Elon Fucking Musk

[Stinky The Clown]

Time Person of the Year

[Tomconroy]

1. I guess Hitler got that award too.

[USALiberal]

50. You seriously compare him to hitler??? Nt

[treestar]

54. IMO it is about how the person who gets the award

is not always "good" but it is about having an effect - doesn't have to be good. There would here be a difference in degree.

[ARPad95]

59. I think TomConroy was more or less referencing Time's criteria for selecting "Person of the Year"

rather than comparing Musk to Hitler.

https://time.com/5573720/hitler-world-influence/

Hitler appeared on the cover of TIME on multiple occasions — most famously perhaps on Jan. 2, 1939, when he was named Man of the Year. That choice abided by the dictum of TIME founder Henry Luce, who decreed that the Man of the Year — now Person of the Year — was not an honor but instead should be a distinction applied to the newsmaker who most influenced world events for better or worse. In case that second criterion was lost on readers, the issue that named Hitler dispensed with the portrait treatment that cover subjects typically got. Instead he was depicted as a tiny figure with his back to the viewer, playing a massive organ with his murdered victims spinning on a St. Catherine’s wheel. Underneath the stark, black-and-white illustration was the caption, “From the unholy organist, a hymn of hate.”

[ColinC]

121. Hitler and musk don't have a ton of things in common

But time person of the year is definitely one of those things

[brooklynite]

2. The only reason to despise Musk is because he's rich...

...he didn't make his money underpaying his employees was successful in the internet biz. He's developed some innovative technology companies in his second career phase and has been focusing on humankind's future.

[Miguelito Loveless]

24. Musk personally can be an ass

but he is not Satan, or Jeff Bezos for that matter. The blind hatred is misplaced. He is dragging car makers kicking and screaming into the 21st Century away from oil-based transportation.

[48656c6c6f20]

29. Yes he's inspired me to name my next child

Ą+/ß 1 î and to randomly bark at the moon.

[tenderfoot]

36. He's hired talented engineers to develop technology that he can take credit for

there, I fixed it for you.

[USALiberal]

56. Why don't you do the same? Nt

[tenderfoot]

57. My dad didn't own an Emerald mine and the gov won't load me hundreds of millions in tax dollars

How about you?

[USALiberal]

58. I am not as intelligent as him. Nt

[tenderfoot]

61. He and many others I'm sure

[USALiberal]

66. So his dad decided to create spacex?? Really?

[USALiberal]

68. That story is pure BS, nice try! Nt

[tenderfoot]

74. He's the Donald Trump of science

[USALiberal]

55. +1000

[Bettie]

67. Actually, he generally seems like he's kind of a

terrible person, given his public statements and commentary.

He's a rich guy who has zero idea how normal people live.

Oh, and he doesn't pay taxes, which, I guess, are only for the "little people".

[Polybius]

76. He doesn't pay taxes on his stocks unless he sells

But if he buys a house for $50 million, oh he's paying taxes on that.

[W_HAMILTON]

73. Wrong.

There's a lot of reasons to hate him besides his bank account.

For starters, he rails against government subsidies for poor and middle class workers -- he has said he would happily get ditch Biden's and the Democrats' Build Back Better bill (you are for it, yes?) -- while he and his companies have taken in BILLIONS -- yes, BILLIONS -- in government subsidies.

If not for government propping up and furthering his business through subsidies and other similar taxpayer-funded programs, his ass most likely wouldn't have enough wealth to "hate" to begin with.

[Cha]

100. Musk teams Up with Boebert on this..

https://upload.democraticunderground.com/100216077907

[oasis]

118. Mahalo Cha for this reminder.

[Cha]

122. You're Welcome,

oasis..

[tenderfoot]

75. When wasn't he rich?

[WhiskeyGrinder]

81. Dude's a union-buster, but okay.

[fescuerescue]

85. It's just the classic "hate the guy who is smarter and richer"

He's done more to save humanity than every single person on this forum combined.

[tenderfoot]

108. LOL

Tell us that you think the same of Trump.

