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Bloomberg - Are you a robot?
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-07-12/elon-musk-donates-to-trump-tapping-vast-fortune-to-swing-2024-race
Maybe his politics are complicated. Did y’all consider that? That a white South African industrialist who dabbles in eugenics, treats employees like shit, and thinks catturd2 is funny might be a complex enigma?
Whatever could be the politics of the tech billionaire son of a South African apartheid blood-emerald baron?
I wonder
And he's the multibillionaire that actually wants to put microchips into people's heads unlike Bill Gates who's checks notes actually trying to cure malaria? (He's probably still not a saint though, every billionaire is part of the problem.)
Bill Gates has strong enough ties to Epstein that his wife divorced him and left their charitable foundation they started together. So idk man, he's not so great either
Yeah, that's what I said. But Musk is literally doing supervillian shit while Gates seems to be at least trying to do some good to outweigh the bad. Still, billionaires are a cancer to a planet. I just find it ironic that Gates has become this demonic figure for something he never did and what Musk is literally trying to do with no one batting an eye.
Gates is a demon for fucking over the public education system. It's not eugenics level bad, but definitely a level somewhere in Dante's inferno.
Lots, like the trend to make micro schools inside larger schools. So instead of hiring more teachers to drive down class sizes, you do the opposite and hire more admins. https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/10/the-plot-against-public-education-111630/
Did you consider that you might not have the deep insight of a guy in a k-hole who spent 44 billion dollars to run a successful social media company into the ground?
Hey that was most likely a deliberate attack against journalism around the world so give him some credit
https://www.nationalreview.com/2023/09/tweet-and-be-killed-c/
The Saudis backing him knowing he'd fuck twitter up was almost definitely deliberate. Musk himself fucking it up was likely just his ego and idiocy and not actually deliberate on his part
Idk man, he was pretty pissed about that Jet Tracker. I think he also felt like he could better pump Tesla stock with whatever dregs were left of Twitter
I get that, but the reason I think its incompetence is because he has a pretty fragile ego and the way he destroyed twitter makes him look INCREDIBLY stupid
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"It's complicated". Nah, not really. An egomaniac, rich asshole took refuge in the right wing safe space because they kiss his ass and call him a genius. But they still won't buy his electric cars.
Send this fucker to Orania along with all his supporters and enablers and burn the goddamn whole town to the ground. The world and South Africans would cheer.
Just pointing out that Musk is an immigrant.
Born in South Africa, immigrated to Canada to avoid military service, then used Canadian citizenship to apply for and obtain US citizenship.
What a fucking pussy, or so I'm told by conservatives that weigh in on this without his name being shared.
Unwashed deviant asshole who Putin holds kompromat over forced to help another pedophile, who Putin also holds kompromat over.
Both met with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell…
Don't forget about Elon's significant financial ties to Saudi Arabia
https://www.axios.com/2022/11/01/elon-musk-twitter-saudi-arabia
"The Saudis could have cashed out, like most everyone else. That would have been the financially sound thing to do. Instead, they allied with Musk ... There's a clear political motivation to their decision, and CFIUS should get to the bottom of it."
A source familiar with the situation adds that Murphy's concern is exacerbated by the large amount of debt that Musk/Twitter now must service, and what demands that may enable Saudi to make. Particularly given that Musk, at least for the moment, is Twitter's sole director.
Murphy on Monday asked the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS) to investigate "potential national security concerns" arising from Saudi Arabia and Qatar's involvement in Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter.
Saudi Arabia and members of its extended royal family are regular investors in U.S. tech companies, both directly and via private equity and venture capital funds. But they've been largely ignored by CFIUS, which investigated just six Saudi-involved deals between 2019 and 2021. CFIUS is empowered to recommend to the President that mergers be blocked on national security grounds, including for transactions that have already closed. Many of its recent recommendations to that effect have involved China.
https://fortune.com/2023/01/23/elon-musk-says-he-had-saudi-backing-tesla-trial-testimony/
Elon Musk returned to federal court Monday in San Francisco, testifying that he believed he had locked up financial backing to take Tesla private during 2018 meetings with representatives from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund
At this point, how is owning a Tesla car not just like walking around wearing one of those stupid red hats?
I agree and I drive a Tesla, unfortunately it's paid off so for the time being it just makes sense to keep driving it because it costs me basically nothing.
But I feel like a POS in public and it sucks.
Those bumper stickers are bullshit. Musk was a nut job who profited from apartheid and then bought his way into the public mind as some kind of low rent Tony Stark from the get. San Francisco 2012 people thought I was nuts for claiming he was a huge charlatan and now those same people rock those bumper stickers.
