I’ve Been “Verified”
I posted the following on X (formerly known as Twitter), but figured since many follow me on other platforms I’d share it here as well. To many this post may seem silly or simply an example of political posturing. I promise, it’s not.
I challenge you to take the time to consider how much you unconsciously support people and organizations who despise you for the values you profess. Even if your values are different than mine, what would it look like if you chose to be intentional with your time, energy, and resources, supporting those who align with your values, while withholding from those who would rather you disappear than welcome you to the table? What that being said, I invite you to read about my reason for paying to be “verified” on X.
I met a gentleman the other day who works for NASA and is completing a highly technical, but what sounded to be a very exciting project with SpaceX. I jokingly made a comment to him, "Say 'hi!' to Elon Musk when you see him. I'm a big fan."
To my surprise, he responded in a rather matter of fact sort of way, "Sure! I'll likely see him next month."
What followed was a short but heartfelt conversation about convictions, character, and leadership.
His personal experience with Elon and my distant but interested perspective were very much so in alignment. The difference between Elon Musk and most other tech executives is the way he pours his time, energy, and resources into his convictions regardless of whether or not he comes out wealthier or more popular in the end. There is no denying that which Elon believes in. As with all people, all it takes to discover his true convictions and his true beliefs is to examine his calendar and his checkbook.
Everyone claims to have convictions (at least you should). Everyone claims to truly believe in certain principles, ideals or missions, but if we were to take the time to review your convictions and objectively compare them with how you spend your time and your money, would they be in alignment with one another?
My core values are faith, freedom and family. I wrote at length about them here. In short, I'm a Christian. I'm a constitutionalist. I'm a dedicated husband and father. I live for these three values. However, for far too long I've subscribed to or otherwise freely given my hard earned money to organizations and people who despise my family and me for daring to uphold these values. While I certainly don't have the bankroll of someone like Elon Musk, qualities like convictions, character, and leadership still matter.
For this reason, I have begun unsubscribing from and ceased paying for as many of the services as I can offered by companies and people that would rather my family and I not exist (there's a lot of them, it'll take time). However, one thing I did right away, was take some of those dollars saved and actively subscribed to and financially supported companies and people whose values align with mine. There are a few, but most notably here is Twitter/X.
Obviously, I cannot say that Elon and I are on the same page on every issue under the sun. We are very different people. However, his conviction for protecting free speech as demonstrated by his paying $43 BILLION to acquire and transform Twitter/X from that of a government-censured social media platform to an outlet of freedom open to all is more than enough to justify me spending a few dollars to become a "verified" user.
I'm no one on this platform. Something like half my followers on here are likely bots. But I don't care. I believe in what Elon is doing with this platform and I'd rather he and this company get the $84/year than others who have been gladly taking my money and using it to force feed my family and me trash that stands in direct opposition to our values.
Thank you, Elon, for standing on your convictions. Thank you for being a person of character, investing your resources in ideas that matter regardless of the outcome. Thank you for being a leader and inspiring others to do likewise. Happy to officially be a verified user of X!