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man I am happy to hear that. in Europe there is still widespread cynicism and vitrol against anything Elon Musk especially Starlink. I think that many people a

man I am happy to hear that. in Europe there is still widespread cynicism and vitrol against anything Elon Musk especially Starlink. I think that many people appreciate Starlink in rural parts but your story is one of many that are just amazing

from_memory 4mo ago
I get that he is an ignoble dude, and I dislike him as much as anyone, but why do we judge an entire company by the largest shareholder's personal scruples? There are likely thousands of hardworking people making that ship sail, and it's really short sighted to just write them all off because he is a dumbass. We are SO ready to judge but so unwilling to THINK. Why?
- zdragnar 4mo ago
  Most judging isn't anything more than parroting other people, a mimetic reflex to help you fit in with the people around you. Thinking risks you forming an opinion that might not align with the zeitgeist. There was a student newspaper editorial not too long ago... I think maybe it was at Harvard?... the crux of the piece was there's no reason to debate or engage, because we know we are right. Having independent thought risks putting you in a position of staying silent, or publicly disagreeing with people who have this kind of mentality.
  - deleted 4mo ago
    [deleted]
- Veserv 4mo ago
  Why do we judge an organization by their leader and head executive who has complete control over direction and operations? Who individually has a controlling interest which can and has been used to elect himself the leader? Who regularly, openly, and publicly talks about how he needs to have control over the operation of the organization to be willing to run it? You would be hard pressed to find a person who is more responsible or more representative of their organization than that.
idiotsecant 4mo ago
Elon musk is a scumbag and starlink is very useful. Both things can be true. I will say having the world ISP run by a man with his ... proclivities is less than optimal.
- kappar 4mo ago
  [flagged]
  - rayiner 4mo ago
    [flagged]
    - shigawire 4mo ago
      >Elon voted the same way as 51% of naturalized citizens Doesn't make him right.
      - rayiner 4mo ago
        [flagged]
    - solid_fuel 4mo ago
      Elon musk is a fascist and does not deserve the benefit of the doubt. He has also literally killed more people in Africa via his illegal self-enriching actions at DOGE than he has provided internet service to. So you can take this stupid hero worship and shove it where the sun don’t shine.
      - rayiner 4mo ago
        It had turned into a state department front that was getting people killed by interfering in domestic politics. Even Mexico’s President, who is one of Trump’s strongest critics, agreed with that move: https://www.newsweek.com/trump-musk-unexpected-ally-push-shut-down-usaid-2026231 https://www.newsweek.com/trump-musk-unexpected-ally-push-shu... “During a press conference on Tuesday, Sheinbaum voiced support for shutting down USAID, criticizing the agency's role in funding organizations she described as working against Mexican interests. ‘It's involved in so many things that, honestly, it's better if they just shut it down. If there's going to be aid, it should come through other transparent channels—that's the real issue,’ Sheinbaum said.” Also the former African Union ambassador to the U.S.: https://www.aljazeera.com/video/the-bottom-line/2025/3/16/chihombori-quao-usaid-was-a-wolf-in-sheeps-clothing-in-africa https://www.aljazeera.com/video/the-bottom-line/2025/3/16/ch... (“Chihombori-Quao: USAID was ‘a wolf in sheep’s clothing’ in Africa”). USAID was funding political organizations in either India or Bangladesh, which kicked off a shitstorm in both countries: https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/usaid-biggest-scam-in-history-sanjeev-sanyal-adviser-to-pm-narendra-modi-after-doges-india-voter-funds-claim-7728420/amp/1 https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/usaid-biggest-scam-in-histor... Like I said, the world is a lot more complicated than you learned about in elementary school. Your teacher taught you foreign aid workers selflessly help starving kids in poor countries. But interfering in domestic politics gets kids killed. My dad worked on USAID’s maternal health and vaccine programs in Bangladesh. But if it contributed in any way to the destabilization of Bangladesh in 2024, then it will have killed far more children in the long run than it saved. The math is brutal: in a poor country like Bangladesh, GDP growth directly drives down child mortality. Anything that sets back economic growth even a few years translates to hundreds of thousands of dead children.
dmix 4mo ago
Ontario ended a $100M contract with Starlink to help connect 15k rural and first nations households because Elon was connected with the US administration when tariffs were announced https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/starlink-deal-void-ontario-taxpayer-cost-unclear-1.7597350 https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/starlink-deal-void-on... AFAIK there has been no replacement contract since it was killed in 2025
- rapind 4mo ago
