Election law experts said over the weekend that billionaire Tesla CEO Elon Musk's latest ploy to entice voters in battleground states to sign his "petition in favor of free speech and the right to bear arms" appears to be flagrantly illegal.
In principle, the same is true for the real world.
It it one of my favorite silly thought experiments: what could someone do if they were persuasive enough? The answer is, in principle, pretty much anything.
Imagine someone with the Devil’s charisma; they can literally persuade anyone into anything. Such a person, coming from nowhere, could be running the entire country in an afternoon.
Walk to the White House gate. Persuade the guard to let you in to meet a staffer.
Meet the staffer. Persuade them to let you meet with the president and vice president.
Persuade the Vice President to resign, and persuade the President to nominate you as the new VP and set up a meeting with key house and senate leaders.
Persuade the House and Senate to confirm your nomination.
Persuade the President to resign.
In the real world, if they had a high enough “charisma score,” anyone could literally become president in a single afternoon. They could be an absolute nobody with zero background in leadership or high office. But if someone had some demonic ability to just talk people into anything, they could be running the country in an afternoon.
Money is free speech
And Speech is free money. Source: Skyrim
In principle, the same is true for the real world.
It it one of my favorite silly thought experiments: what could someone do if they were persuasive enough? The answer is, in principle, pretty much anything.
Imagine someone with the Devil’s charisma; they can literally persuade anyone into anything. Such a person, coming from nowhere, could be running the entire country in an afternoon.
Walk to the White House gate. Persuade the guard to let you in to meet a staffer.
Meet the staffer. Persuade them to let you meet with the president and vice president.
Persuade the Vice President to resign, and persuade the President to nominate you as the new VP and set up a meeting with key house and senate leaders.
Persuade the House and Senate to confirm your nomination.
Persuade the President to resign.
In the real world, if they had a high enough “charisma score,” anyone could literally become president in a single afternoon. They could be an absolute nobody with zero background in leadership or high office. But if someone had some demonic ability to just talk people into anything, they could be running the country in an afternoon.
Good thing real life doesn’t follow videogame logic
Rasputin tho
It help to have the mystical ability to make a hemophiliac child feel better. And a giant schlong.
Freezy peaches you say?