this post was submitted on 24 Aug 2024
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Another one bites the dust.
I admit it, I once assumed Elon was a genius.
(events happen)
Okay, not a genius, but a good businessman.
(events happen)
Okay, a bad businessman, a good PR person.
(events happen)
Okay, a bad PR person, but not a Nazi.
(events happen)
Well fuck, he's a Nazi supporting conspiracy theorist.
God damn, if I was that wrong about one person. I'm just gonna stop having opinions about famous people. It's all smoke and mirrors.
There was a time where Elon Musk (EM) was pretty much a nerd darling. The real life Tony Stark.
I don't know where you are, but in the UK the positive image dropped quite quickly once he called a British cave diver a pedophile over the remarks said cave diver (Vernon Unsworth) said that EM offering his small submarine to help the Thai cave boys was a "PR stunt" and also to "stick his submarine where it hurts" (link). Admittedly the latter was harsh words, but to then go ahead and call a British person in Thailand a pedophile (obviously referencing Gary Glitter) was incredibly childish, petty, and virtually made a lot of Brits distrust EM as well as see him for who he really was from the online tantrum.
I do feel sorry for those who have been suckered into thinking EM isn't some narcissistic arsehole, although the number is dwindling (a personal highlight was when he got booed after Dave Chappelle introduced him to his audience in San Fransisco)
I'll admit to assuming he must be kind of a cool nerd for naming some of his SpaceX things after Culture ships (from Iain M. Banks' novels), but now I feel sullied by association from having enjoyed the same books.
Same with the Hitchhikers stunt.
His personal LLC is called "Excession", considering some of the plot points in that book I doubt he enjoyed it at all, it's just "nerd set dressing".
If you were from California you probably knew he was full of shit because he duped the state out of a bullet train, promising the Hyperloop like from Futurama.
Of course the Hyperloop got voted for and nothing ever came of it because if it is possible, Elon would not be part of finding that out.
On the bright sight, he also promised Saudi Arabia to build a Hyperloop, also for The Line city in Neom, that's turning out to be a great way to syphon SA's oil sales state fund.
But seriously, a Hyperloop would work best on Mars, where the pressure differential would be minimal, while a tube would keep the dust out. Elon's master plan is still to build a Mars colony with indentured servants under threat of no air. On the way, he's scamming whoever it takes, and getting any investment or benefit he can land.
hyper means fast and loop means circle
and that concludes our intensive three-week course.
I've recently got suckered into a group that turned out to consider calling people "narcissistic" is an "ableist slur... because narcissism is a disability".
EM is still kind of a real life Tony Stark, the character is not exactly an altruistic philanthropist either.
that still feels like a massive insult to tony stark, like stark did quite specifically save the universe didn't he? pretty sure he's supposed to be the quintessential hero who is very much imperfect but still ultimatly does good.