  Elon has total control of Starlink and he’s currently enjoying his bond villain phase. I am very happy my tax dollars are not going into his pockets. It’s not a crusade. You send him your money if you want. It’s none of my business. Pretty sure they are doing a bunch of AI training with your data now too. Opt-in by default. So yeah, no thanks.
  - dmix 4mo ago
    Tax payers are already responsible for the fees paid to cancel the contract early, but won't tell the public how much it cost. They also already paid for a test run with a first nations community in 2020 https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/spacex-deal-ontario-settlement-9.7127757 https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/spacex-deal-ontario-s... I personally see more value in connecting poor and isolated rural communities. Plus I highly doubt a provincial government contract in Canada will be a major influence on a Elon's dumb twitter politics.
    - overfeed 4mo ago
      > Plus I highly doubt a provincial government contract in Canada will be a major influence on a Elon's dumb twitter politics. I don't think the decision was meant to influence, rather, it's self-defense against said "Elon's dumb Twitter politics." Americans having challenges conceptualizing how problematic Starlink is to non-Americans: imagine the same satellite service was provided by Huawei - but helmed by Chinese Elon.
      - 4mo ago
shoobiedoo 4mo ago
My wife and I live in Japan, and her job is in a very, very rural area, while I am able to work remote. Before I moved into her house, we checked her local internet, it was 11mbps with a wired connection. yikes. On top of that there are often landslides and other connection issues. Starlink saved the day.
TMWNN 4mo ago
>in Europe there is still widespread cynicism and vitrol against anything Elon Musk especially Starlink. European Tesla sales are rising yoy again. <https://www.statesman.com/business/article/tesla-sales-q2-2026-deliveries-rebound-22330405.php https://www.statesman.com/business/article/tesla-sales-q2-20...>
leonidasrup 4mo ago
Elon Musk is quite cotroversial figure for Europe. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elon_Musk_salute_controversy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elon_Musk_salute_controversy On one hand Elon Musk and JD Vance supported far-right German party AfD, a party with strong links to Russian. On the other hand Starlink helps Ukraine in the fight against Russia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AfD_pro-Russia_movement https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AfD_pro-Russia_movement https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2025/02/24/germany-far-right-party-afd-election-wins/79891861007/ https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2025/02/24/germany-...
- zuzululu 4mo ago
  [flagged]
  - wqaatwt 4mo ago
    > won majority of UK are being accused of being far right, nazi, russian. Labour? I don’t think many people call Starmer any of those things..
  - anon7000 4mo ago
    Hm. Unfortunately, nationalistic movements and nazis objectively have share some common ground. If the basic premise of your political movement is “I hate foreigners,” you’re inviting a level of hateful thinking and on some level inciting & encouraging some very raw and aggressive emotions among people who also hate foreigners deep down. Nazi Germany is a deeply sad example of what happens when that kind of thinking gets normalized for too long, and the right people figure out how to manipulate a divided society to assume absolute power. So tell me, why shouldn’t we call out political movements that on the surface, appear to be heading down a path that leads to deeply sad situations? We should absolutely not assume that humans are all better now and could never become that hateful again. Are they Russian linked? Well, I’d love if there was some good investigative journalism about it, because I’m not very familiar with European politics. Just responding to the generalization you’re generalizing about. But don’t forget that Russia has been caught many times trying to destabilize western societies by inciting divisive movements, even just with social media bots. And it works, which is also sad.
panick21_ 4mo ago
Claiming that its 'especially Starlink' is just not true. I heard lots of discussion about Musk but very little about Starlink. Starlink mostly gets discussed in terms of space policy and people who care about that. That said people are somewhat right that in most of Western and Central Europe there isn't a huge need for Starlink, it will be quite niche. But I have not heard any 'vitrol' against Starlink.
ornornor 4mo ago
Rightly so, subscribing to starlink is giving money to Heilon Musk, one of the worst people alive (he’s in very good company though there are many like him)
jnaina 4mo ago
There are alternatives. Amazon Leo is currently on a soft launch and will be ramping up over the next 12 months

from_memory 4mo ago

I get that he is an ignoble dude, and I dislike him as much as anyone, but why do we judge an entire company by the largest shareholder's personal scruples? There are likely thousands of hardworking people making that ship sail, and it's really short sighted to just write them all off because he is a dumbass. We are SO ready to judge but so unwilling to THINK. Why?