Despite Musk, Teslas did have some positive effect as they helped push electric car adoption. The big automakers were not interested in taking risks, and nobody was eager to build out large charger networks.
I certainly don't credit Musk himself for it, but no one should feel ashamed of having bought one of those cars back then. Today there are other good options for electric vehicles from companies run by slightly less bad people, but let's not kid ourselves. Everything we buy comes from some company that is enriching monsters...it's just that some of them are more monstrous than others.
True enough.
Just because shitheads run companies didn't mean you can't enjoy & appreciate the actual work, design, creation of brilliant, hard working people that made the actual product.
Musk never made anything. Nothing new, anyway. He made a hostile collar workplace noose and roped a group of companies into our modern, uncontested (except by unions) version of slavery.
The people at Tesla are groundbreakering pioneers of the future of transportation. Unfortunately, they're not geniuses about how to properly deal with a strangling grifter owner.
That kind of terrible management, terrible treatment of people, workers is rampant across (most?) all companies. Musk just screwed the best of the brightest lights on the road to the future. Fucked everybody harder than the other CEOs cause, well, as others mention, he was born to it (Emerald apartheid slave driver heritage).
What's sick is that what he did at Twitter was something many in the C-suite were in some cases privately cheering, and, in places where they were permitted, wanted to openly emulate. Sure, the excuse was that (some) companies overstaffed in the early covid days, but at X, they cut things to the bone and beyond when Musk took over, and it mostly seemed to be ideologically driven ("own the libs" but also, and this is the part others want to do as well, and in some cases, did: "crush those uppity tech workers"). This, combined with AI, was providing a beacon of hope to the corporate overlords eager to make even more undeserved money.
Ok so people didn’t know, that doesn’t make them bad people and it doesn’t make you as smart as you think you are.
If people ignore how shitty someone is, they are, in fact, bad people if they support their business.
I'm sorry but I have no idea who is the CEO, of say, Nissan or whatever, and I'm sure 99% of buyers don't research that.
Yes, that's called a Confederate flag. If you buy one after 2019, then it's a Nazi flag.
Well fucking stop feeling like a POS.
Please?
Its just a car, and regardless of who elon turned out to be.
And ya know what? Elon is the reason they arent better cars. He is not the reason they are as good as they are.
Take politics out of it for a minute and just remind or consider, how is your tesla a better car than the ICE car you did and/or would have instead.
You can feel good about that. Its okay. Elon is a piece of shit. He didnt always seem that way and that does suck. You dont, he does.
When you decide to get a new car you are going to have so many awesome options next time.
And you wouldnt have those options then, if Teslas werent/hadnt pushing everyone else in the world into getting away from ICE
Thanks. Just what I needed for the day (from one of my favorite fellow Rocky Mountains crews).
Yes. They should be. Fuck the downvotes, I'm done with this shit.
Sell your fucking Tesla if you own one. It's a dog whistle.
In many countries outside of the US, Musk isn't a well known figure, and people buying a Tesla don't have to know who is the CEO any more than who is the CEO of any other car manufacturer.
Effecting change in this world sometimes requires personal sacrifice. Things are the way they are because too many don’t want to inconvenience themselves. Downvote away.
I have a friend with a tesla who put on a bumper sticker along the lines of "I got this before he became a raging asshole"
I think I saw that sticker online and sent a link to a few people I know with Teslas, since they are in the same boat.
He'll turn back to the left as soon as the he gets too clingy with his current audience and they turn on him.
Musk is worse, he doesn't care about his political leanings, he only cares about where he can have the most people simping for him.
He used to be different politically, because that was cool. Now he has enough money that people will tell him he’s cool no matter what his politics are, so he now supports the causes that benefit him. I don’t think he’s ever going back.
Could say the same about any American made truck, except they've had the association with stupid rednecks for decades so it's just not talked about as much.
Please dont associate us stupid rednecks with those wannabe rich fucks with the brand new rams. We much more prefer Toyota trucks or old Fords from the 90s backwards. Im personally also partial to Kei trucks and old Jeep trucks personally.
Because you seem to think, and my apologies if im mistaken, that people think about politics as much as your question suggests. Most people just dont really dont have the capacity to also factor in other peoples politics when making large practical purchases.
A minority of people vote in the us. I believe its around 39%
And slightly more than half of those people are deciding who the president of the US is.
You might be surprised to learn that most of the time, a car isnt a political statement or adorsement. It could be, and can be, sometimes it even is.
