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God forbid a CEO would express his sincerely-held beliefs. All my favourite CEOs inauthentically mirror the perceived beliefs of their customers in order to se

by cbeach 3y ago

God forbid a CEO would express his sincerely-held beliefs. All my favourite CEOs inauthentically mirror the perceived beliefs of their customers in order to sell more products.

fnordian_slip 3y ago
I think part of it is that many of those beliefs are so stupid, they taint whoever holds them. Not all beliefs are created equal, so to speak. Also, other CEOs who might share those beliefs are at least intelligent / savvy enough not to voice them openly. Being so stupid or arrogant that you would proudly display those beliefs is seen almost as worse by many, so he doesn't do himself any favours with that.
silverquiet 3y ago
If Musk is sincere in his tweeting then he has the politics of a 14-year old Reddit Troll (and I would know having been guilty of such behavior myself). There are much better ways to persuade people of your righteousness than posting memes where women are flashing their vaginas at monks in order to tempt them, but of course that takes actual work and lacks the dopamine hit that comes from such subversiveness. And again, I say this as someone who appreciates the occasional 420/69 numerology or naming your car models "S", "3" (E), and "X". To me that's playful, but he's taken it far beyond that and into something much darker.
pupppet 3y ago
Except some beliefs are objectively stupid.
- andsoitis 3y ago
  > Except some beliefs are objectively stupid. I agree. However, hoi polloi don't evaluate others based on the objective validity of their beliefs, but rather whether they share the same beliefs, however stupid.
- menacingly 3y ago
  you're never going to believe this, but the other side feels the same way
  - suzzer99 3y ago
    While this is true, it doesn't preclude one side being completely unhinged from reality.
  - marcosdumay 3y ago
    Well, there aren't 2 opposing sides, and that feeling doesn't change the fact that some beliefs are indeed stupid.
  - ahahahahah 3y ago
    Well yeah, I think their beliefs are stupid. It would not surprise me at all that they hold other stupid beliefs. Like, I believe flat earth beliefs are stupid. Do people that hold them believe my beliefs in that area are stupid? maybe, but I'm pretty comfortable with that.
  - archagon 3y ago
    In a scenario where there is a normal side and a stupid side, both sides will also feel that the other side is stupid. So this means absolutely nothing.
maxerickson 3y ago
Why do you have favorite CEOs? That seems like a weird hobby.
- someguydave 3y ago
  I think the implication is that many are on this forum have a “least-favourite CEO hobby” and are very proud of it.
  - r00fus 3y ago
    There are hundreds of competing CEOs for that title in my book. Musk isn't even at that top of that list.
    - leereeves 3y ago
      A lot of people on HN are obsessed with Musk though. There's a post about him every day here.
  - TheCleric 3y ago
    Hey, my list is just all of them tied for last until proven otherwise.
- Solvency 3y ago
  [flagged]
  - EasyMark 3y ago
    leave reeboks out of this they ain't gone and hurt nobody
- barryrandall 3y ago
  Having opinions is weird.
- jimbokun 3y ago
  Sounds like sarcasm to me.
renegade-otter 3y ago
Tesla customers are the "liberal coastal woke elites" Musk hates so much. What is he mirroring exactly that they would appreciate? It's the complete opposite of what you said.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
ulfw 3y ago
I buy a company's products. Not a CEO's. CEOs just have to keep their mouths shut and all is well if their products are good. Hell, how many people do you think even know who the CEO of KIA is? Or of BMW? Or of Honda? Or of Stellantis? Right. Elon dug his own grave by having severe narcissistic personality disorder, always need to be front and centre of the daily discourse and happens to show his real right wing face now. A face that is anthesis to his customer base.
- cbeach 3y ago
  I'm his customer base. I have solar panels on my roof and a Tesla on my drive. And I LOVE that Musk defends freedom of expression. I LOVE that he defends free market economics and border control. I assure you I am MORE likely to buy a Tesla because of Musk. We can do better than pigeonhole all EV customers into a single political tribe.
  - Solvency 3y ago
    it's wild watching you worship musk relentlessly on him comment after comment. you LOVE him. we get it.
    - blitzar 3y ago
      [flagged]
    - dang 3y ago
      Could you please stop posting unsubstantive comments and flamebait? You've unfortunately been doing it repeatedly. It's not what this site is for, and destroys what it is for. We ban accounts that post like this, so I need to ask you to stop. If you wouldn't mind reviewing https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and taking the intended spirit of the site more to heart, we'd be grateful.
  - silverquiet 3y ago
    Wouldn't a free market for labor eschew any kind of border control? What do you think Musk cares most about - the nationality of the workers who assemble a Tesla, or the cost of their labor?
klyrs 3y ago
God forbid we judge a man on the content of his character.
marcosdumay 3y ago
Smart CEOs aren't on the news all the time nor use the hatespreading engines they buy on themselves. But the not-smart ones are so entertaining that I can support them!
- Gud 3y ago
  I mean, the man we are talking about have come to dominate two notoriously difficult industries by revolutionising both. Wouldn’t Elon Musk be the definition of “smart CEO”? Considering his track record?
tarsinge 3y ago
Sincerely-held beliefs? Have we seen the same twitter posts? For me these look like drug fueled ramblings.
yumraj 3y ago
> God forbid a CEO would express his sincerely-held beliefs. Express to who? Who do you express your sincerely-held beliefs to? To your friends and family or do you often get on a soapbox/roof-top/social media platform and just start yelling? Musk’s been doing the latter, and CEO or not, it comes with consequences that are directly proportional to the size of the megaphone.

