I try not to judge Tesla drivers too much since plenty of them bought in before Elon went full mask-off in support of fascism, but if you own a Cybertruck you were 100% aware of what you were supporting when you bought it and I will absolutely judge you for that poor financial decision. Fucking Cyberdorks.
Let’s be real - all the car companies are owned by terrible people. If it’s not Elon, it’s some other soulless capitalist who pushed subsidies and lower efficiency standards for mega trucks that speed up global warming just as we’re supposed to be slowing it down.
It may be unfair, but I’ve been increasingly judgemental of Tesla drivers, especially over the past 4 or 5 years. He used to just be a joke when he was tweeting edgelord stuff like his nightstand and trying to have images scrubbed from the internet of when he was still bald. Model S, model 3, model X (s3x, hur dur). Then I was made angry by the hyperloop and his distracting, unproductive impact of the way America thinks about mass transit. Then I got mad about Starlink, first as extremely expensive, dystopian sky litter. Then as a frightening glimpse at communication control in places with civil unrest/protest. Then he bought twitter, and did a hilariously bad job at running it. Installing a cartoonishly bad sign on his building and whatnot. Naming it something idiotic. Then helping bring Trump back from the dead. Then everything he has done in the 2024 election cycle. I don’t know how people can stand to be associated with Elon and all the he represents in any way. It would be like driving around in a Jimmy Savile-mobile.
Because I bought a $60k car in 2018 that still works fine, and replacing a fully functional vehicle is a huge expense to undertake.
Ah, back when full self driving was only negative four years into the future.
I acknowledge that it’s unfair, but I’m judging you. Everyone driving in a Tesla looks like a rube at best, tacky and vain at least, or a contributor to fascism at worst. Perhaps you might consider a bumper sticker, haha.
The stickers do help, I have seen one before and then I remember how it was exciting in the early days that someone was very publicly making a big push to introduce a viable alternative to internal combustion engines. We know a lot more now about Musk and Tesla than we did back when the first cars rolled out. A lot of the early Tesla owners probably meant well and it doesn’t help that nearly all the infrastructure (at least in my area) is car-only and hostile towards other forms of transit.
He pushed Hyperloop such that they build more roads btw. since other forms of transit were just fine or however it went back then. Goal achieved, idiots loved him and argued for this nonsense a lot.
It was an attempt to derail California (and other) High Speed Rail.
Why would you build HSR if there’s something way faster/better/cheaper, you just need to wait 5 years? You’re going to look really dumb if you spend tens of billions on infrastructure intended to last more than a century, and then it’s obsolete before it’s complete.
Similar story with Toyota perpetually claiming to have amazing batteries 3-5 years away, making every EV look like an expensive waste with no resale value.
And a hydrogen economy, small nuclear reactors, or fusion power being 5/10/20 years away, removing the need to invest in transmission and generation.
A major paradigm shift being right around the corner makes people choose short-term solutions, because you want to wait for the new thing to arrive before investing in ‘old tech’.
The problem is most of it is lies, perpetuated by those selling the short-term-fix old tech.
Exactly. He’s the poster child for a virus that is killing our host. Beyond unhelpful, and well into counterproductive.
Elon has always been crazy.
He used to be better at keeping his mouth shut.
If you listened (as most of us in tech did) he’s been fucking batshit since the PayPal days.
He used to have less airtime
He’s gotten worse, but people also used to be more charitable. I thought he sounded like a pretentious know-nothing CEO when I heard him talking about the Hyperloop in 2012, and it’s been an impressive downhill run from there.
He left trumps orbit last time he was president because Trump withdrew from the Paris Accord.
Now he doesn’t give a fuck about that or similar things.
He’s definitely more crazy / things changed.
He never cared about climate change change, he just cared about his company getting bigger.
I dont remember a time where I both knew of him and thought he was a sane or rational person.
If you buy a Tesla, you deserve all the ridicule you get
I live in an area where it seems like 50% of the cars are Teslas. Half my neighbors have them. Only stickers I’ve ever seen on a Tesla are “Student Driver”
We might be neighbors
I’m in Loudoun county, Virginia
Just driving your Tesla without trying to apologize for it would be a lot more dignified.
Yeah, I bought mine in 2019 back when Musk just seemed like a dorky edgelord. I’m definitely not going to buy a new car just because Tesla’s CEO is a tool, though when I AM ready, it’s certainly not going to be another Tesla.
