As long as you're dreaming, perhaps you should also include giving up all his equity in the company. He'd still profit handsomely off someone else running the company well with over 12% of shares.
I'm not going to go that far. He can invest in whatever he wants; if he owns a non-controlling amount of Amazon or Home Depot shares, I'm not going to stop shopping there.
Well, I'd say it depends on what you are trying to accomplish.
If you don't agree with his political stance and and want to loosen his outsized influence on US democracy (e.g. by pouring hundreds of millions in political campaigns, silencing intra-GOP opposition by threatening to primary them with his money, using Twitter to push the fringe talking points of the day), then I would argue your goal should be reducing his net worth by refusing to buy from companies he's invested in.
If on the other hand, you're mostly criticizing that the quality of Tesla's cars suffers because the company doesn't get his full attention, it's a different story and your stance makes sense.
Your idea, while well-founded, is practically impossible. If he put all his money into the S&P 500, and I refused to do business with any of its constituent companies, I’d barely be able to enjoy the fruits of modern society. I’m not that principled.
As for the second point, I’d contend that the quality of Tesla’s vehicles is suffering in large part because of his direct involvement. Choices like substituting a yoke for a steering wheel and the design of the Cybertruck were his ideas. And I wouldn’t be surprised if the latest idiotic move of eliminating steering column stalks for the turn signal, lights, and windshield wiper and washer were his, too.
The entirely logistics industry tracks worker productivity closely.
Amazon are actually one of the better companies to work for. Their targets are more realistic, the pay is generally better, safety culture is much better and the facilities are air conditioned.
It's not just about tracking productivity, it's about the words he chose to say that.
Bezos also bought the WaPo and exert tight control over its editorial line so it can act as its own propaganda machine.
While not as ostensibly evil as Musk (likely because unlike the former, he's not high on drugs all the time), Bezos is still pretty close to a Bond villain.
Well, I was thinking other way round. When Tesla stock price sky rocketed after inauguration, I thought it would be dumped to PE firms or some other chump at immense profit to Musk. Tesla anyway does not fit into his political agenda, prices are too volatile in last few years and sales going down even before his latest shenanigans.
Unlikely as it seems, does he actually run the company anymore? He's running a bunch of other companies and apparently the federal government. I wonder when is the last time he attended a Tesla meeting. He really should hand the reins. But even so, he's going to the biggest shareholder. Jeff Bezos relinquished Amazon, but he's still executive chair and the biggest stock holder so people still the company his.
Believe it or not, tons of people don't care about that. It's something that I have to constantly remind myself of.
They either agree with it, don't care, or it isn't important enough.
It's good when people openly admit to it because then an actual conversation can take place. When people make up dumb reasons or just won't say the truth it leads to pointless discussion.
One thing I've discovered is that capitalism has really beat many americans into submission. Add in the "American Individuality/Freedom" thinking and it's pretty toxic.
People have a million excuses for why they just can't be bothered to care about anything. We reinforce this mentality with the whole "you're doing your best, it's okay" mentality that many people have nowadays. "You're getting by in a hard time" type mentality.
People are "too tired" to give much of a crap about anything.
Now, whether they're actually all that tired or it's just a very convenient excuse I dont know, but that's the gist that I get from a large number of people. They don't want to care, capitalism offers them easy excuses to not care, so they don't care. Until it directly affects people's livelihood they just won't give much of a crap.
There are also many people who supply excuses too, such as "This is the way people are, don't try to change it" type stuff. We have a ton of excuses nowadays and it's really easy to take them.
Finally, a lot of younger people are simply burnt out on this stuff. People under the age of 30 don't see much of a future. It's not that they don't care that Elon and Co are parroting nazis, it's that there doesn't seem to be a point in caring when the environment is fucked.
Idk how much of this is true but I travel a lot and talk to a lot of people. This is the vibe I get when people finally open up and are honest with me about these things.
People troll on message boards because they are anonymous and there are no consequences. Trolling in real life, on the other hand, has consequences: try doing it at work, or with your partner (if you have one), and see how that works out for you.
The long-term consequences of his behavior have yet to reveal themselves. We will see.
The only reason Musk can troll and get away with it is because he is fabulously wealthy. (He didn’t do it when he was getting his career going.) If he were a 9-to-5 salary earner like the rest of us, he’d have faced a very different outcome.
I believe that Musk’s defenders like him because he says things they wish they could say, but can’t, because of the consequences it would bring. Musk is largely insulated from those consequences today. It’s the “things they wish they could say” that’s concerning. The ideological alignment speaks for itself.
You're so close! But you've got the conclusion backwards. People enjoy Musk's trolling because the culture has become so sanitized. There is a reason corporate HR departments have rigid rules--legal liability, the need to keep a diverse workforce focused on the job at hand. But the whole world shouldn't be like that.
> It’s the “things they wish they could say” that’s concerning. The ideological alignment speaks for itself.
The point of trolling is to say what will provoke the target of the trolling to have a conniption.
We’re well past the mere “trolling for lulz’s sake” phase. These people now have the controls and their actions can do significant damage if unchecked.
What a stupid take. Sorry to be blunt, but you need to be told that, because you should feel bad.
There's a reason for the quote "Any community that gets its laughs by pretending to be idiots will eventually be flooded by actual idiots who mistakenly believe that they're in good company".
That's like saying the "far left media" is trying to paint NBA players as tall.
People have eyes and anyone watching someone give two perfect nazi salutes and at the biggest political rally of our time that still denies someone is telling the world they are a nazi is denying reality.
oh stop it. quit trying to stir up this nonsense. who even cares if he IS a nazi? he's acting like one and encouraging them. i know you are trolling, so no need to ask if you are able to understand this or not.
Not bloody likely to happen, but a person can dream.