KEY POINTS
Elon Musk said he would form a new political party called the “America Party.”
Tesla shares fell Monday after Musk’s announcement.
Tesla shareholders have wanted Musk to stay away from politics, especially after his stint at the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, which many have said damaged the automaker’s brand.
solsangraal@lemmy.zip 3 days ago
wild that we used to think this fucking clown was cool
ThePowerOfGeek@lemmy.world 3 days ago
And smart.
But it turns out he basically steals the ideas of better people and takes all the credit. Truly a modern day Thomas Edison. But even worse.
caseyweederman@lemmy.ca 3 days ago
Worse, for many reasons, but also: stealing Tesla’s actual name this time
iAmTheTot@sh.itjust.works 3 days ago
“we”?
ReallyActuallyFrankenstein@lemmynsfw.com 3 days ago
Well, I’ll give my own impression: I was never a fanboy, but I think his PR team did a good job making him seem vaguely non-threatening and focused on bringing the sci-fi ideas into reality. I remember rolling my eyes when he appeared in Iron Man 2, and the “Tony Stark” comparisons always seemed, to be charitable, aspirational. But then he started tweeting about that cave diver being a “pedo guy,” fired his PR people, and it quickly became obvious who he really was.
Basically standard tech bro protocol. Appear neutral on politics and vaguely altruistic in motive, until they have so much money nobody can stop them from being their worst techno-fascist selves. (Altman seems next in line for this transition.)
uuldika@lemmy.ml 3 days ago
I’ll admit to it.
I used to think Tesla was based, since it paved the way for mass-market EVs to happen. I still think SpaceX is based because of the booster reuse and droneship recovery of Falcon 9, and the massive potential for Starship to make space massively cheaper, and Starlink for bringing Internet to rural areas/war zones like Ukraine (despite clouding the skies.)
On a personal level I found him disgusting, and as a billionaire I think he’s the sickness at the core of our economy and society. The projects of his companies were genuinely useful, though.
So yeah, in 2015 he would have been closer to the bottom of my list of most evil billionaires, whereas now he’s way at the top.
real_squids@sopuli.xyz 3 days ago
Exactly, did anyone here think non-fictional billionaires could ever be cool? After developing critical thinking skills that is.
nuko147@lemmy.world 3 days ago
I always hated him. Peak hate was when he send a car in space, supported Trump and did the Nazi salutes.
Hubi@feddit.org 3 days ago
My claim to fame is that I disliked the guy from the very first time I saw him.
burgerpocalyse@lemmy.world 3 days ago
the problem was that the things he said he was good at are highly specialized and there was not much media attention when actual experts said he had zero idea what he was doing. it took him pretending to know how to do stuff most people can instantly recognize when done poorly, like video games or speaking in public