- cross-posted to:
- technology@lemmy.ml
- cross-posted to:
- technology@lemmy.ml
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Remember 2015? A Tesla parked in your driveway told your neighbours that you valued innovation, that you possessed an environmental conscience, that you had a stake in the future of the planet. The cars weren’t perfect, but they meant something. They represented hope - for clean energy, EVs, and a world beyond fossil fuels.
This was me years go. I knew climate change was real and an imminent threat. I wanted to vote with my wallet for a cleaner future. I also wanted to strike a blow against the National Automotive Dealers Association for their regressive practices that hurt consumers and drive prices for cars higher for everyone. Buying a Tesla did those things. I charge the car on sunlight from my house. I don’t have to support the petroleum industry’s damage to environment and people around the world. I was proud to be doing something rather than just talking about needs for changes against climate change.
Musk doesn’t get any of my money from this car. I don’t pay for any of the Tesla monthly services. I’m don’t want to be seen driving with a Tesla logo on the car. I’m ashamed that my good intentions funded a fascist.
About a week ago I saw a brand new model Y (still had the 90 day temporary plate) sporting one of those “bought before elon…” stickers.
Knowing how badly Tesla has managed their supply chain, it’s possible they paid for it in 2016.
Elon has always been a terrible person, but he was once focused on things that society actually needed, like electrifying transportation to avoid climate collapse.
He seems to have gone sharply downhill into total insanity by taking ketamine while locking himself in a rightwing echo chamber. It’s the perfect storm of dissociating from reality.
Elon has always been a terrible person
The problem with Elon is he’s been provably an idiot for the past 25 years.
The first thing I ever heard about Musky is that back in 2000-ish he wanted PayPal to take their infra, throw out all the Linux/BSD in use, and move everything to Windows NT.
Anyone who was even remotely IT adjacent in that era can come along and tell you how utterly moronic that idea is.
Anytime I’ve ever heard him blather on about some stupid shit that doesn’t exist except in his delusions or talk about, well, ANYTHING technical or specialized all I was ever able to think of is that he got lucky that Thiel didn’t drain all of his blood and leave his corpse in a ditch.
From a musk pov it’s 100% logical. Money.
Why? Win2k was quite stable. Stable enough to use it in warships.
Linux/Bsd is not free. When you use it in your company you want pro support. That support comes free with windows enterprise licenses. So the cost difference there is almost non existent. And, MS being M$, they would’ve sweetened the deal. A lot. Just think of the marketing worth of this deal for MS.
And lastly: Who is cheaper? A good linux admin or a windows guy?
So 90% of the stability at 50% of the cost. That’s not a bad deal.
Potential ketamine addiction aside, he’s just gravitated toward where he sees more money and unfluence for himself. He wanted the prestige of being a leader in tech, so he used his influence and money to build SpaceX. Then he bullied his way into the ownership of Tesla, desperately wanting to appear as a genius to libertarian and liberal minds alike, but he’s never been any less of an authoritarian. When Trump rose to power the first time, he sat and watched and along with the rest of the Silicon Valley Moguls, he began to move himself into positions of influence with populist politicians, borrowing the evangelical right’s playbooks and throwing himself into the spotlight no matter the reason. He pivoted off his falsified image as some kind of American self-starter into MAGA rhetoric.
Musk doesn’t have lofty ideals or any real focus on the betterment of society. I don’t think he ever did. He just wanted to be a real life Tony Stark and command the influence that came with it. Now he doesn’t need to, because he’s got Trump in his back pocket and is mostly untouchable by any normal means.
Dr Dorothy Bishop resigned from the Royal Society back in November 2024 because of Musk. Everybody knew. And being an FRS is a huge, huge deal to a British scientist.
Not as big a deal as virtue signaling to that particular British scientist, naturally, but it’s quite important to the other ones I’m sure.
Of course the fascists invented a dismissive phrase to label anyone objecting against them.
Nobody at Tesla headquarters voted to alienate their customer base. No board meeting decided to turn their electric car company into a political lightning rod.
This is technically not true. The board keeps Elon Musk on as CEO of Tesla, and they granted him the biggest bonus package ever, while he was already very controversial and clearly was losing his mind, because they thought he would be able to make them money.
You are 100% correct. They knowingly doubled down on him. They can all ride his coattails straight to hell.
You’re right, that’s not just technically untrue. The board voted with their wallet, by giving him even more money than ever, so he could continue doing what he is doing. The people on the board wouldn’t give a shit if only Nazis buy their cars, as long as there’s enough of them to keep buying.
Well joke’s on them though, because it seems Musk has found a way to tap US citizens directly, so he probably doesn’t even care much about Tesla anymore now that it is failing.
I think his worth is mostly attached to Tesla stocks still.
It is and if he loses that wealth I’m pretty sure he is getting kicked to the street. He has no other skills that aren’t readily available by folks who aren’t utterly unstable drug addled dipshits.
Will he really need customers much longer? I mean it seems like he can just have any government agency replace their fleet with his trash in the name of “efficiency”.
Even worse is, he can use the government to sabotage the competition, as Russia and Hungary did.
The thing is, if this follows the Hungary script, Musk is going to become replaceable.
He doesn’t command votes like Trump does, but is rich enough to be a threat. Look up Simicska.
