• CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    At this point, how is owning a Tesla car not just like walking around wearing one of those stupid red hats?

    • AlecSadler@sh.itjust.works
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      5 months ago

      I agree and I drive a Tesla, unfortunately it’s paid off so for the time being it just makes sense to keep driving it because it costs me basically nothing.

      But I feel like a POS in public and it sucks.

      • M500@lemmy.ml
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        5 months ago

        I’m sure there is a bumper stick that’s says “I got this before musk was crazy”

        • v_krishna@lemmy.ml
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          5 months ago

          Those bumper stickers are bullshit. Musk was a nut job who profited from apartheid and then bought his way into the public mind as some kind of low rent Tony Stark from the get. San Francisco 2012 people thought I was nuts for claiming he was a huge charlatan and now those same people rock those bumper stickers.

          • Mnemnosyne@sh.itjust.works
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            5 months ago

            Despite Musk, Teslas did have some positive effect as they helped push electric car adoption. The big automakers were not interested in taking risks, and nobody was eager to build out large charger networks.

            I certainly don’t credit Musk himself for it, but no one should feel ashamed of having bought one of those cars back then. Today there are other good options for electric vehicles from companies run by slightly less bad people, but let’s not kid ourselves. Everything we buy comes from some company that is enriching monsters…it’s just that some of them are more monstrous than others.

            • EarthShipTechIntern@lemm.ee
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              5 months ago

              True enough.

              Just because shitheads run companies didn’t mean you can’t enjoy & appreciate the actual work, design, creation of brilliant, hard working people that made the actual product.

              Musk never made anything. Nothing new, anyway. He made a hostile collar workplace noose and roped a group of companies into our modern, uncontested (except by unions) version of slavery.

              The people at Tesla are groundbreakering pioneers of the future of transportation. Unfortunately, they’re not geniuses about how to properly deal with a strangling grifter owner.

              That kind of terrible management, terrible treatment of people, workers is rampant across (most?) all companies. Musk just screwed the best of the brightest lights on the road to the future. Fucked everybody harder than the other CEOs cause, well, as others mention, he was born to it (Emerald apartheid slave driver heritage).

              • CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world
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                5 months ago

                What’s sick is that what he did at Twitter was something many in the C-suite were in some cases privately cheering, and, in places where they were permitted, wanted to openly emulate. Sure, the excuse was that (some) companies overstaffed in the early covid days, but at X, they cut things to the bone and beyond when Musk took over, and it mostly seemed to be ideologically driven (“own the libs” but also, and this is the part others want to do as well, and in some cases, did: “crush those uppity tech workers”). This, combined with AI, was providing a beacon of hope to the corporate overlords eager to make even more undeserved money.

          • die444die@lemmy.world
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            5 months ago

            Ok so people didn’t know, that doesn’t make them bad people and it doesn’t make you as smart as you think you are.

              • dev_null@lemmy.ml
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                5 months ago

                I’m sorry but I have no idea who is the CEO, of say, Nissan or whatever, and I’m sure 99% of buyers don’t research that.

      • Jarix@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        Well fucking stop feeling like a POS.

        Please?

        Its just a car, and regardless of who elon turned out to be.

        And ya know what? Elon is the reason they arent better cars. He is not the reason they are as good as they are.

        Take politics out of it for a minute and just remind or consider, how is your tesla a better car than the ICE car you did and/or would have instead.

        You can feel good about that. Its okay. Elon is a piece of shit. He didnt always seem that way and that does suck. You dont, he does.

        When you decide to get a new car you are going to have so many awesome options next time.

        And you wouldnt have those options then, if Teslas werent/hadnt pushing everyone else in the world into getting away from ICE

    • synae[he/him]@lemmy.sdf.org
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      5 months ago

      I have a friend with a tesla who put on a bumper sticker along the lines of “I got this before he became a raging asshole”

    • halcyoncmdr@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      Could say the same about any American made truck, except they’ve had the association with stupid rednecks for decades so it’s just not talked about as much.

      • vaultdweller013@sh.itjust.works
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        5 months ago

        Please dont associate us stupid rednecks with those wannabe rich fucks with the brand new rams. We much more prefer Toyota trucks or old Fords from the 90s backwards. Im personally also partial to Kei trucks and old Jeep trucks personally.

    • BarbecueCowboy@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      He’ll turn back to the left as soon as the he gets too clingy with his current audience and they turn on him.

      Musk is worse, he doesn’t care about his political leanings, he only cares about where he can have the most people simping for him.

      • idiomaddict@feddit.de
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        5 months ago

        He used to be different politically, because that was cool. Now he has enough money that people will tell him he’s cool no matter what his politics are, so he now supports the causes that benefit him. I don’t think he’s ever going back.

