Musk asks 'high-IQ revolutionaries' to work for no pay on new Trump project

I look forward to the repeat of Twitter debacle.

Anyone remember when people were riling up when he fired like 40% of the staff, sent out a email asking everyone to work crazy hour or quit?

In that moment there were still a lot of zealots, often (sadly) entangled with ideology, grindset worldview and machismo, that gladly joined Twitter under those condition to show that they weren't like those "snowflake losers at Twitter who did nothing and got fired" (a claim not completely off maybe but beside the point)

Even George Hotz joined, AS AN INTERN from being an CEO, left after about 5 weeks [1].

This time too, I'll bet there will still be enough Elon followers, clout chasers, people that want to "prove a point" politically, or to themselves, that will join.

Turns out those motivation rarely stand being mistreated, or toxic environment. Good enough of a motivation to be the whip master, but not to be the mule being whipped for a goal.

The other group I can think who stay under those conditions, are people with other patronage (lobbyist) with incentive to reform the "efficiency" in the government towards their financial goals.

[1] https://www.theverge.com/2022/12/20/23519922/george-hotz-geo...

I'd be shocked if this concocted quarantine that they shipped Musk off into gets any changes implemented. IQ as Musk sees it (no doubt logic/math type IQ) is not what effects change in government. Connections, social intelligence, and knowing how to work the system is what moves things in Washington.

I'm reminded of a story I heard in an interview of a Fed insider. They had an initiative designed to onboard Wall Street talent to counter the fact that so much of the modern financial system was building up outside of traditional regulated banking. Meanwhile the street was increasingly reliant on alternative data sources that were not in Fed reports. So they wanted people who could give the real scoop on what was happening in rainbow markets. Maybe someone going to go " Everyone knows SVB is loading up on massive amounts of duration risk at crazy prices, but what else could they do? This was always the in-game of FED ZIRP policy and now it's accelerating the critical levels right under the surface... "

Anyway, They had a decent response and the initiative and a pile of resumes, but the Fed ended up promoting internally to higher pay grades, end of story. High "IQ" smart initiative with a good response, but they didn't have the right teams with enough reach an institutional leverage implementing it. I would be shocked if the outcome is anything but that, at best. Too bad, because the initiative isn't necessarily a bad idea, but it's certainly off to a bad start with Musk at the helm. Sub 10% chance of success in my eyes.

Nothing says ‘high-IQ’ like volunteering to work for an idiot for no pay.

Exceedingly rich guy begging his cult following to supply cheap slave labor for his personal benefit, what's not to like?

Related:

"The Department of Government Efficiency is hiring"

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42142487

https://twitter.com/DOGE/status/1857076831104434289

Maybe he was inspired by the history of "dollar-a-year men".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-dollar_salary

I question the IQ of anyone willing to work for the government, under Elon Musk, for free.

While this does sound a bit obnoxious asking someone to "work" for no pay, considering the ask, this isn't a strange does it might sound. It's quite likely that position like this can't be monetized in other ways, as all government positions seem to be able to do. So if you are independently wealthy and able to move yourself into a policy influencing position like this, that can be a net benefit even without a salary.

I look forward to the inevitable collision of Trump and Musk, two giant narcissistic egos who can't share the spotlight. Like two black holes colliding. If Musk had the "high IQ" he says he has he can look at Trump's history of breaking promises and alliances, and throwing his closest followers under the bus. Just look at sycophant-in-chief Rudy Giuliani having to sell his shoes in bankruptcy.

Both Trump and Musk claim they have very high IQs, so we should get a nuclear-level example of a Mensa meeting pissing match before too long.