zdragnar 4mo ago
Most judging isn't anything more than parroting other people, a mimetic reflex to help you fit in with the people around you. Thinking risks you forming an opinion that might not align with the zeitgeist. There was a student newspaper editorial not too long ago... I think maybe it was at Harvard?... the crux of the piece was there's no reason to debate or engage, because we know we are right. Having independent thought risks putting you in a position of staying silent, or publicly disagreeing with people who have this kind of mentality.
- deleted 4mo ago
  [deleted]
Veserv 4mo ago
Why do we judge an organization by their leader and head executive who has complete control over direction and operations? Who individually has a controlling interest which can and has been used to elect himself the leader? Who regularly, openly, and publicly talks about how he needs to have control over the operation of the organization to be willing to run it? You would be hard pressed to find a person who is more responsible or more representative of their organization than that.

idiotsecant 4mo ago

Elon musk is a scumbag and starlink is very useful. Both things can be true. I will say having the world ISP run by a man with his ... proclivities is less than optimal.

kappar 4mo ago
[flagged]
- rayiner 4mo ago
  [flagged]
  - shigawire 4mo ago
    >Elon voted the same way as 51% of naturalized citizens Doesn't make him right.
    - rayiner 4mo ago
      [flagged]
  - solid_fuel 4mo ago
    Elon musk is a fascist and does not deserve the benefit of the doubt. He has also literally killed more people in Africa via his illegal self-enriching actions at DOGE than he has provided internet service to. So you can take this stupid hero worship and shove it where the sun don’t shine.
    - rayiner 4mo ago
      It had turned into a state department front that was getting people killed by interfering in domestic politics. Even Mexico’s President, who is one of Trump’s strongest critics, agreed with that move: https://www.newsweek.com/trump-musk-unexpected-ally-push-shut-down-usaid-2026231 https://www.newsweek.com/trump-musk-unexpected-ally-push-shu... “During a press conference on Tuesday, Sheinbaum voiced support for shutting down USAID, criticizing the agency's role in funding organizations she described as working against Mexican interests. ‘It's involved in so many things that, honestly, it's better if they just shut it down. If there's going to be aid, it should come through other transparent channels—that's the real issue,’ Sheinbaum said.” Also the former African Union ambassador to the U.S.: https://www.aljazeera.com/video/the-bottom-line/2025/3/16/chihombori-quao-usaid-was-a-wolf-in-sheeps-clothing-in-africa https://www.aljazeera.com/video/the-bottom-line/2025/3/16/ch... (“Chihombori-Quao: USAID was ‘a wolf in sheep’s clothing’ in Africa”). USAID was funding political organizations in either India or Bangladesh, which kicked off a shitstorm in both countries: https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/usaid-biggest-scam-in-history-sanjeev-sanyal-adviser-to-pm-narendra-modi-after-doges-india-voter-funds-claim-7728420/amp/1 https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/usaid-biggest-scam-in-histor... Like I said, the world is a lot more complicated than you learned about in elementary school. Your teacher taught you foreign aid workers selflessly help starving kids in poor countries. But interfering in domestic politics gets kids killed. My dad worked on USAID’s maternal health and vaccine programs in Bangladesh. But if it contributed in any way to the destabilization of Bangladesh in 2024, then it will have killed far more children in the long run than it saved. The math is brutal: in a poor country like Bangladesh, GDP growth directly drives down child mortality. Anything that sets back economic growth even a few years translates to hundreds of thousands of dead children.

