3 ms·

I could see being an Elon fan ~5 years ago, pre-pedo guy, and before it became clear that all of his promises are lies. Why now?

emmelaich 4y ago
I don't understand the adulation or the contempt. He's done good things with SpaceX and Tesla. He's flawed. Shrug.
- bombcar 4y ago
  As far as billionaires go he’s way more amusing than Bezos and Gates and Buffet all put together. Only Bankman-Fried has been close on the entertainment front.
  - nickthegreek 4y ago
    That is a good thing?
    - randomdata 4y ago
      In terms of fandom, those who put on a more entertaining performance will attract more fans.
      - bombcar 4y ago
        I mean if we have to have billionaires they might as well perform for my amusement.
        jacquesm 4y ago
        Right up to the point where you become the focal point of their power and end up the victim. This isn't amusing unless you find train wrecks amusing.
        randomdata 4y ago
        A king is only as powerful as his subjects are loyal. If someone transitions from being amusing to being a train wreck, what is offered in return for the people to continue to recognize such power?
- rideontime 4y ago
  He had an ex-employee SWATted, that alone is contemptible enough for me.
  - kentm 4y ago
    Also doxed a Tesla short seller on Twitter and tried to get him fired. Also lied about some other person looking into Tesla and claimed he ran over employees in the parking lot, taking him to court. Elon has an extensive history of vindictiveness.
  - DoesntMatter22 4y ago
    When did he have him swatted? Like he gave away the persons address or called the swat team on him?
- cldellow 4y ago
  Vern Unsworth is a cave diver who assisted with the Thai cave rescue a few years ago. He was derisive of Musk, who wanted Tesla engineers to help rescue the trapped children. Musk responded to this criticism by calling Unsworth a "pedo" and "child rapist" and hiring a private detective to investigate Unsworth. Unsworth ended up suing Musk for defamation. Flawed is liking pineapple on pizza, not using your platform of millions of followers to call someone a child rapist. That's worthy of contempt to me.
  - kentm 4y ago
    Just a point of clarification, he hired the private detective before he was sued.
    - cldellow 4y ago
      D'oh, thanks, I've fixed that mistake in my comment.
  - dmix 4y ago
    You can admit Elon is extremely petty and short-sighted in private personal matters but admit he still attempts to do good in the greater scheme. That's where I'm at personally. I despise his lack of consistency and restraint in his position of power, but still respect his wider goals in reducing censorship and making bold investments in technological moon shots. I'm cynical though, I only see lesser evils as all you can wish for in politics and culture. Trusting in politicized public figures = pure disappointment The most sympathetic scenario re: twitter (ignoring the other Musk issues around FSD/pre-Twitter stuff): a few very public examples of him censoring people for petty reasons VS pre-Musk twitter banning (or silently shadowbanning) many thousands who happened to fall outside the current-thing Overton Window, using equally or worse biased/misguided reasons (ie, 'misinformation') and quietly taking requests from gov/intel agencies... still a net gain over all. But tons of work to be done.
- seba_dos1 4y ago
  This kind of "flawed" seems like a perfect reason to strongly distance oneself from any past suggestions of "being a fan" (everyone makes mistakes after all), but to each their own.
  - DoesntMatter22 4y ago
    I don't know anyone these days who is the model of morality. People are pretty messed up in general. I think at least Elon puts most of his energy into doing things that are good for the planet and people.
    - seba_dos1 4y ago
      There's a very long way between being the model of morality and being someone like Musk.
DoesntMatter22 4y ago
Everyone has issues, and does bad things from time to time. But I respect that he's been able to build the companies he has while enduring almost constant hate from the beginning. He had some supporters but CNBC and the like were constantly talking about how Tesla would go bankrupt and how it was a total waste of money. And I think Elon does some really dumb things but in general I want him to succeed on what he is doing.

emmelaich 4y ago

I don't understand the adulation or the contempt. He's done good things with SpaceX and Tesla. He's flawed. Shrug.

bombcar 4y ago
As far as billionaires go he’s way more amusing than Bezos and Gates and Buffet all put together. Only Bankman-Fried has been close on the entertainment front.
- nickthegreek 4y ago
  That is a good thing?
  - randomdata 4y ago
    In terms of fandom, those who put on a more entertaining performance will attract more fans.
    - bombcar 4y ago
      I mean if we have to have billionaires they might as well perform for my amusement.
      - jacquesm 4y ago
        Right up to the point where you become the focal point of their power and end up the victim. This isn't amusing unless you find train wrecks amusing.
        randomdata 4y ago
        A king is only as powerful as his subjects are loyal. If someone transitions from being amusing to being a train wreck, what is offered in return for the people to continue to recognize such power?
rideontime 4y ago
He had an ex-employee SWATted, that alone is contemptible enough for me.
- kentm 4y ago
  Also doxed a Tesla short seller on Twitter and tried to get him fired. Also lied about some other person looking into Tesla and claimed he ran over employees in the parking lot, taking him to court. Elon has an extensive history of vindictiveness.
- DoesntMatter22 4y ago
  When did he have him swatted? Like he gave away the persons address or called the swat team on him?
cldellow 4y ago
Vern Unsworth is a cave diver who assisted with the Thai cave rescue a few years ago. He was derisive of Musk, who wanted Tesla engineers to help rescue the trapped children. Musk responded to this criticism by calling Unsworth a "pedo" and "child rapist" and hiring a private detective to investigate Unsworth. Unsworth ended up suing Musk for defamation. Flawed is liking pineapple on pizza, not using your platform of millions of followers to call someone a child rapist. That's worthy of contempt to me.
- kentm 4y ago
  Just a point of clarification, he hired the private detective before he was sued.
  - cldellow 4y ago
    D'oh, thanks, I've fixed that mistake in my comment.
- dmix 4y ago
  You can admit Elon is extremely petty and short-sighted in private personal matters but admit he still attempts to do good in the greater scheme. That's where I'm at personally. I despise his lack of consistency and restraint in his position of power, but still respect his wider goals in reducing censorship and making bold investments in technological moon shots. I'm cynical though, I only see lesser evils as all you can wish for in politics and culture. Trusting in politicized public figures = pure disappointment The most sympathetic scenario re: twitter (ignoring the other Musk issues around FSD/pre-Twitter stuff): a few very public examples of him censoring people for petty reasons VS pre-Musk twitter banning (or silently shadowbanning) many thousands who happened to fall outside the current-thing Overton Window, using equally or worse biased/misguided reasons (ie, 'misinformation') and quietly taking requests from gov/intel agencies... still a net gain over all. But tons of work to be done.
seba_dos1 4y ago
This kind of "flawed" seems like a perfect reason to strongly distance oneself from any past suggestions of "being a fan" (everyone makes mistakes after all), but to each their own.
- DoesntMatter22 4y ago
  I don't know anyone these days who is the model of morality. People are pretty messed up in general. I think at least Elon puts most of his energy into doing things that are good for the planet and people.
  - seba_dos1 4y ago
    There's a very long way between being the model of morality and being someone like Musk.

DoesntMatter22 4y ago

Everyone has issues, and does bad things from time to time. But I respect that he's been able to build the companies he has while enduring almost constant hate from the beginning. He had some supporters but CNBC and the like were constantly talking about how Tesla would go bankrupt and how it was a total waste of money. And I think Elon does some really dumb things but in general I want him to succeed on what he is doing.