It is a mistake to lead off with "here's the thing about Elon Musk," because there's LOADS of things with Musk, but in particular. Let's set aside how ludicrous it is to claim that the protesters are being funded by some outside source, because sure that's worked in the past, and of course it's the Democrats, those notably cash-positive people, who are doing it.

Elon Musk is THE RICHEST MAN IN THE WORLD. If anyone could beat a theoretical money-backed protest against him, it would be him. Just offer to beat the offer of anyone funding the protesters. That's it! If they're only in it for the money then the protest would fold immediately.

More than that, Musk has literally paid people to vote in his favor in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race! The levels of hypocrisy are so staggeringly great that it risks materializing actual hippopotamuses on his properties.

I haven't checked to see if someone's mentioned it yet (it's a long thread!) but I want to put in a word for a piece of software I'm always touting: Simon Tatham's Puzzle Collection!

It's a wonder! 40 different kinds of randomly-generated puzzles, all free, all open source, and available for practically every platform. You can play it on Windows, Mac (if you compile it), Linux, iOS, Android, Java and Javascript in a web browser. It should rightfully be high up on the iOS and Android stores, but it's completely free, has no ads, doesn't track you and has no one paying to promote it. No one has a financial incentive to show it to you, so they don't. But you should know about it.

What will probably happen is a one or two term slump. What's different between then and now is the internet and social media, which fills most people's brains with a deluge of noise. In addition to the effects of misinformation daily telling people that the moon is the sun, most algorithms prioritize novelty, and nothing's more novel than the most stupidly wrong-headed take. We constantly hear the opinions of people who should be laughed out of the room! We sit and chuckle, but there's tens of millions of people who have poor media skills who it can actually influence.

There are people like this all around us, an invisible sea through which we swim unknowingly. Sorrow is the human condition, but we don't see it because most people don't communicate it.

Wait a moment....

"Work from home is here to stay, US data shows"

"Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O"

A friend of mine has right-wing parents who were Trump boosters in 2016. He says that January 6th left them aghast, and they aren't supporting him now. That's just two people sure, and this is entirely anecdotal, but it might be indicative of how the wind is blowing.

I used to work at a Dominos, and their side items have been ludicrously priced for a good while. There's usually a "coupon" in their app with a substantial discount on pizza, it's the only way I'd order from them.

Why is Microsoft even deciding what programs I can run on my computer in the first place? They're not malware, they shouldn't be doing this at all.

When I saw her name was Maryanne I was worried that she was "the good Trump," Mary, who has been very outspoken about her disdain for Donald. It appears that it wasn't.

Showrunnners are never absolutely sure how many more seasons they'll get. If a show is popular, they could end up having to continue it after a conclusion. Or the show could be popular but corporate priority could be elsewhere, and they'll be forced to wrap up promising storylines quickly. Even for shows that announce they have plans for a beginning, middle and end, it's possible that they'll be cancelled before end planned ending, or else have to stretch after the ending has been reached. Safer is to try to just coast along, being non-committal about major plot elements, until something happens that pushes the show to resolve things.

Now it's my turn to tell you basically what a lot of people here have already said, but maybe you can get something extra out of this telling.

Everyone who was mega-successful, in old age or young, has had a huge advantage somewhere that people rarely talk about. There are no exceptions to this, only cases where those advantages are lost to time or secrecy. And nearly every time, family wealth is involved in some way. Usually directly, but even if they never got a penny, being in a wealthy family brings you so many casual advantages.

You're comparing yourself to people who were dealt winning hands from the start. Like, a kid who gets a patent at a young age? Someone was coaching them, possibly someone with an agenda. Invents a new plastic? Uh-huh, at what age did they get into polymer chemistry? Who even told them polymer chemistry even existed? There's something else going on there. Don't let the media gaslight you into thinking you're "behind."

It's okay to be you! It's not a race, and even if it was, the people you're comparing yourself to had a gigantic head start.

Reddit is too big to die quickly (unless they suffer a catastrophic failure), but it's easy to see that it was an inflection point for them, that it's downhill from here. Remember: at one point, it looked like Yahoo Directory and Internet Explorer would be around forever too.