A couple weeks ago Elon Musk announced that he now holds 9.2% of Twitter’s stock, making him the company’s largest shareholder. He was offered, but rejected, a seat on Twitter’s board. Instead, he made a bid to buy Twitter outright for $54.20 a share, valuing Twitter at over $43 billion. He plans to take the company private, to “bring out its potential.” His ideas for change include switching from ad-based revenue to subscriptions to re-enliven organic content. Not many people are optimistic he’ll succeed, at least at this price, including himself.
But I’m delighted to see him try. More conservatives need to stand up and fight for control of Big Tech. We also need to prepare ourselves for a backlash intent on reducing anyone who rejects liberal ideals to second-class citizenship.
I don’t understand why more conservatives haven’t wrestled with big corporate liberals. Certainly, we have tried to compete using platforms like Parler and Truth Social. But Big Tech almost gleefully shut down such attempts, at least with Parler, by completely removing it from app stores. It felt like watching an amateur football player charge the best quarterback around only to receive a smirk and a backhanded slap across the face.
They “put us in our place,” demonstrating their reach. It was as if they said, “We own the entire internet. We own your devices, your ability to communicate, your access to information. We know what you say, where you are, and we can shut you down if we choose. The only reason we don’t is because we’re playing the long game. And you don’t even understand how.”
Why is there not a massive push to buy and establish server space that’s not controlled by the liberal masters of the universe? We need people like Elon Musk who will stand up openly and make the fight public. Otherwise, people don’t really understand what we’re facing or how to join in the effort to maintain freedom in our markets and thoughts.
Do we not realize the danger of our position? Are conservatives still living in a fairytale world, thinking it’s an exaggerated conspiracy theory that liberals are trying to take over control of the entire country and every level of society, including business?
Honestly, the response to Musk’s bid is genuinely frightening. A scathing opinion piece on CNN summed up the general take I’m seeing from liberals. They have wholeheartedly rejected Musk’s intention of restoring free speech on Twitter, advocating that the board gaslight all his opinions, even as their largest shareholder.
Last month, Musk ran a poll on Twitter, asking if users thought the platform supported free speech. Of over two million respondents, 70% replied, “No.” CNN’s Kate Alaimo said of the poll, “This was an outrageous manipulation. What's essential to a functioning democracy is accurate information.” Just asking about free speech is manipulation? Asking for our opinion instead of spoon-feeding us what you consider accurate is manipulation? They’re at it again. All they have to do is accuse us of the very things they do - misinformation, brainwashing - and then repeat the ironic lies until everyone believes them.
Other articles on CNN have asked, “Can Elon Musk be Stopped?” The overall attitude screams, “He shouldn’t be able to do this.” We already knew that liberals reject free speech, but it is this second assumption that I find most frightening. “He shouldn’t be able to buy stocks. People who don’t cave to liberal principles shouldn’t be able to buy and trade or head up major companies.”
This outrage should feel familiar because it’s what liberals did to Trump. One Twitter user tweeted, “‘I’m going to leave Twitter if Elon Musk takes over’ is the new ‘I’m going to move to Canada if Trump wins.’”
The attitude is the same. “Trump shouldn’t have won. He shouldn’t be allowed to lead. He shouldn’t have the right. Elon Musk shouldn’t be allowed to buy. He shouldn’t have the right.”
How long until liberals try to officially relegate conservatives to second-class citizenship, controlling not just what we say, and what jobs we can keep, but what we can buy and sell? Businesses are already caving to the liberal ESG metrics which evaluate and recommend companies to investors based on how well they maintain liberal environmental, social and governance standards. The attitude behind this is, “Businesses shouldn’t be able to grow, find investors and succeed unless they follow our rules.”
It’s not much of a stretch for them to flip this standard, rating individual citizens’ compliance the way China does, to ensure individuals can’t grow, buy and succeed unless they follow liberal rules.
I know the other side is willing to do this. An appalling number of people within my generation are willing to straight-up say that mean words (of course defined by them) should be criminalized. Some criminals lose the right to vote and bear arms. The crime of hurting someone’s feelings could very well bear the consequence of being banned from the social square, workplace and investment sector. We’re already seeing this unofficially with doxing, and if they get their way, it could become official.
I hope Musk gets a hold of Twitter. We need a shifting wind, a change in the balance of power in Big Tech and in the digital social square. I hope his actions serve as the start of an avalanche, incentivizing Americans to stand up and take control of companies that could otherwise control us, one step at a time. There are more of us than there are of them, and the numbers will only grow as entrepreneurs see the destructiveness of socialism and thought control. Let’s act like it!
Caylah Coffeen is the host of Prayers For Life Radio in Huntsville, and a millennial who speaks up for truth and a future as bright as the stars. Her column appears every Friday in 1819 News. The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of 1819 News. To comment, please send an email with your name and contact information to Commentary@1819News.com.
