheLight
1 year ago
Reply to  Sally McNab

As someone with severely damaged lungs from an illness that could have killed me (and took several years of medications to eradicate, one of which damaged my hearing) and who ends up in the hospital with pneumonia almost every year (except, unsurprisingly, the two years I worked from home), coworkers with Covid (not “the sniffles” – they tested positive) is a potential risk to my life. Any upper respiratory illness is frightening to me for this reason. Thank you for being so dismissive of my concerns. So much for working in health”care”.

Clearly you are jealous of those of us who got to work remotely during lockdown. My ex was the same, as he wasn’t able to work remotely, and never missed an opportunity to make me feel bad about it. He had worked at the same place as me and chose to leave, then bitched about his new job not switching to remote work.

It’s not my fault you work in healthcare. And the Twitter employees AREN’T in healthcare, so why shouldn’t they work from home? It’s a strange position to take that “since I can’t, no one should, and if they do they are ‘priviledged’ and I’m going to belittle them for it”. But that’s exactly what you are doing. That seems like a much more “narc” point of view than mine (if people can, then they should, as it saves resources and generally makes people more productive).

I was forced to work remotely by my job, and doing otherwise was not an option. And then I found I did more and better work in that environment than in an office, and had a better work/life balance. Just about everyone at my job found the same to be true. So string me up for that.

Wow.

ISawTheLight
ISawTheLight
1 year ago
Reply to  ISawTheLight

I see Sally McNab deleted most of their comments, like the one calling me a narcissist for thinking work from home is a good thing. LOL.

M1
M1
1 year ago
Reply to  Sally McNab

I worked from home during the pandemic and only went in to the office on the weekends, when no one else was there. I also continued to give blood every two months and the healthcare workers there were chatting amongst themselves that they were overjoyed that their commutes were so much better with everyone else off the roads and parking was so much better and it was so great, etc. Meanwhile I had walked to the collection sites to avoid public transport. There were and are hidden benefits to society as a whole of people working from home, even for those who couldn’t.

ISawTheLIght
ISawTheLIght
1 year ago
Reply to  M1

The very few people who stayed on-site at my job LOVED when most of the people were working remotely for exactly the reasons you state.

And for healthcare workers, it HAD to have been better with people working from home as it reduced transmission and kept people out of the hospital (it certainly did me – I usually end up with pneumonia at least once a year, and it usually lands me in the hospital). How is that ever a bad thing?

Nemesis
Nemesis
1 year ago

He’s deplorable. Deactivating my rarely used Twitter account was one of the best and easiest decisions I’ve ever made.