Mark Brittingham

I am the president of BSDI: a health promotion technology company.

[Mark Brittingham @MarkBrittingham]

Honest answer: because USAID had little to do with helping developing countries move forward and everything to do with funding a political class that often - if inadvertently - impedes human progress.

This seems terribly counter-intuitive until you realize that "helping" often destroys the mechanisms whereby the people help themselves.

For example, what happens to farmers and markets who have to compete with free food from the West? What happens to political evolution when oppressive governments get enormous grants to dole out to political favorites? etc.

Now, a reasonable counter-claim is that actual people have been harmed by USAID cuts (cuts to an ambulance service come to mind - easy to Google).

This is undoubtedly true.

The bigger picture, though, is that mortality rates have actually *fallen* since USAID was defunded.

Again, completely counter-intuitive if you believe in the power of governments to make peoples' lives better. Perfectly understandable if you recognize that incentives matter.

[Mark Brittingham @MarkBrittingham]

@hothingsgirlsay @msediewyatt Exactly - it amazes me that people think they are scoring points against this proposition when they are simply explaining how it happens.

[Mark Brittingham @MarkBrittingham]

Thank you for an excellent post! I have been thinking about this and related issues a lot lately.

If there is any one, true threat to the continued commitment of Western societies to gender equality, it is the assertion that men have done nothing to advance equality and deserve no credit for their moral commitment to the same.

Instead, the opposite has happened. Claims of "toxic masculinity" and "patriarchy" have grown ever louder the more clearly the evidence shows otherwise. It is as if the mere act of making a positive moral choice has given the cultural arsonists and political assassins the idea that Western men are weak and deserve exploitation, derision, and name-calling. If this continues, men who know they'll be accused of sexism simply for breathing will see no cost in actually adopting sexist attitudes. This would be a tragedy.

Add to that the fact that progressive women are among the most ardent supporters of the mass migration; importing millions of men who frequently do NOT hold these opinions. It almost makes you wonder if they feel the need to have some "real" men in their culture - men who will treat them badly to validate some primitive, atavistic impulse.

Now, I do NOT see the Western commitment to gender equality going away any time soon. What I do see is a culture grinding its gears, wasting its energy, and inflicting harm on millions for no other reason than the arsonists find clicks and attention.

[Mark Brittingham @MarkBrittingham]

Well, it turns out that Elon is, in fact, "super talented."

Those arguing against that proposition have only envy to consult in forming their opinions, not actual evidence.

Here are 4 examples of decisions that he made that directly impacted the trajectory of technological advancement in his companies:

1. Swapping Carbon Fiber for Stainless Steel (Starship)
2. Transitioning to "Hot Staging" (Starship) to solve payload weight problems.
3. Deleting the redundant Model 3 Battery Fiberglass Fire Barrier (Tesla) to simplify manufacturing.
4. Inventing the "Megacasting" Process (Tesla) and the "unboxed" method used in new Cybercab manufacturing.

This goes along with a ton of stories of him participating directly with engineering teams grappling with difficult problems. He does not need to walk in and solve hard problems as some of the more dramatic (and likely apocryphal) stories indicate. Simply being able to grasp the inherent complexities that emerge from the broad range of technical problems solved by SpaceX and Tesla - and allocating resources based on his understanding - is evidence enough.

[Mark Brittingham @MarkBrittingham]

@KonstantinKisin lol. Had me going for a second. You are absolutely correct, though. Clueless ‘AWFULs’ making insanely stupid comments about Israel killing innocent Palestinian children, represents the pinnacle of historical ignorance parading as “caring and compassion”

[Alex Epstein @AlexEpstein]

AI is the best thing to happen to the average person since the energy revolution.

The energy revolution gave the average person access to abundant physical work.

The AI revolution is giving the average person access to abundant mental work.

With @RepEricBurlison

[Mark Brittingham @MarkBrittingham]

High levels of activity and a healthy diet *should* be entirely consistent with pharmaceutical interventions. I'd love to say that absolutely are but I have also seen healthy older adults driven out of the gym due to a single-minded pursuit of lower cholesterol. Drive statin dosing high enough and even committed exercisers will find it too painful to continue.

[Mark Brittingham @MarkBrittingham]

The real question is how often you'd drive more than 200 miles (~ 4 hours per day) and, in a related vein, whether you can charge where you live.

If you drive less than 30 miles a day, even a normal 120V outlet can get you back to full overnight. If you have a level 2 charger, you can put 200+ miles back on easily.

