4 ms·

I'm very interested to see how his MAGA heel turn affects his companies. He is undoubtably a very high performer and makes very high performing companies that g

by wilg 2y ago

I'm very interested to see how his MAGA heel turn affects his companies. He is undoubtably a very high performer and makes very high performing companies that good people want to work for, and they make extremely good products. But the first thing out of everyone's mouth about a Tesla car is their opinion on Elon, and it seems very unlikely he's going to get more appealing to people who aren't Republicans.

ren_engineer 2y ago
for SpaceX it's a bet that if Trump wins they will get far more lobbying power for contracts and Boeing/Lockheed will be even more screwed. And while consumer opinion on Tesla and Starlink will be hurt, Elon is probably hoping to get Trump to tariff Chinese electric car competitors massively so his only competition will be domestic
- wilg 2y ago
  Biden already tariffed Chinese EVs! https://apnews.com/article/biden-china-tariffs-electric-vehicles-evs-solar-2024ba735c47e04a50898a88425c5e2c https://apnews.com/article/biden-china-tariffs-electric-vehi... And I doubt SpaceX needs much more lobbying power for contracts. I think it's pretty clear Elon's interest here is not in minor lobbying benefits but is a genuine reflection of how he's ass deep in the culture war.
- scarab92 2y ago
  I wouldn’t be surprised if Trump starts a second space race, to put the first human on Mars, and funnels billions into SpaceX to achieve it.
  - netsharc 2y ago
    I feel like Xi Jinping (the leader of the only other country currently capable of joining that race) would just lean back and say, "Sure, I'll hold your beers...", and maybe get out his phone to record the hilarity of the attempt.
  - rsynnott 2y ago
    Trump is (a) a narcissist, and (b) not a _complete_ idiot. There is no world in which he does this if he wins, because it would certainly not deliver while he was still president, and in practice it would likely only deliver after he was dead (bear in mind that he's nearly 80). Anything along those lines from him should be expected to be flashy, but relatively short timelines, because it will be very important to him that it's all about him.
- ls612 2y ago
  No matter who wins SpaceX will get plenty of govt business they are so far ahead of everyone else not only today but in the next decade. And that is completely ignoring the Starship shaped hammer about to break the cost curve for launching to orbit in 3-5 years.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
quantified 2y ago
I'm surprised that Tesla is welcomed by Texas. They are, after all, reducing fossil fuels burnt with every car sold. I thought that supporting non-fossil energy was discouraged there.
- big-green-man 2y ago
  Texas is the largest wind producing state in the united States.
  - quantified 2y ago
    [https://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2022-09-09/texas-feels-ripple-effects-from-green-investment-ban/ https://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2022-09-09/texas-feels-...]
    - big-green-man 2y ago
      > The law is explicit: Companies that abstain from investing in fossil fuels for strictly financial reasons, rather than as an ethical or environmental position, are not banned. Seems perfectly reasonable to me. Pensions have a fiduciary duty to maximize payout to beneficiaries who have paid in. There's no room for your moral crusade when managing other people's money.
- giraffe_lady 2y ago
  I rarely see it cited as an explicit influence but a lot of the platform of the american right today aligns with ecofascism. The rhetoric around their focus on the border particularly, their reactionary image of a romanticized, pastoral/pioneering past america. For musk specifically, the pronatalism: after all they don't think that global birth rates are too low, just some birth rates.
glenndebacker 2y ago
Don't know in the States but here in Europe I think it will hurt Tesla. The only ones that are really supporting Elon are the same people who deny climate change and are against EV cars, solar energy, batteries where they suddenly are caring for coloured people in the mines,... Empirical but I know a lot of Tesla drivers that are looking for a different brand when their lease is over. Although its not only about his politics but also quality, broken promises,... .

by wilg 2y ago

ren_engineer 2y ago

for SpaceX it's a bet that if Trump wins they will get far more lobbying power for contracts and Boeing/Lockheed will be even more screwed. And while consumer opinion on Tesla and Starlink will be hurt, Elon is probably hoping to get Trump to tariff Chinese electric car competitors massively so his only competition will be domestic

wilg 2y ago
Biden already tariffed Chinese EVs! https://apnews.com/article/biden-china-tariffs-electric-vehicles-evs-solar-2024ba735c47e04a50898a88425c5e2c https://apnews.com/article/biden-china-tariffs-electric-vehi... And I doubt SpaceX needs much more lobbying power for contracts. I think it's pretty clear Elon's interest here is not in minor lobbying benefits but is a genuine reflection of how he's ass deep in the culture war.
scarab92 2y ago
I wouldn’t be surprised if Trump starts a second space race, to put the first human on Mars, and funnels billions into SpaceX to achieve it.
- netsharc 2y ago
  I feel like Xi Jinping (the leader of the only other country currently capable of joining that race) would just lean back and say, "Sure, I'll hold your beers...", and maybe get out his phone to record the hilarity of the attempt.
- rsynnott 2y ago
  Trump is (a) a narcissist, and (b) not a _complete_ idiot. There is no world in which he does this if he wins, because it would certainly not deliver while he was still president, and in practice it would likely only deliver after he was dead (bear in mind that he's nearly 80). Anything along those lines from him should be expected to be flashy, but relatively short timelines, because it will be very important to him that it's all about him.
ls612 2y ago
No matter who wins SpaceX will get plenty of govt business they are so far ahead of everyone else not only today but in the next decade. And that is completely ignoring the Starship shaped hammer about to break the cost curve for launching to orbit in 3-5 years.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

quantified 2y ago

I'm surprised that Tesla is welcomed by Texas. They are, after all, reducing fossil fuels burnt with every car sold. I thought that supporting non-fossil energy was discouraged there.

big-green-man 2y ago
Texas is the largest wind producing state in the united States.
- quantified 2y ago
  [https://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2022-09-09/texas-feels-ripple-effects-from-green-investment-ban/ https://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2022-09-09/texas-feels-...]
  - big-green-man 2y ago
    > The law is explicit: Companies that abstain from investing in fossil fuels for strictly financial reasons, rather than as an ethical or environmental position, are not banned. Seems perfectly reasonable to me. Pensions have a fiduciary duty to maximize payout to beneficiaries who have paid in. There's no room for your moral crusade when managing other people's money.
giraffe_lady 2y ago
I rarely see it cited as an explicit influence but a lot of the platform of the american right today aligns with ecofascism. The rhetoric around their focus on the border particularly, their reactionary image of a romanticized, pastoral/pioneering past america. For musk specifically, the pronatalism: after all they don't think that global birth rates are too low, just some birth rates.

glenndebacker 2y ago

Don't know in the States but here in Europe I think it will hurt Tesla. The only ones that are really supporting Elon are the same people who deny climate change and are against EV cars, solar energy, batteries where they suddenly are caring for coloured people in the mines,... Empirical but I know a lot of Tesla drivers that are looking for a different brand when their lease is over. Although its not only about his politics but also quality, broken promises,... .