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1. bambax+(OP)[view] [source] 2022-12-16 09:23:05
The buyers of Tesla are, by and large, rich liberals who care about the climate. Musk proceeds to position himself as a QAnon hack. Owning a Tesla was a source of pride and is now a mark of shame and mockery.

The only people who actually do care about Twitter are journalists. Musk proceeds to ban some prominent ones from Twitter, for utterly frivolous reasons, which makes them realize that 1/ they're not immune to this and 2/ one of their main work tool is brittle, and will make them actively search for another, if they weren't already.

This behavior is strange. Either Musk is engaging in self-harm, for some reason, or he's testing how much he can get away with.

replies(6): >>tibbyd+e1 >>polyga+v3 >>neel89+w3 >>ohgodp+z3 >>TheHap+57 >>mschus+w7
2. tibbyd+e1[view] [source] 2022-12-16 09:38:03
>>bambax+(OP)
Tesla = Q mobile :).
replies(1): >>tromp+x2
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3. tromp+x2[view] [source] [discussion] 2022-12-16 09:50:39
>>tibbyd+e1
I for one am looking forward to the Tesla Model Q (rumored name for future compact model, aka Model 2).
4. polyga+v3[view] [source] 2022-12-16 10:02:19
>>bambax+(OP)
One of the hypothesis Matt Levine posits in Money Stuff today [1] is that Tesla is branded as liberal tech, and Elon is engaging in Q-foolery to bring in more right leaning people: "the only car free from the woke mind virus". I don't know how much I believe this theory, but definitely interesting.

[1] https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2022-12-15/the-se...

replies(4): >>saynay+35 >>Vespas+t5 >>m_ke+Io >>jjuliu+uH
5. neel89+w3[view] [source] 2022-12-16 10:02:26
>>bambax+(OP)
> Owning a Tesla was a source of pride and is now a mark of shame and mockery.

This is so true. Why sabotage your main user base? Owning Tesla is similar to staying in trump tower. I am really waiting for tesla sales numbers in liberal states like California and NY.

replies(1): >>fragme+A4
6. ohgodp+z3[view] [source] 2022-12-16 10:02:34
>>bambax+(OP)
> The buyers of Tesla are, by and large, rich liberals who care about the climate.

Or at least, want to pretend that they care, considering Tesla makes most of its money selling carbon credits to other companies so that they can pollute more. Buying a Tesla doesn't cause less emissions.

replies(2): >>fragme+24 >>ericma+39
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7. fragme+24[view] [source] [discussion] 2022-12-16 10:07:37
>>ohgodp+z3
Sure they do. You get Tesla solar panels for your house and a Tesla Powerwall as well and then you can charge your Tesla car from the setup.
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8. fragme+A4[view] [source] [discussion] 2022-12-16 10:14:50
>>neel89+w3
Have your seen interest rates? Everyone's numbers are going to be out of whack, trying to read what liberals think about buying Teslas from that is some fine tea leaf reading.
replies(1): >>ideamo+sd
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9. saynay+35[view] [source] [discussion] 2022-12-16 10:20:56
>>polyga+v3
But why? I am under the impression the Q crowd doesn't tend to be the wealthiest bunch. Tesla was also already selling every car they could make, with like a 6 month backorder. Expanding, or switching, your target market makes no sense if they cannot afford your product, and you have no inventory to sell them anyways.
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10. Vespas+t5[view] [source] [discussion] 2022-12-16 10:24:36
>>polyga+v3
Other companies seem to have success with being as ambivalent and silent as possible (with careful PR) while Elon seems to believe his hold on existing customers is strong enough so he can somewhat alienate them without loosing them.

We will see if that works out.

11. TheHap+57[view] [source] 2022-12-16 10:41:36
>>bambax+(OP)
Not one person I know with a Tesla has a strong passion or care for climate change or would meet the American definition for "liberal". I've also never heard any express pride or shame based on the CEOs actions.

I wonder if you're in a bubble here?

replies(1): >>xadhom+Ph
12. mschus+w7[view] [source] 2022-12-16 10:46:40
>>bambax+(OP)
> This behavior is strange. Either Musk is engaging in self-harm, for some reason, or he's testing how much he can get away with.