[Mark Brittingham @MarkBrittingham]

@slave_2_liberty Thank you for posting this! It hits me at a really critical juncture right now and explains a path forward for something that has really been troubling me.

[Mark Brittingham @MarkBrittingham]

@brivael Brilliant analysis, perfectly stated.

[Mark Brittingham @MarkBrittingham]

Every Capitalist nation on earth has a social safety net. It is how human beings implement Capitalism and always will be. It is simply an error to claim that this has anything to do with “Socialism”.

The problem with Socialism is that it, by design, strangles the entrepreneurial class in favor of the interests of the bureaucratic, managerial class. It is feudalism for the modern age.

Europe is, as a whole, a classic example. It is the “Continent of No” - the place where people with dreams have to ask permission from their sclerotic institutions, run by their feudal overlords, to simply exist.

[Mark Brittingham @MarkBrittingham]

It rewards the entire society because it offers the most effective way for us all to work together without a master caste bending the entire society to their will. The most effective propaganda from those who would become the master caste, is to tell you that creating a business somehow makes you the master of those who work for you rather than the servant of the Market.

[Mark Brittingham @MarkBrittingham]

@BuzzedTrader @tesla_singapore Yep, the bassist and the drummer…. Or perhaps the Dad helping his daughter move to a new apartment.

[Dr Jordan B Peterson @jordanbpeterson]

To the Americans:

I've travelled all over the world. I've familiarized myself with many places, and met many people. And I'm a Canadian, although I’m privileged to reside once again in the States.

And here's something I've noticed, and it’s a key element of America's continuing greatness:

You bloody Americans value success, and you believe in its existence.

This is something that doesn't really happen anywhere else in the world. Even in other free democracies—the United Kingdom; Finland, Sweden, and Norway; Australia, New Zealand and Canada; Germany, France, and the Netherlands (great countries all)—a counterproductive cynicism too often reigns.

Success is equated with exploitation.
Ambition is looked upon with contempt.

This happens sometimes in the United States too—particularly among the miserable progressives, who confuse their resentment, ingratitude and unearned skepticism with wisdom.

But in your great country, by and large, striving is admired and success celebrated.

This means that more people strive and succeed in the US than anywhere else. And it's increasingly obvious. You remain stunningly more innovative and productive than any people anywhere else on the planet.

And so I say, as all should who are fortunate enough to live in the western world, let alone America:

Thank God for the United States.

Thank God for the wisdom of its founders.
Thank God for its faith in the free market and in the natural rights of man.
Happy birthday, you damn Yankees and Southerners.

Long may your admirable country dominate the world.

Long may your freedom and hope provide an example to those suffering everywhere at the hands of their malevolent states.

May your two and a half centuries of unparallelled success be just the beginning.

Your country is the light of the world, and the city on the hill.

Thank God for the USA.

Happy 250th.

Dr. Jordan B. Peterson

[Mark Brittingham @MarkBrittingham]

@TeslaZoa This may appeal to people with old-school sensibilities and help Porsche sell a few cars. Still, I think it likely that people will quickly realize that it is pointless, pretend-play and never use it again.

[Mark Brittingham @MarkBrittingham]

@clairlemon When people grow tired of the status quo and look for alternatives, they will conclude that the twisted, less humane policy they attribute to her is worth embracing.

[Mark Brittingham @MarkBrittingham]

@LuisCariaco7 @jpgechele Absolutely true that there are great stadiums in Europe although "better" is manifestly untrue. The difference is the sheer quantity of stadiums in the US that match or exceed those in Europe. They get to meet real Americans, too - an instant cure for anti-Americanism.

[Mark Brittingham @MarkBrittingham]

@NikolaBrussels @john999s I think a lot of the negativity comes down to "I won't buy that car so FSD can't be real or safe, otherwise I'm being stupid."

[Mark Brittingham @MarkBrittingham]

@NikolaBrussels I have made the same point repeatedly on FB forums. Anyone who says they "love driving" in stop-and-go traffic on the highway is just trying to ignore the Cognitive Dissonance they experience when confronted with FSD.

[Mark Brittingham @MarkBrittingham]

Lol - dishonest in the extreme.

As already noted, the NASA/DoD contracts were fees paid for service at a cost below what the government paid previously. That is *exactly* how "normal business" works.

As far as the DOE loan, the government specifically offered these loans to advance the environmental benefits of EVs.

Worse, you *also* fail to note that Tesla paid back the entire loan balance, including interest and an early repayment penalty, nine years ahead of schedule.

So, no, not "disingenuous bullshit" at all.