4 ms·

Why has even HN comment field lowered to nothing but blind hate? Say what you want but the man has reformed rocket technology and jumpstarted the world's shift

Why has even HN comment field lowered to nothing but blind hate? Say what you want but the man has reformed rocket technology and jumpstarted the world's shift to electrical vehicles, both against all odds. Hate-takes like this are silly.

nathell 4y ago
No he hasn’t. The collective work of employees of companies he has stake in has.
- stevefan1999 4y ago
  Agreed. The workers provided value for him. He decided to take it all
  - inglor_cz 4y ago
    Was there ever a successful collective of the kind that the Left dreams about? If not, doesn't it indicate that CEOs are pretty important in the business scheme of things?
    - zanellato19 4y ago
      Do you mean was there any field that was advanced through the use of public funds? Yes, a lot of scientific advancement comes from exactly that.
    - jacquesm 4y ago
      Yes. Mondragon.
- rmellow 4y ago
  Agreed. Surely the workers would have gotten together on their own, pooled their resources and achieved at least as much as they have if it weren't for Musk. /s Seriously, this is just blind hate. He's a deeply flawed individual and I definitely think he's a jerk, but he's at least he's taking risk on creating something actually new. The richest people I know made money on "safe" industries like civil engineering and plastic bag manufacturing. Pushing the aerospace industry? Challenging the petrol status quo by making EVs viable? Credit where credit is due, he put in the investment and pushed people to make it happen. Obviously not single handedly, but surely accelerated it.
paulgb 4y ago
I do give him credit for those things, but the guy is one of the most powerful people in the world and uses that power to bully. He keeps using his position of power to punch down at people who usually don’t deserve it. It’s petty and pathetic. For example, twitter’s former head of trust and safety had to leave his home recently because Musk told his fawning followers that he was a pedophile. It’s not even the first time Musk has called someone a pedophile unfounded.
- tomcam 4y ago
  > For example, twitter’s former head of trust and safety had to leave his home recently because Musk told his fawning followers that he was a pedophile. Uh no. He simply posted a screenshot from the guy’s thesis.
  - foldr 4y ago
    He also misrepresented what the thesis was saying in the same tweet, deliberately playing into homophobic tropes associating gay people with pedophilia.
  - vibrio 4y ago
    Ironically, digging up out-of-context history to disparage someone sounds like a “cancel culture” tactic.
    - Operative0198 4y ago
      I thought cancel culture was a positive thing.
      - vibrio 4y ago
        What you and I think are not really important in this conversation. Elon believes that the Woke Mind Virus is an existential threat to mankind. Perhaps he has been infected.
        4y ago
throw0101c 4y ago
> Say what you want but the man has reformed rocket technology and jumpstarted the world's shift to electrical vehicles, both against all odds. And now he is helping to spread racism and anti-semititsm: * https://thehill.com/policy/technology/3709609-racist-antisemitic-tweets-quickly-spread-after-musk-twitter-takeover/ https://thehill.com/policy/technology/3709609-racist-antisem... It's possible to think he has done good things in the past, but is doing bad things in the present. And to believe/worry that his present (and future) actions may cause his 'net effect' on the world to become negative.
- AuthorizedCust 4y ago
  Too many of the good things he’s done seem to be despite him. With enough moneyed people making bets, a few of those bets will pan out. Elon shows that the lucky moneyed person doesn’t need to be good.
- thulle 4y ago
  Adding to the "Too many of the good things he’s done seem to be despite him." - there was this tumblr post that passed by here on HN by someone who claimed to've been an intern on Space-X: https://www.tumblr.com/numberonecatwinner/701567544684855296/elon-wyd https://www.tumblr.com/numberonecatwinner/701567544684855296... I never understood the point of the cake story, and it all might be total BS, but the longer this current saga goes on the harder it is to totally disregard the bit about "managing Elon".
- i_like_apis 4y ago
  There are so many false headlines about him. It’s all just outrageous. And a lot of people believe whatever NYT or The Hill says, when they are obviously out to get him.
sethd 4y ago
It’s not blind hate. People see the man for what he is, a douche bag and a charlatan, and are calling his behavior out. His luck in this world (and he has been incredibly lucky) is irrelevant.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
throwawaaarrgh 4y ago
[flagged]
thr0wnawaytod4y 4y ago
That man literally didn't do that.
LightG 4y ago
Helping to usher in the electric revolution does not absolve you from acting like, and being called out for being, a douche. I'd much rather he wasn't behaving like a douche, but until he stops, I'll continue to refer to him as ... a douche.
moolcool 4y ago
I think it's fair play to call out the fact that "Mr. Work 20 Hour Days" has lots of rest and relaxation in his own life.
- sethd 4y ago
  Anyone paying attention to his tweets can tell this is obvious fake front that he tries to maintain (one that actually works on a lot of folks). On some level it's probably technically true part of the time, counting long flights in his private jet as "working", etc.
  - moolcool 4y ago
    Of course-- anyone with eyes can see that VC hustle culture is a grift.
    - sethd 4y ago
      To be fair, I do think there are people who work hard, especially founders. There are also vocal pretenders like Musk. My guess is that the folks who do work really hard are probably the least likely to go around broadcasting that fact. That was my experience, at least. I was never VC-backed but I did a couple runs (combination of bootstrapped and angel investment) and I worked like crazy all the time. I never really thought about the amount of work I did until after (I was too busy worried about failing). I never discussed the amount of work I did with anyone, especially not publicly, because I never felt like it was anything to brag about (I still feel this way). This post is probably my first public mention of it TBH. :)
fhd2 4y ago
Hate is not the opposite of worship - he can be great in some areas and a "dumbass billionaire" in others. Looking at history, I can't imagine there's any useful technological advance (or adoption thereof) that depends on any individual - if EVs were meant to be successful I believe they would've been with or without Musk. Same goes for anything Space X does. Same goes for anything _anyone_ does. If you believe the world would be notably different without any one individual in it, that's what you chose to believe, I see no evidence from history for that. Does he have valuable skills? I'm sure - if nothing else marketing and persistence. Was he involved in important stuff? Evidently. Did he get lucky? Absolutely. Does whatever perceived or actual good he did excuse the perceived or actual bad? Not in my opinion.
- JumpinJack_Cash 4y ago
  That's absolutely right. Naive people and children fall victim of hero worship. Adults and people who can think for themselves are beyond that and understand that it's humanity as a whole which progresses forward, humans just make a fuss and all sort of drama to be the person who gets the merit and gets to sign off the progress do jour. Musk got to sign off the peculiar niche of EVs and rockets which are niches nobody else wanted because they are dependant upon political support.

