@mekkaokereke One of the biggest "tells" in Musk's past is his private South African high school, which was white only for quite some time - and then VERY discriminatory, for years and years, with a white-centric "code of silence" and routine and sometimes vicious bullying by the rich, white students.

Elon left S. Africa for a reason. Integration after the fall of Apartheid - and the obligation to do national service - was what young Elon chose to run away from.
https://mastodon.social/@KraftTea/114224704324703852

@mekkaokereke Also too, the causal flow is in the opposite direction? Our system definitely rewards insane psychopaths with vast amounts of wealth.

@mekkaokereke

There's lots of evidence that rich people have less empathy...and also that people with low or no empathy (sociopaths) are more likely to become rich. (I wrote a book that discussed that.) They're deranged already. The money unleashes them, justifies their behaviour, removes accountability.

“we end the book concluding that wealth has its own deranging effects. It almost inevitably turns you into a supremacist"

#EatTheRich #TaxTheRich out of existence #wealth

@mekkaokereke @jeffzugale Money just enables them to step on the gas.

@mekkaokereke I didn't realize how messed up they all are until I listened to this interview with the author of "The Nerd Reich". I didn't understand the fascination of Thiel with the antichrist until this.

https://youtu.be/URpUHmw2coY?is=0WbGxNKSzSKD1AZ0

@mekkaokereke

How do people not get this? How did they not see Thiel when Facebook was new? How did they see Musk's crazypants comments about the cave rescuers and think "I still need to buy a Tesla"?

@mekkaokereke Power doesn't corrupt. Power reveals.

@mekkaokereke I don't think it's _just_ the wealth. It's also the power that corrupts and changes who you are - neither MelindaG, nor McKenzieB were in charge of multi billion dollar companies and had to go through the gruesome reality of operating one.

@mekkaokereke

True. Yet wealth does corrupt.

Statement of fact: Being absurdly rich results in an isolation from reality and being surrounded by people who will feed you information you want to hear and otherwise flatter your worst instincts; for money or to serve their own interests.

Theory: Therefore, being absurdly rich is a risk factor for mental health, especially for anyone already prone to narcissism or delusional thinking or who lacks self-awareness. It's like smoking, but for crazy…

@mekkaokereke

So basically, extreme wealth has the same effects as booze & testosterone: it just makes you more of what you already are.

@mekkaokereke being (half) black didn't stop Alex Karp (CEO of Palantir) from being ultra-fascist, though.

@mekkaokereke Extreme wealth is associated with endorsement of fascism the same way that excessive drinking is associated with thinking it would be really hillarious to put random things in your butt.

It's not everyone, but in both cases, the external condition allows certain people to believe that bad ideas are good, actually.

@mekkaokereke I would agree you don't magically become racist by becoming rich. Though I think there have been enough studies now that point out there's at least a higher chance of becoming an asshole. Combine that with being racist and society generally letting rich people do whatever they want, I suppose that can give the appearance that people become racist with wealth.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/sep/03/ig-nobel-prize-awards-2026-winners

@mekkaokereke What would you say about Bill Gates or Warren Buffet?

@mekkaokereke