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Lots of celebrities are gigantic douchebags and no one cares. Why do people care with Elon? Why does he have a parade of haters not just criticizing his attitud

by slibhb 5y ago

Lots of celebrities are gigantic douchebags and no one cares. Why do people care with Elon? Why does he have a parade of haters not just criticizing his attitude but also claiming that his work isn't valuable? It's not because "they don't care about EVs or rockets," it's something deeper and uglier.

tayo42 5y ago
Celebrities with bad personalities have consequences for it all the time. Elon isn't getting special treatment.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
wbsss4412 5y ago
> Lots of celebrities are gigantic douchebags and no one cares. Tons of people care, an entire industry of celebrity gossip lives off of it. Elon has just as much of a cult following as he has haters, the fact that you can’t see how perfectly this mirrors wider celebrity culture suggests that you are either very out of touch with pop culture, or are a part of the Elon cult.
- slibhb 5y ago
  > Tons of people care, an entire industry of celebrity gossip lives off of it. You have a point. But what does it say about someone that they spend time hating celebrities? Do they think "this celebrity is a bad person, if I were rich and famous I would be a good good person!" Is that true? Or is it just childish resentment? Do we defend the people who have a deranged hatred towards Anne Hathaway? No we find them bizarre and disturbed.
  - wbsss4412 5y ago
    Do we defend people for being annoyed by a drunk guy at a bar? You seem to be under the impression that there is nothing legitimately off putting about Elon’s public persona.
    - slibhb 5y ago
      Here's what I originally wrote: > Elon Musk is kind of obnoxious. He lies (or "exaggerates"). But what Tesla has done is insane. It's happened so quickly, and that's leaving aside the rockets. The hard evidence that we can build new things, that we can progress and build a future that's better than the present is so important. If it takes a flawed man to show us that, I'll take it. > If you hate Elon Musk, consider probing your mind deeply to figure out why. It may just be that you're an Ayn Rand villain. Please show me where I said "there is nothing legitimately off putting about Elon’s public persona".
      - wbsss4412 5y ago
        Apologies, I seem to have lost track of that part of the thread. You just come off as so aghast at criticism of the man.
  - the_only_law 5y ago
    > But what does it say about someone that they spend time hating celebrities? Probably about the same thing as people that spend their time defending and dickriding celebrities on the internet.
  - wbsss4412 5y ago
    One other point. Elon didn’t like how Twitter was being run, so he spent a relatively minor fraction of his overall wealth to buy a large stake in the company and get himself onto the board. This is beyond comprehension to the average person who is typically just a the will of these large corporations. Elon is _extremely_ powerful, and as such he deserves to be held to a higher level of scrutiny, beyond even the level of some random celebrity.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
the_only_law 5y ago
> It's not because "they don't care about EVs or rockets," it's something deeper and uglier. Then stop hand waving with poor analogies and just say what it is then.
sd8f9iu 5y ago
Celebrities who are douche bags are criticized all the time — I'm not sure what your point is exactly. Musk is not just a "celebrity," he is one of the most powerful men on the planet. Most celebrities don't control 10% of one the most powerful media apparatuses in the country. Musk is seen by many as a sociopathic narcissist who will do whatever it takes to get what he wants. Doing things like sending private investigators to try and dig up dirt on that rescue diver who criticized him hardly distances him from that image (and doesn't help his claims of being a "free speech absolutist" either). Those traits combined with tremendous power are generally not a good combination. We don't owe him anything for his business ventures. He isn't running a charity. He isn't doing it for you and me. Electric cars and rockets are very cool, but are not moving humanity into some new dawn. The idea that he is some necessary component of "hard evidence that we can build new things" that deserves special treatment is borne straight out of a personality cult. Pointing this out is a far cry from "claiming his work isn't valuable."
citizenkeen 5y ago
Musk isn't just a celebrity. He has the money and power to alter both the political and technological landscape of the United States (and the world at large). It's not uglier.

by slibhb 5y ago

tayo42 5y ago

Celebrities with bad personalities have consequences for it all the time. Elon isn't getting special treatment.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

wbsss4412 5y ago

> Lots of celebrities are gigantic douchebags and no one cares. Tons of people care, an entire industry of celebrity gossip lives off of it. Elon has just as much of a cult following as he has haters, the fact that you can’t see how perfectly this mirrors wider celebrity culture suggests that you are either very out of touch with pop culture, or are a part of the Elon cult.

slibhb 5y ago
> Tons of people care, an entire industry of celebrity gossip lives off of it. You have a point. But what does it say about someone that they spend time hating celebrities? Do they think "this celebrity is a bad person, if I were rich and famous I would be a good good person!" Is that true? Or is it just childish resentment? Do we defend the people who have a deranged hatred towards Anne Hathaway? No we find them bizarre and disturbed.
- wbsss4412 5y ago
  Do we defend people for being annoyed by a drunk guy at a bar? You seem to be under the impression that there is nothing legitimately off putting about Elon’s public persona.
  - slibhb 5y ago
    Here's what I originally wrote: > Elon Musk is kind of obnoxious. He lies (or "exaggerates"). But what Tesla has done is insane. It's happened so quickly, and that's leaving aside the rockets. The hard evidence that we can build new things, that we can progress and build a future that's better than the present is so important. If it takes a flawed man to show us that, I'll take it. > If you hate Elon Musk, consider probing your mind deeply to figure out why. It may just be that you're an Ayn Rand villain. Please show me where I said "there is nothing legitimately off putting about Elon’s public persona".
    - wbsss4412 5y ago
      Apologies, I seem to have lost track of that part of the thread. You just come off as so aghast at criticism of the man.
- the_only_law 5y ago
  > But what does it say about someone that they spend time hating celebrities? Probably about the same thing as people that spend their time defending and dickriding celebrities on the internet.
- wbsss4412 5y ago
  One other point. Elon didn’t like how Twitter was being run, so he spent a relatively minor fraction of his overall wealth to buy a large stake in the company and get himself onto the board. This is beyond comprehension to the average person who is typically just a the will of these large corporations. Elon is _extremely_ powerful, and as such he deserves to be held to a higher level of scrutiny, beyond even the level of some random celebrity.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

the_only_law 5y ago

> It's not because "they don't care about EVs or rockets," it's something deeper and uglier. Then stop hand waving with poor analogies and just say what it is then.

sd8f9iu 5y ago

Celebrities who are douche bags are criticized all the time — I'm not sure what your point is exactly. Musk is not just a "celebrity," he is one of the most powerful men on the planet. Most celebrities don't control 10% of one the most powerful media apparatuses in the country. Musk is seen by many as a sociopathic narcissist who will do whatever it takes to get what he wants. Doing things like sending private investigators to try and dig up dirt on that rescue diver who criticized him hardly distances him from that image (and doesn't help his claims of being a "free speech absolutist" either). Those traits combined with tremendous power are generally not a good combination. We don't owe him anything for his business ventures. He isn't running a charity. He isn't doing it for you and me. Electric cars and rockets are very cool, but are not moving humanity into some new dawn. The idea that he is some necessary component of "hard evidence that we can build new things" that deserves special treatment is borne straight out of a personality cult. Pointing this out is a far cry from "claiming his work isn't valuable."

citizenkeen 5y ago

Musk isn't just a celebrity. He has the money and power to alter both the political and technological landscape of the United States (and the world at large). It's not uglier.