nathell 4y ago

No he hasn’t. The collective work of employees of companies he has stake in has.

stevefan1999 4y ago
Agreed. The workers provided value for him. He decided to take it all
- inglor_cz 4y ago
  Was there ever a successful collective of the kind that the Left dreams about? If not, doesn't it indicate that CEOs are pretty important in the business scheme of things?
  - zanellato19 4y ago
    Do you mean was there any field that was advanced through the use of public funds? Yes, a lot of scientific advancement comes from exactly that.
  - jacquesm 4y ago
    Yes. Mondragon.
rmellow 4y ago
Agreed. Surely the workers would have gotten together on their own, pooled their resources and achieved at least as much as they have if it weren't for Musk. /s Seriously, this is just blind hate. He's a deeply flawed individual and I definitely think he's a jerk, but he's at least he's taking risk on creating something actually new. The richest people I know made money on "safe" industries like civil engineering and plastic bag manufacturing. Pushing the aerospace industry? Challenging the petrol status quo by making EVs viable? Credit where credit is due, he put in the investment and pushed people to make it happen. Obviously not single handedly, but surely accelerated it.

paulgb 4y ago

I do give him credit for those things, but the guy is one of the most powerful people in the world and uses that power to bully. He keeps using his position of power to punch down at people who usually don’t deserve it. It’s petty and pathetic. For example, twitter’s former head of trust and safety had to leave his home recently because Musk told his fawning followers that he was a pedophile. It’s not even the first time Musk has called someone a pedophile unfounded.