dmix 4mo ago

Ontario ended a $100M contract with Starlink to help connect 15k rural and first nations households because Elon was connected with the US administration when tariffs were announced https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/starlink-deal-void-ontario-taxpayer-cost-unclear-1.7597350 https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/starlink-deal-void-on... AFAIK there has been no replacement contract since it was killed in 2025

rapind 4mo ago
Elon has total control of Starlink and he’s currently enjoying his bond villain phase. I am very happy my tax dollars are not going into his pockets. It’s not a crusade. You send him your money if you want. It’s none of my business. Pretty sure they are doing a bunch of AI training with your data now too. Opt-in by default. So yeah, no thanks.
- dmix 4mo ago
  Tax payers are already responsible for the fees paid to cancel the contract early, but won't tell the public how much it cost. They also already paid for a test run with a first nations community in 2020 https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/spacex-deal-ontario-settlement-9.7127757 https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/spacex-deal-ontario-s... I personally see more value in connecting poor and isolated rural communities. Plus I highly doubt a provincial government contract in Canada will be a major influence on a Elon's dumb twitter politics.
  - overfeed 4mo ago
    > Plus I highly doubt a provincial government contract in Canada will be a major influence on a Elon's dumb twitter politics. I don't think the decision was meant to influence, rather, it's self-defense against said "Elon's dumb Twitter politics." Americans having challenges conceptualizing how problematic Starlink is to non-Americans: imagine the same satellite service was provided by Huawei - but helmed by Chinese Elon.
    - 4mo ago

shoobiedoo 4mo ago

My wife and I live in Japan, and her job is in a very, very rural area, while I am able to work remote. Before I moved into her house, we checked her local internet, it was 11mbps with a wired connection. yikes. On top of that there are often landslides and other connection issues. Starlink saved the day.

TMWNN 4mo ago

>in Europe there is still widespread cynicism and vitrol against anything Elon Musk especially Starlink. European Tesla sales are rising yoy again. <https://www.statesman.com/business/article/tesla-sales-q2-2026-deliveries-rebound-22330405.php https://www.statesman.com/business/article/tesla-sales-q2-20...>

leonidasrup 4mo ago

Elon Musk is quite cotroversial figure for Europe. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elon_Musk_salute_controversy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elon_Musk_salute_controversy On one hand Elon Musk and JD Vance supported far-right German party AfD, a party with strong links to Russian. On the other hand Starlink helps Ukraine in the fight against Russia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AfD_pro-Russia_movement https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AfD_pro-Russia_movement https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2025/02/24/germany-far-right-party-afd-election-wins/79891861007/ https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2025/02/24/germany-...

zuzululu 4mo ago
[flagged]
- wqaatwt 4mo ago
  > won majority of UK are being accused of being far right, nazi, russian. Labour? I don’t think many people call Starmer any of those things..
- anon7000 4mo ago
  Hm. Unfortunately, nationalistic movements and nazis objectively have share some common ground. If the basic premise of your political movement is “I hate foreigners,” you’re inviting a level of hateful thinking and on some level inciting & encouraging some very raw and aggressive emotions among people who also hate foreigners deep down. Nazi Germany is a deeply sad example of what happens when that kind of thinking gets normalized for too long, and the right people figure out how to manipulate a divided society to assume absolute power. So tell me, why shouldn’t we call out political movements that on the surface, appear to be heading down a path that leads to deeply sad situations? We should absolutely not assume that humans are all better now and could never become that hateful again. Are they Russian linked? Well, I’d love if there was some good investigative journalism about it, because I’m not very familiar with European politics. Just responding to the generalization you’re generalizing about. But don’t forget that Russia has been caught many times trying to destabilize western societies by inciting divisive movements, even just with social media bots. And it works, which is also sad.

panick21_ 4mo ago

Claiming that its 'especially Starlink' is just not true. I heard lots of discussion about Musk but very little about Starlink. Starlink mostly gets discussed in terms of space policy and people who care about that. That said people are somewhat right that in most of Western and Central Europe there isn't a huge need for Starlink, it will be quite niche. But I have not heard any 'vitrol' against Starlink.

ornornor 4mo ago

Rightly so, subscribing to starlink is giving money to Heilon Musk, one of the worst people alive (he’s in very good company though there are many like him)

jnaina 4mo ago

There are alternatives. Amazon Leo is currently on a soft launch and will be ramping up over the next 12 months