Elon Musk and Bill Maher found common ground on Friday realtime on HBO. Both have been damned if they do and damned if they don’t because of various controversies.
After a lengthy listing of Musk’s various business ventures, Maher said he knows Musk is doing well because he does things with a sense of humor, unlike Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, of whom Maher said he wasn’t even sure whether he was a real boy.
In turn, the Twitter boss admitted he was a longtime fan of Maher and even sat in the show’s live audience at one point.
“I’ve had it from both sides,” Maher said. “We’re called conservatives, but we haven’t really changed.”
Musk agreed. “I see myself as moderate,” he said, listing his work successes with electric vehicles, high storage batteries and solar energy. “That is not completely right.”
They agreed that the problem stems from wakefulness, which is “the opposite of liberal,” Maher said.
Musk noted that freedom of speech used to be a left-liberal value. “Now we’re seeing a desire to actually censor.” He added, “We should be extremely concerned about anything that undermines the First Amendment.” Musk added that the trend goes beyond national borders. “In many parts of the world that you think are similar to the US, the language laws are draconian.”
Freedom of speech, Musk said, is only relevant “if it’s someone you don’t like. If you like it, it’s easy.” Advocates of censorship, he noted, need to be aware: “At some point, it could be aimed at you.”
Maher asked when the “wake mind virus” started.
“It took a long time,” Musk said. “It’s been like this for a while. The level of indoctrination in schools goes beyond what parents realize. The experience we have (now) in high school and college is not what we had. And not for ten or 20 years. Parents do not know what is being taught or what is not being taught to them.”
Maher said he stopped tweeting because of the hordes of “mean girls” attacking anything that moves. Musk advised ignoring it. “That’s easy to say,” Maher replied. “They can’t take your job away from you.”
Next, they turned to AI, or artificial intelligence. Musk has come out in support of his development in his calls for a moratorium, citing the potential dangers. “If it’s a potential threat, there should be some regulatory body overseeing that so[developers]don’t cut corners,” Musk said.
The panel portion of the show saw Ian Bremmer, Founder and President of Eurasia Group and author of The Power of Crisis: How Three Threats – and Our Response – Will Change the World And Konstantin Kisin, co-host of the YouTube show and podcast TRIGGERnometry and author of An immigrant’s love letter to the West.
They discussed Tucker Carlson’s recent demise with Fox and Joe Biden’s decision to run again, which Maher strongly endorsed, much to Kisin’s chagrin.
Maher’s closing New Rules editorial focused on California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, whose absence from duty, diminished efficiency and general confusion are defended by some as an attack on women.
“Stop trying to turn Feinstein into a feminist crusade,” Maher said. “This isn’t about plumbing, it’s about their wiring.”