tomcam 4y ago
> For example, twitter’s former head of trust and safety had to leave his home recently because Musk told his fawning followers that he was a pedophile. Uh no. He simply posted a screenshot from the guy’s thesis.
- foldr 4y ago
  He also misrepresented what the thesis was saying in the same tweet, deliberately playing into homophobic tropes associating gay people with pedophilia.
- vibrio 4y ago
  Ironically, digging up out-of-context history to disparage someone sounds like a “cancel culture” tactic.
  - Operative0198 4y ago
    I thought cancel culture was a positive thing.
    - vibrio 4y ago
      What you and I think are not really important in this conversation. Elon believes that the Woke Mind Virus is an existential threat to mankind. Perhaps he has been infected.
      - 4y ago

throw0101c 4y ago

> Say what you want but the man has reformed rocket technology and jumpstarted the world's shift to electrical vehicles, both against all odds. And now he is helping to spread racism and anti-semititsm: * https://thehill.com/policy/technology/3709609-racist-antisemitic-tweets-quickly-spread-after-musk-twitter-takeover/ https://thehill.com/policy/technology/3709609-racist-antisem... It's possible to think he has done good things in the past, but is doing bad things in the present. And to believe/worry that his present (and future) actions may cause his 'net effect' on the world to become negative.

AuthorizedCust 4y ago
Too many of the good things he’s done seem to be despite him. With enough moneyed people making bets, a few of those bets will pan out. Elon shows that the lucky moneyed person doesn’t need to be good.
thulle 4y ago
Adding to the "Too many of the good things he’s done seem to be despite him." - there was this tumblr post that passed by here on HN by someone who claimed to've been an intern on Space-X: https://www.tumblr.com/numberonecatwinner/701567544684855296/elon-wyd https://www.tumblr.com/numberonecatwinner/701567544684855296... I never understood the point of the cake story, and it all might be total BS, but the longer this current saga goes on the harder it is to totally disregard the bit about "managing Elon".
i_like_apis 4y ago
There are so many false headlines about him. It’s all just outrageous. And a lot of people believe whatever NYT or The Hill says, when they are obviously out to get him.

sethd 4y ago

It’s not blind hate. People see the man for what he is, a douche bag and a charlatan, and are calling his behavior out. His luck in this world (and he has been incredibly lucky) is irrelevant.

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]

throwawaaarrgh 4y ago

[flagged]

thr0wnawaytod4y 4y ago

That man literally didn't do that.

LightG 4y ago

Helping to usher in the electric revolution does not absolve you from acting like, and being called out for being, a douche. I'd much rather he wasn't behaving like a douche, but until he stops, I'll continue to refer to him as ... a douche.

moolcool 4y ago

I think it's fair play to call out the fact that "Mr. Work 20 Hour Days" has lots of rest and relaxation in his own life.

sethd 4y ago
Anyone paying attention to his tweets can tell this is obvious fake front that he tries to maintain (one that actually works on a lot of folks). On some level it's probably technically true part of the time, counting long flights in his private jet as "working", etc.
- moolcool 4y ago
  Of course-- anyone with eyes can see that VC hustle culture is a grift.
  - sethd 4y ago
    To be fair, I do think there are people who work hard, especially founders. There are also vocal pretenders like Musk. My guess is that the folks who do work really hard are probably the least likely to go around broadcasting that fact. That was my experience, at least. I was never VC-backed but I did a couple runs (combination of bootstrapped and angel investment) and I worked like crazy all the time. I never really thought about the amount of work I did until after (I was too busy worried about failing). I never discussed the amount of work I did with anyone, especially not publicly, because I never felt like it was anything to brag about (I still feel this way). This post is probably my first public mention of it TBH. :)

fhd2 4y ago

Hate is not the opposite of worship - he can be great in some areas and a "dumbass billionaire" in others. Looking at history, I can't imagine there's any useful technological advance (or adoption thereof) that depends on any individual - if EVs were meant to be successful I believe they would've been with or without Musk. Same goes for anything Space X does. Same goes for anything _anyone_ does. If you believe the world would be notably different without any one individual in it, that's what you chose to believe, I see no evidence from history for that. Does he have valuable skills? I'm sure - if nothing else marketing and persistence. Was he involved in important stuff? Evidently. Did he get lucky? Absolutely. Does whatever perceived or actual good he did excuse the perceived or actual bad? Not in my opinion.

JumpinJack_Cash 4y ago
That's absolutely right. Naive people and children fall victim of hero worship. Adults and people who can think for themselves are beyond that and understand that it's humanity as a whole which progresses forward, humans just make a fuss and all sort of drama to be the person who gets the merit and gets to sign off the progress do jour. Musk got to sign off the peculiar niche of EVs and rockets which are niches nobody else wanted because they are dependant upon political support.