People are suggesting that Elon Musk, trillionaire, should do something positive for humanity.
Everything else notwithstanding, I suggest that Musk has already done so: he bought Twitter/X, and made it the biggest market for free speech mankind has ever known. I think that history might well show that free speech becomes as important a legacy for Musk than electric cars, AI, robots, Mars and even SpaceX, Starlink, and neuralink.
Modern liberals are in good company: seeking to ban any speech that makes us upset comes with a long and proud pedigree. It certainly featured in the ancient world.
When the Israelite spies came back from Canaan, they told everyone that they should be afraid. Caleb insisted that G-d is with us, and that the people should not fear.
What is their response?
The people didn’t argue. They didn’t counter with facts. Instead, they agitated to cancel Caleb and Joshua in the most raw way possible: by stoning them. Like any mob, they could not deal with opposing voices, and they easily rose to violence as a way to deal with it.
In the Torah story, G-d intervenes with a literal deus ex machina. If G-d had not intervened, then the mob would have killed the truth-sayers, and would have won.
Today, we have X to ensure that the mob cannot stone those who truly speak truth to power. Thank you, Mr. Musk!