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Comment by psyc | Hacker News Reader

The other thread is full of this nonsense. You give the impression that you believe that free speech absolutists think you ought to be allowed to walk up to your CEO and tell him to go fuck himself, without retaliation. What other things would you have us believe that free speech absolutists would allow? Catcalling coworkers, perhaps? Threatening to murder someone's children?

No, you just want to snipe at Musk, and you see this is a way to do it.

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Did you read the letter? No where does it tell musk to go fuck himself. That’s your characterization.

I read the letter, and thought it was reasonable. If it was my company, I would allow it. Been a founder several times, so that’s not just wild speculation. The only way to get your reading of it is if you have super thin skin and can’t take any criticism.

My comment has nothing to do with the letter. It’s about people using a false idea of what Musk’s position on speech is to score easy points.

Hilariously, in both threads I have not seen a single comment claiming that "spacex is a private company and free speech doesn't apply and blah blah blah".

As far as I can tell, having a billion dollars thins your skin pretty appreciably. Takes a few years for some people, but it seems to get them all in the end.

I guess with that kind of money you become acclimated to the company of sycophants, so critics become particularly vexing.

His actions show that he considers calling someone a child molester to be acceptable speech so it isn't too much to think that much more polite speech he would not have an issue with.

That person was not a boss or coworker, he was a stranger who had insulted him.

It's completely wild how over the past twelve months the anti-Musk people have somehow eclipsed the pro-Musk people in their monomania and inability to step back and objectively consider any situation.

> It's completely wild how over the past twelve months the anti-Musk people have somehow eclipsed the pro-Musk people in their monomania

He's a perpetually online guy, it was bound to happen. If he shut up every now and then it would help.

If he realized he can't derive unified theories of social behavior through logic untainted by the real world and then proudly announce them to universal acclaim, he could probably go back to the widely enjoyed persona of a year or two ago where the only die hard haters were Boeing stock holders.

> objectively consider any situation

hHaha, ok, I look forward to the objective discussion of the relative merits of calling someone a "pedo". Super objective!

> If he realized he can't derive unified theories of social behavior through logic untainted by the real world

This isn't at the root of what we're discussing here. That would be like applying Postel's law to natural language, confirmed by your own experience of receiving maybe a few passing "death threats" per month while bantering, while brushing aside the predicament of someone who receives ongoing death threats from a persistent stalker.

Rather, this topic just seems to be basic hypocrisy. If one cannot stomach a critique written in good faith to make one's company better, it's utterly disingenuous to invoke appeals to free speech elsewhere.

I feel like your rights to access the internet should be revoked until you can read your own comment.

Of course. People like to point out the man's hypocrisy. He claims to feel that people shouldn't be punished for the things they say, but has a long history of punishing people for the things they say.

He makes it so easy, and everyone can tell by his personality that it grates on him.

One can reasonably take positions such as "you can tell me to go fuck myself, and I'll appreciate if you articulate why" and "I don't mind being catcalled". I would expect someone describing themselves as a "free speech absolutist" to take such positions.

(Leaving aside your tangent of trying to make those decisions for others)

> you ought to be allowed to walk up to your CEO and tell him to go fuck himself

Yes. Every day of the week. Yes.

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