Rocket Man, Defender of Free-Tweets
What Everyone Is Missing About Elon Musk’s Twitter Buy-In
Hearts all around the world fluttered giddily when word came that Donald Trump had been kicked off Twitter in January 2021.
His detractors generally viewed the Twitter ban as a long-overdue check on the unbridled expressive power of a man who they deemed at best irresponsible, and at worst an evil fascistic demagogue.
Many others, Trump fans and detractors alike, including the imperceptible Trump-ambivalent, have since voiced their outrage over the platform’s apparent suppression of free speech and discourse on what has become, for better and worse, the ‘public forum’ of the free world.
The debate has raged on amidst the perma-fire of the culture wars with no end in sight.
Then, one day, a heroic anti-hero rolled into town on his all-electric steed signaling a change in the winds.
His name is Elon Musk. And he is (excuse the pun) the most loaded gun in the west.
He is the most loaded clearly from having the world’s highest net worth, amassed both from serial entrepreneurial success and Tesla’s current sky-high valuation.
He’s the most loaded gun because he’s a self-proclaimed “free speech absolutist” and now owns 9.2% of Twitter.
I’ll leave it to political media outlets to speculate and comment on whether and how Musk will leverage his stake in the company to push Twitter towards observing the United States’ First Amendment protections on free speech.
It’s my job to point out to you what you might easily miss from this picture, even though it is staring you and me both dead in the face.
Here’s what’s obvious: Elon Musk is an active investor in Twitter. And it is only because he is an active investor in Twitter that he now has any say over what Twitter will do.
This is profoundly important.
The lesson is this: if you want a good, fulfilling life, and the chance to make an impact on the world, you must be active!
You can’t be a beach ball floating in the open seas, being variously blown to pristine tropical islands or dashed into rocks at nature’s complete whim.
Especially since sharp rocks have tropical islands so totally outnumbered.
You have to take action! And this is every bit as true when it comes to how you invest your hard-earned money.
Think about it this way: you had to be active in some way—or in many grueling ways over many, many days—to earn that money, so why be completely passive in how you invest it?
Now of course, passive investing is a solid and easily-recommended portion of a well-rounded investment portfolio.
But you will never see any headlines about a passive investor now possessing the power to influence the trajectory of society.
That’s because the winners in passive investing are primarily the mega corporations which own the funds: companies like BlackRock and Vanguard which are vacuuming up investment capital at startling rates.
“But Roger,” you object, “we’re not all Elon Musk!”
You’re right, we’re clearly not.
But everywhere down the line, at every level below world’s wealthiest rocket man, we are all of us faced with the same choice: to be passive mewling sheep who exchange our freedom and fulfillment for a false sense of security, or to be courageous and noble, deserving of success and actively striving to attain it!
Sure, owning 9.2% of Twitter might be beyond yours and my reach.
So leave it to Musk!
9.2% of some other company or venture might instead be your ticket!
But even if you have no aspirations to influence companies or society as a shareholder, one thing is absolutely certain.
100% of the thrill, rewards, and satisfaction of actively investing in specific companies is entirely within your grasp.
Grab hold!
Your adventure, and wealth, awaits!
To your wealth,
Roger S. Conrad