by cbeach 3y ago

God forbid a CEO would express his sincerely-held beliefs. All my favourite CEOs inauthentically mirror the perceived beliefs of their customers in order to sell more products.

fnordian_slip 3y ago

I think part of it is that many of those beliefs are so stupid, they taint whoever holds them. Not all beliefs are created equal, so to speak. Also, other CEOs who might share those beliefs are at least intelligent / savvy enough not to voice them openly. Being so stupid or arrogant that you would proudly display those beliefs is seen almost as worse by many, so he doesn't do himself any favours with that.

silverquiet 3y ago

If Musk is sincere in his tweeting then he has the politics of a 14-year old Reddit Troll (and I would know having been guilty of such behavior myself). There are much better ways to persuade people of your righteousness than posting memes where women are flashing their vaginas at monks in order to tempt them, but of course that takes actual work and lacks the dopamine hit that comes from such subversiveness. And again, I say this as someone who appreciates the occasional 420/69 numerology or naming your car models "S", "3" (E), and "X". To me that's playful, but he's taken it far beyond that and into something much darker.

pupppet 3y ago

Except some beliefs are objectively stupid.

andsoitis 3y ago
> Except some beliefs are objectively stupid. I agree. However, hoi polloi don't evaluate others based on the objective validity of their beliefs, but rather whether they share the same beliefs, however stupid.
menacingly 3y ago
you're never going to believe this, but the other side feels the same way
- suzzer99 3y ago
  While this is true, it doesn't preclude one side being completely unhinged from reality.
- marcosdumay 3y ago
  Well, there aren't 2 opposing sides, and that feeling doesn't change the fact that some beliefs are indeed stupid.
- ahahahahah 3y ago
  Well yeah, I think their beliefs are stupid. It would not surprise me at all that they hold other stupid beliefs. Like, I believe flat earth beliefs are stupid. Do people that hold them believe my beliefs in that area are stupid? maybe, but I'm pretty comfortable with that.
- archagon 3y ago
  In a scenario where there is a normal side and a stupid side, both sides will also feel that the other side is stupid. So this means absolutely nothing.

maxerickson 3y ago

Why do you have favorite CEOs? That seems like a weird hobby.

someguydave 3y ago
I think the implication is that many are on this forum have a “least-favourite CEO hobby” and are very proud of it.
- r00fus 3y ago
  There are hundreds of competing CEOs for that title in my book. Musk isn't even at that top of that list.
  - leereeves 3y ago
    A lot of people on HN are obsessed with Musk though. There's a post about him every day here.
- TheCleric 3y ago
  Hey, my list is just all of them tied for last until proven otherwise.
Solvency 3y ago
[flagged]
- EasyMark 3y ago
  leave reeboks out of this they ain't gone and hurt nobody
barryrandall 3y ago
Having opinions is weird.
jimbokun 3y ago
Sounds like sarcasm to me.

renegade-otter 3y ago

Tesla customers are the "liberal coastal woke elites" Musk hates so much. What is he mirroring exactly that they would appreciate? It's the complete opposite of what you said.

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]

ulfw 3y ago

I buy a company's products. Not a CEO's. CEOs just have to keep their mouths shut and all is well if their products are good. Hell, how many people do you think even know who the CEO of KIA is? Or of BMW? Or of Honda? Or of Stellantis? Right. Elon dug his own grave by having severe narcissistic personality disorder, always need to be front and centre of the daily discourse and happens to show his real right wing face now. A face that is anthesis to his customer base.

cbeach 3y ago
I'm his customer base. I have solar panels on my roof and a Tesla on my drive. And I LOVE that Musk defends freedom of expression. I LOVE that he defends free market economics and border control. I assure you I am MORE likely to buy a Tesla because of Musk. We can do better than pigeonhole all EV customers into a single political tribe.
- Solvency 3y ago
  it's wild watching you worship musk relentlessly on him comment after comment. you LOVE him. we get it.
  - blitzar 3y ago
    [flagged]
  - dang 3y ago
    Could you please stop posting unsubstantive comments and flamebait? You've unfortunately been doing it repeatedly. It's not what this site is for, and destroys what it is for. We ban accounts that post like this, so I need to ask you to stop. If you wouldn't mind reviewing https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and taking the intended spirit of the site more to heart, we'd be grateful.
- silverquiet 3y ago
  Wouldn't a free market for labor eschew any kind of border control? What do you think Musk cares most about - the nationality of the workers who assemble a Tesla, or the cost of their labor?

klyrs 3y ago

God forbid we judge a man on the content of his character.

marcosdumay 3y ago

Smart CEOs aren't on the news all the time nor use the hatespreading engines they buy on themselves. But the not-smart ones are so entertaining that I can support them!

Gud 3y ago
I mean, the man we are talking about have come to dominate two notoriously difficult industries by revolutionising both. Wouldn’t Elon Musk be the definition of “smart CEO”? Considering his track record?

tarsinge 3y ago

Sincerely-held beliefs? Have we seen the same twitter posts? For me these look like drug fueled ramblings.

yumraj 3y ago

> God forbid a CEO would express his sincerely-held beliefs. Express to who? Who do you express your sincerely-held beliefs to? To your friends and family or do you often get on a soapbox/roof-top/social media platform and just start yelling? Musk’s been doing the latter, and CEO or not, it comes with consequences that are directly proportional to the size of the megaphone.