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I refuse to buy Tesla cars because of Elon and his background of profiting from the mining of emeralds in apartheid Zambia. Elon has worked hard to erase his or

I refuse to buy Tesla cars because of Elon and his background of profiting from the mining of emeralds in apartheid Zambia. Elon has worked hard to erase his origin from the minds of potential customers but I could never forget. Elon is also the reason no company will buy Tesla. Elon would have to be all the way out of the picture.

gamegoblin 6y ago
I've seen this "Elon comes from stolen emerald money" story a lot, but as best I can tell, the following is true: - Elon's father claims in the mid-80s he bought a partial stake in an emerald mine in Zambia. There is no paper trail of this ownership, so we are taking his dad at his word here. - Zambia was already independent at the time and in no way an apartheid state. The ruling party was ideologically socialist and African nationalist. - This partial ownership of the mine obviously did not make Elon a super wealthy kid, as he moved to Canada for university, gradudated with $100K in student debt, and according to roommates and friends at the time, he was notoriously frugal. So it seems like even if Elon's father is telling the truth here and the mine even existed, that wealth didn't seem to be significant enough to give Elon a huge boost when he came to North America. There are definitely a ton of things to criticize Elon for, but I am not sure the emeralds is one of them.
- throwaway2037 6y ago
  Why is this downvoted? Please comment.
- birdyrooster 6y ago
  White colonizers from Africa with a history of mineral extraction... that’s not going to leave any impression on your morality. Suuure.
ErikVandeWater 6y ago
Are you saying Elon himself used apartheid to his favor?
FredPret 6y ago
Apartheid was a political ideology that did not happen in Zambia. The very existence of a place called “Zambia” only came about after their colonial independence. “Apartheid Zambia” is not and was not a thing and is a stupid phrase to anyone who knows the history of the area. Furthermore, Musk fled South Africa in order to avoid being conscripted into the apartheid SA army. He’s a person with rough edges, but tieing him in with apartheid is a bit much.
- birdyrooster 6y ago
  Social apartheid is de facto segregation, no laws are strictly necessary, but often support it. It’s most prominent aspect is seen in the division of white/black capital. Zambia is very much a country with vastly wealthier white demographic. “ On the eve of independence in 1964, 2 percent of Zambia’s 3.5 million people were white, but they controlled everything in a system resembling apartheid.” https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2015/04/23/black-white-zambia/ https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2015/04/23/black-white-zamb... I’m saying Musk has a lineage of abusive behavior and was raised by those same people. It explains his exploitative and abusive behavior for workers.
  - birdyrooster 6y ago
    The point is that Zambia is a place white colonizers have been exploiting forever and the Musk family certainly has been doing business in south east Africa for some time.
  - FredPret 6y ago
    If you say he’s worthy of abuse due to his “lineage of abusive behavior” the I will say you are a racist. I’m descended from an ethnic group that has done some bad things. Am I now a bad person? For instance, are all Germans Nazis to you?
    - rsj_hn 6y ago
      Everyone comes from a lineage that committed great violence in the competition for resources vis-a-vis other groups. If your ancestors did not do that, you would not be alive today. Let us not forget the Zambians, themselves foreign Bantu invaders who genocided the native Khoison population (but perhaps the Khoisons genocided who was there before them).

gamegoblin 6y ago

I've seen this "Elon comes from stolen emerald money" story a lot, but as best I can tell, the following is true: - Elon's father claims in the mid-80s he bought a partial stake in an emerald mine in Zambia. There is no paper trail of this ownership, so we are taking his dad at his word here. - Zambia was already independent at the time and in no way an apartheid state. The ruling party was ideologically socialist and African nationalist. - This partial ownership of the mine obviously did not make Elon a super wealthy kid, as he moved to Canada for university, gradudated with $100K in student debt, and according to roommates and friends at the time, he was notoriously frugal. So it seems like even if Elon's father is telling the truth here and the mine even existed, that wealth didn't seem to be significant enough to give Elon a huge boost when he came to North America. There are definitely a ton of things to criticize Elon for, but I am not sure the emeralds is one of them.

throwaway2037 6y ago
Why is this downvoted? Please comment.
birdyrooster 6y ago
White colonizers from Africa with a history of mineral extraction... that’s not going to leave any impression on your morality. Suuure.

ErikVandeWater 6y ago

Are you saying Elon himself used apartheid to his favor?

FredPret 6y ago

Apartheid was a political ideology that did not happen in Zambia. The very existence of a place called “Zambia” only came about after their colonial independence. “Apartheid Zambia” is not and was not a thing and is a stupid phrase to anyone who knows the history of the area. Furthermore, Musk fled South Africa in order to avoid being conscripted into the apartheid SA army. He’s a person with rough edges, but tieing him in with apartheid is a bit much.

birdyrooster 6y ago
Social apartheid is de facto segregation, no laws are strictly necessary, but often support it. It’s most prominent aspect is seen in the division of white/black capital. Zambia is very much a country with vastly wealthier white demographic. “ On the eve of independence in 1964, 2 percent of Zambia’s 3.5 million people were white, but they controlled everything in a system resembling apartheid.” https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2015/04/23/black-white-zambia/ https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2015/04/23/black-white-zamb... I’m saying Musk has a lineage of abusive behavior and was raised by those same people. It explains his exploitative and abusive behavior for workers.
- birdyrooster 6y ago
  The point is that Zambia is a place white colonizers have been exploiting forever and the Musk family certainly has been doing business in south east Africa for some time.
- FredPret 6y ago
  If you say he’s worthy of abuse due to his “lineage of abusive behavior” the I will say you are a racist. I’m descended from an ethnic group that has done some bad things. Am I now a bad person? For instance, are all Germans Nazis to you?
  - rsj_hn 6y ago
    Everyone comes from a lineage that committed great violence in the competition for resources vis-a-vis other groups. If your ancestors did not do that, you would not be alive today. Let us not forget the Zambians, themselves foreign Bantu invaders who genocided the native Khoison population (but perhaps the Khoisons genocided who was there before them).