    • Jarix@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      Because you seem to think, and my apologies if im mistaken, that people think about politics as much as your question suggests. Most people just dont really dont have the capacity to also factor in other peoples politics when making large practical purchases.

      A minority of people vote in the us. I believe its around 39%

      And slightly more than half of those people are deciding who the president of the US is.

      You might be surprised to learn that most of the time, a car isnt a political statement or adorsement. It could be, and can be, sometimes it even is.

      If you want an EV because you care about the environment you still want a good vehicle. Teslas are seen as the best EVs that most people have access to and are comfortable with… Inspite of why they might not be.

      Maybe its a surprise to hear that practical benefits of EV ownership, whether it’s due to not having to pay for gas, they want to support fighting climate change, or just enjoy cool new tech are likely why someone owns a tesla, not because they are fans of elon

      How is owning a tesla car not just like walking around wearing one of those stupid red hats?

      Because more than 90% of owners didnt buy their car to be political statements, but 90% of owners of those stupid red hats did buy them and wear them for the sole purpose of being political statementa

      • lolcatnip@reddthat.com
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        5 months ago

        How much does one have think about politics to feel shame at driving around in a car sold by a Nazi?

      • CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        I’m just stating the reality of things. At one point, a Tesla was maybe a signifier for the left, or most likely neutral. Given how much Elon keeps inserting himself into the public eye, and not in a good way, the brand is now a signifier for things a lot of people despise.

        I realize he didn’t even start Tesla, and I realize many people bought their cars long before all this came to light. But I also remember when it was considered risque to buy “foreign”. People absolutely DO think about what a car says about them when they buy a car, and people do make snap judgements about who is driving that car.

        I’m just lamenting the fact that one of the most common EVs is now associated with a shithead like Elon. Which is unfortunate, because we need things like EV more than ever…

    • Lucidlethargy@sh.itjust.works
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      5 months ago

      It’s the same. I can them Muskmobiles in my small town. Fuck anyone who owns them. I don’t care when you bought your Tesla… Fuck you.

      • qarbone@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        Yeah! Fuck you if you jumped onboard and invested in one of the earliest, popular, commercial EVs.

        If you can’t find the funds to get a different car, you’re a shithead according to this guy. Switch back to petrol if you have to! This guy will hate you for continuing to own those vehicles!

      • Serinus@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        Tesla is still the best EV sedan. Maybe the Ionic 6 will be good in a couple years, but it doesn’t qualify for the tax credit.

      • CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        TBF - Tesla was not even started by him. Unfortunately, he cannot seem to keep his disgusting politics to himself, and now the Tesla brand is as tarnished as a red hat.

        Someone I know who works for Tesla gave me a Tesla shirt some time ago. I would never wear such a shirt now in public. It is a dogwhistle, just like the car itself.

        Sadly.

      • CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        Are you talking to me? I’m just noting the situation. I think people like Rush, Newt, Elon, and donnie have driven us to this point, and I don’t think it’s good at all. I’m quite worried about my country.

          • CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world
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            5 months ago

            Shrug. Do you know anyone that has purchased a Tesla? If so, I suggest you talk to them about the car. I bet you can confirm what I’ve said above.

            I know I have. It’s not something I’ve made up - the owners sought a way to get away from ICE, and/or just liked the vehicle, wanted to get a jump on the future, or whatever. Now they are getting side-eye for being associated with this brand because of this loud mouth jerk at the helm. On the flip side of things, I’ve been in groups where someone points out a Tesla and someone mutters something about Musk.

            I don’t know what the answer is to this problem, but Musk sure doesn’t seem to have it. If you think that is a problem I am responsible for, I’m not sure what to tell you.

            Besides voting, about the only viable option most people have in America is to “vote” with their wallet. So while you won’t find liberals doing dumb stuff like shooting their Tesla or putting it in a shredder (unlike the freakouts we have from the other side), I bet more than a few are finding ways to divest themselves of their Teslas and/or not buy a new one, and seek out other options. Right now, if they buy a Tesla, they are signifying that they are okay with Musk funding donnie, who is clearly a fascist. That is not a problem that liberals have created, by the way.

              • CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world
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                5 months ago

                I guess I’m trying to understand how Elon doesn’t come up at all when talking about Tesla. And I’m not sure what community you are talking about.

                  • CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world
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                    5 months ago

                    You are kidding, right? First of all, Elon has spent a ton of time and money to inject himself into the zeitgeist and has styled himself as a edgelord/troll who likes to interfere in nearly every conversation where he can. To such a point where he had to buy a platform to further this end. He’s essentially the face for Tesla, and people that buy that product almost have to know it.

                    And someone that is going to make the second biggest purchase that most people will make in their lives (behind a mortgage) are not going to give pause when they find out he’s funding a fascist like donnie?