There are other options as well for why he wants to take apart Twitter:

- revenge Peter Thiel-style against "librul" ideas that "made" his daughter trans (or his ex-wife Grimes date Chelsea Manning). Twitter is the biggest forum there is for left-wing and progressive people, and it was/is in financial duress, which made it a perfect target.

- the Saudis, who are the main financial backers of the deal (and even the dozens of billions they paid are petty cash!), want him to destroy Twitter, which has been an incredibly useful tool to organize protest and spread information about government violence

- Musk, like other SV billionaires, thinks they are the best that God has sent to Earth and what they do and want is best for everyone. Unfortunately, as a result he doesn't realize that large markets like Europe see it precisely the other way around.

- Musk, again like other SV billionaires, sees technology as the one and all solution hammer against society's problems. Hate speech? Have algorithms "moderate" the platform, instead of booting out abusers and putting those who cross legal lines behind bars. Fossil fuels? Invest in electric cars (and sooner or later, nuclear fusion vaporware, mark my words), instead of investing in renewable energies and public transport. And again, he doesn't realize that wide parts of the planet do not follow their idea(l)s.

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13. ericma+39[view] [source] [discussion] 2022-12-16 10:59:33
>>ohgodp+z3
> Buying a Tesla doesn't cause less emissions.

what are you basing this off of? Are you specifically saying buying doesn’t cause less emissions (ie manufacturing) or overall compared to a generic ICE car that a Tesla generates more emissions?

replies(1): >>ohgodp+Wc
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14. ohgodp+Wc[view] [source] [discussion] 2022-12-16 11:27:43
>>ericma+39
If you buy a Tesla,here are the emissions that are directly correlated to it:

* Manufacturing. This includes not just the factory, but also the mining of lithium and other metals that is an environmental disaster.

* Electricity emissions through its lifetime: if you're in a country that uses primarily natural gas for its electricity production (like the US does), you might as well keep running an ICE instead, it'll be just as bad.

* Carbon credits granted, that will lead to the construction of one more ICE from another manufacturer.

Buying new cars will not solve problems. No matter if it's an EV or an ICE.

replies(1): >>ericma+5D
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15. ideamo+sd[view] [source] [discussion] 2022-12-16 11:31:16
>>fragme+A4
High interest rates are only keeping liberals locked into their Teslas longer.
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16. xadhom+Ph[view] [source] [discussion] 2022-12-16 12:07:08
>>TheHap+57
If you know many Tesla owners and not one of them is a liberal, you are certainly the one in a bubble
replies(1): >>TheHap+Aw2
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17. m_ke+Io[view] [source] [discussion] 2022-12-16 13:04:31
>>polyga+v3
Sounds to me more like Musk is trying to fill in the void left by Trump by creating 24/7 headlines to get people onto the platform.

I'd be willing to bet that the Qanon crowd is also the last set of people who still reliably click on ads and fall for vitality pill scams, so Musk pandering to them makes financial sense.

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18. ericma+5D[view] [source] [discussion] 2022-12-16 14:41:49
>>ohgodp+Wc
> Buying new cars will not solve problems. No matter if it's an EV or an ICE.

Believe me I agree. Check my post history. :)

> Electricity emissions through its lifetime: if you're in a country that uses primarily natural gas for its electricity production (like the US does), you might as well keep running an ICE instead, it'll be just as bad.

Uses primarily now doesn't have to mean uses primarily for all time. I'm also not sure how to compare here because you have a limited number of natural gas plants, coal plants, etc. and maybe you can reduce that actual output of c02 into the atmosphere. Can't really do that with an ICE. It'll be very difficult as well to really capture the systematic emissions. How do you account, for example, for the US military and required spending to maintain global oil supply? Should we account for it? Idk.

I agree that you raise valid points here in comparing carbon emissions, but these ideas don't translate into facts or "proof", which is what I originally asked for.

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19. jjuliu+uH[view] [source] [discussion] 2022-12-16 15:01:43
>>polyga+v3
>I don't know how much I believe this theory...

Or how well it would actually pay out, as he's alienating his original user base at the same time.

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20. TheHap+Aw2[view] [source] [discussion] 2022-12-16 23:46:17
>>xadhom+Ph
I live outside of the US, and it's pretty normal here :).
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