If you want an EV because you care about the environment you still want a good vehicle. Teslas are seen as the best EVs that most people have access to and are comfortable with... Inspite of why they might not be.
Maybe its a surprise to hear that practical benefits of EV ownership, whether it's due to not having to pay for gas, they want to support fighting climate change, or just enjoy cool new tech are likely why someone owns a tesla, not because they are fans of elon
How is owning a tesla car not just like walking around wearing one of those stupid red hats?
Because more than 90% of owners didnt buy their car to be political statements, but 90% of owners of those stupid red hats did buy them and wear them for the sole purpose of being political statementa
I'm just stating the reality of things. At one point, a Tesla was maybe a signifier for the left, or most likely neutral. Given how much Elon keeps inserting himself into the public eye, and not in a good way, the brand is now a signifier for things a lot of people despise.
I realize he didn't even start Tesla, and I realize many people bought their cars long before all this came to light. But I also remember when it was considered risque to buy "foreign". People absolutely DO think about what a car says about them when they buy a car, and people do make snap judgements about who is driving that car.
I'm just lamenting the fact that one of the most common EVs is now associated with a shithead like Elon. Which is unfortunate, because we need things like EV more than ever...
Do you understand where it leads to when there are two seperate economies? Its amazing how you dont realize we are in the "fucking around" point in american history.
Are you talking to me? I'm just noting the situation. I think people like Rush, Newt, Elon, and donnie have driven us to this point, and I don't think it's good at all. I'm quite worried about my country.
It takes two parties to tango, and if you dont want to interact with people products due to their non controversial beliefs, then you are completely part of the breakdown. And if you were really worried you would actually learn things, not just repeat propganda.
Shrug. Do you know anyone that has purchased a Tesla? If so, I suggest you talk to them about the car. I bet you can confirm what I've said above.
I know I have. It's not something I've made up - the owners sought a way to get away from ICE, and/or just liked the vehicle, wanted to get a jump on the future, or whatever. Now they are getting side-eye for being associated with this brand because of this loud mouth jerk at the helm. On the flip side of things, I've been in groups where someone points out a Tesla and someone mutters something about Musk.
I don't know what the answer is to this problem, but Musk sure doesn't seem to have it. If you think that is a problem I am responsible for, I'm not sure what to tell you.
Besides voting, about the only viable option most people have in America is to "vote" with their wallet. So while you won't find liberals doing dumb stuff like shooting their Tesla or putting it in a shredder (unlike the freakouts we have from the other side), I bet more than a few are finding ways to divest themselves of their Teslas and/or not buy a new one, and seek out other options. Right now, if they buy a Tesla, they are signifying that they are okay with Musk funding donnie, who is clearly a fascist. That is not a problem that liberals have created, by the way.
The issue is that you are in some kind of bubble where everyone is the same. I don know someone that owns a tesla, and elon has not come up one time, its usually about how cool the car is and some of the things that make it hard. My spouse has been looking to buy one due to its advanced technology and safety feature that would benefit her, and not one has it come up what elons politics are.
Your community has serious issues if they cant buy things from people of different beliefs, its a nail in the coffin that is 100% a you guy problem.
I guess I'm trying to understand how Elon doesn't come up at all when talking about Tesla. And I'm not sure what community you are talking about.
I dont get why Elon should come up, outside of his goofy naming system, I dont know where his politics are pertinent to the cars he sells. The community of left side people that are always on line and make everything about identities and teams.
It's the same. I can them Muskmobiles in my small town. Fuck anyone who owns them. I don't care when you bought your Tesla... Fuck you.
Yeah! Fuck you if you jumped onboard and invested in one of the earliest, popular, commercial EVs.
If you can't find the funds to get a different car, you're a shithead according to this guy. Switch back to petrol if you have to! This guy will hate you for continuing to own those vehicles!
Tesla is still the best EV sedan. Maybe the Ionic 6 will be good in a couple years, but it doesn't qualify for the tax credit.
Define best. The lucid air beats the model S in almost every metric, and BMW offers several good sedans with actual interiors made for humans.
TBF - Tesla was not even started by him. Unfortunately, he cannot seem to keep his disgusting politics to himself, and now the Tesla brand is as tarnished as a red hat.
Someone I know who works for Tesla gave me a Tesla shirt some time ago. I would never wear such a shirt now in public. It is a dogwhistle, just like the car itself.
Sadly.
The world will be much better off without these pieces of cum-flavored shit on the planet. I hope to see the day.
Conservatives own at least 2 media companies (X, Truth Social), Trump got reinstated with Meta... Imagine doing all this for a man who raped a 12 year old
I was going to start listing other examples, like Rupert Murdoch and Sinclair broadcasting, but in reality billionaire conservatives own and operate all major legacy media outlets at this point. That includes CNN and NYT.
I just dove back into that rabbit hole. Looks like it was never really debunked and the user is still inactive 4 years later.
Of course he did.
Musk just substituted “free speech absolutist” for “billionaire absolutist”…a world where nothing stands in his way.
Elon Musk peddles the racist replacement theory among other things. It is absurd a white settler from South Africa is afraid to be replaced by the indigenous people.
It's been clear for years now that Musk is is a full mask-off Nazi. I don't understand how anyone doesn't see it yet.
I guess he bought a lot of goodwill by investing in Tesla Motors and pretending it was his idea.
Mush is so paranoid about this, that he started his own anti-woke AI. Why? Because he believes that in the future, a sentient AGI will emerge and that if that AGI is trained on "wokeness" then it will cull white people in order to fulfill "diversity quotas."
Move demonstrates Musk’s growing influence in Washington
It demonstrates the growing influence of EVERY billionaire in Washington DC ever since the courts accepted the "corporations are people / money is speech" arguments.
When that happened, the government stopped representing the needs of ordinary people and only represented the needs of billionaires and their lobbyists. It's taking a long time to play out, but it's going to end badly.
“corporations are people / money is speech”
I don't know when they stopped teaching the novel 1984 in U.S. high school curriculum but that evidently happened a while ago.
Musk is exactly the asshole many people figured him out to be. Such a gigantic man-baby.
Putting this guy’s shitty politics aside for a moment, Trump and the GOP have be shitting on EVs extra hard over the past year. Tesla is hurting right now, and if Trump wins the dead heat, that company could be fucked. Moreover, he also has a bunch of government contracts keeping Space X and Starlink alive.
If Musk doesn’t pay up and kiss the ring, he could be screwed if Trump wins.
Elon will be fine with his massive bonus that he totally earned for all the great work he's done for Tesla.
Elon doesn't care if Tesla succeeds, he's just using it as a way to launder financial gifts from other billionaires/millionaires and using poor people to help subsidize.
Eg if his friend, MBS from Saudi Arabia, has 2-5 people with trading algorithms and a few million dollars, they can inflate the stock. This makes it look appealing to regular buyers who think the stock is actually organically reaching that price. Then they invest more, increasing the price, and MBS can start to withdraw some of his money out, but Elon will still have that funding/money from the real investors. If the stock starts to deflate, they can just pump it again.
At some point, the stock will correct. Either when Elon stops convincing rich people (eg MBS) he can deliver on his promises, or when it becomes clear to the public it was a grift the whole time. I think Elon assumes it will be soon, which is why he took out so much recently (like 40 billion, right?) and risked removal from the company.
It's entirely possible Elon is worried about crimes he's committed and supports Trump explicitly for a pardon (which we know Trump is selling).
Ah, well that just flipped the switch in my head from "wow that musk guy is an egotistical asshole devoid of even the most fleeting sense of altruism," to "I actively hate this dude now."
surprising nobody. Guy who made nearly all his money in corporate buyouts and government contracts backs the anti union guy who wants to ban electric cars. It just shows you this is about class warfare.
Even a shitstain like Musk has his worth: he made me recognize that there are no exceptions to the rule that there are no ethical billionaires.
i kinda liked him many years ago; a fact that makes me pretty unhappy with myself. I really thought that his push for wide adoption of EVs might be a sign of philantropy and a sense of ethics. i'm seldom THAT far off the mark, so i have to thank him in a kinda awkward way for dropping his act.
You're not alone, I was in the same boat. I was not a fan of him or anything, but I had hoped he would do more good than.... whatever he is doing now.
I'll be completely honest: I was on board the hype train. I thought it was awesome that someone was investing in EV's and pushing them into the market. Hell, I was even fooled by the whole hyperloop thing...
I'm glad it's not too late to admit that I was terribly wrong about the guy.
At the same time, I don't blame those that were fooled back then, and I most definitely don't blame anyone for having bought a Tesla and keeping it even though the guy turned out to be who he is. Some years ago he honestly looked like he was trying to do a lot of good, at least for those of us that didn't look very closely.
Well Trump said he'd cut taxes for the rich if they helped him get re-elected. Honestly surprised it took Musk this long to donate to him, especially with talk of Trump making making Secretary of Transportation.
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How did Musk know to donate to Trump a whole day before he decided to fully endorse him after the shooting? So strange. Maybe he always fully endorsed him and is just an attention seeking whore.