How about Oprah?

[fescuerescue]

113. I missed it where Trump built an electric car

or Trump assisted Nasa in getting back into the Space.

I also missed where Trump did more than any other human. yet to fight. climate change.


If you want to praise Trump, you are at the wrong place fella.

[tenderfoot]

123. Oh come now. We're just jealous of his wealth. Much like being jealous of the DeVos family.

[Dorian Gray]

90. That's not true

He's a total douchebag and treats people terribly. Those are reasons to dislike him.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

3. No reason to give a shit about a PR push.

[2naSalit]

4. TFA!?!

Last edited Mon Dec 13, 2021, 10:05 AM - Edit history (1)

That Fucking Asshole? Time has really lost any legitimacy with me. I still had a little respect for them ...until now.

Geeze, it's not like there aren't at least 1500 other people who have actually done something important who rose above lacking the means to accomplish whatever they may have accomplished.

[BeckyDem]

5. +1.

[snowybirdie]

6. Does Time magazine

have any relavency these days? Who reads it? Where can we actually buy it? Not like the
20 th Century when it was a powerful medium.

[boston bean]

7. The guy creeps me out. Always has.

[PTWB]

8. Musk is obnoxious. But the award isn't a personality contest.

He’s done some pretty incredible things.

PayPal
Tesla
SpaceX
Starlink

[2naSalit]

11. Starlink cancels out all the other stuff that was good.

[PTWB]

18. Starlink is an incredible achievement.

It will ensure high bandwidth, low latency broadband access in rural and impoverished areas across the entire world--areas that would otherwise never see that type of infrastructure.

It's one of the greatest humanitarian achievements of our lifetimes.

[FlyingPiggy]

19. 1000000+

I am a big fan of Elon. He is revolutionizing an industry and advancing mankind. He is truly exceptional.

[2naSalit]

20. I disagree. ...nt

[PTWB]

21. For what reason?

[Lars39]

28. It'll ruin stargazing.

[PTWB]

30. First world problems, I guess.

[Lars39]

35. The night sky is the ultimate commons.

Screwing up the ability to stargaze is not like not getting the right Starbucks order.

[PTWB]

38. Screwing up the sky sounds a little dramatic.

The humanitarian benefits of Starlink far outweigh any negatives perceived by stargazing hobbyists.

[Lars39]

39. 40,000 that are brighter than the stars

Gotta be another way.

[PTWB]

40. What way?

[Lars39]

41. For people to have internet without messing up the sky

[PTWB]

42. I wouldn't say it's messed up.

It sounds like SpaceX has been testing coatings and other devices to reduce and eliminate reflections on their satellites.

But I was asking you what the other way is? What is your alternative idea?

[Lars39]

43. Don't know, but permanently screwing up the night sky is wrong.

[PTWB]

44. I don't agree that it's screwed up and it's certainly not permanent.

[Lars39]

45. You must live in a place where you never see the night sky

[PTWB]

47. You must live in a place where permanent has a different definition.

Regardless, Starlink’s humanitarian benefits are incalculable.

[2naSalit]

60. So if it's not permanent,

Yet is so important, what replaces it when it expires? And what becomes of all the trash left behind? Of 40K pieces of stuff?

And just what was the mission statement and purpose of this project we are probably paying for?

[PTWB]

62. What do you mean?

They’re designed to harmlessly burn up in the atmosphere after their service life.

[2naSalit]

64. And the mission statement?

Just what do these things actually do that is so important?

Seems to me it's still a private venture we are subsidizing which marketed as something for the public good only ends up being incrementally more and more of a profit venture with less and less public good as time goes on. As we see with this clown and Bezos, they really are only in it to win it when it comes to gaining power by way of wealth.

It won't take long, you'll see.

[PTWB]

69. Are you that unfamiliar with the project?

Starlink is bringing high bandwidth, low latency internet to every corner of the world. Marginalized peoples in impoverished countries, and rural areas, will be able to access information, telemedicine, education, and any other digital resource.

Without the technology utilized by Starlink it just wouldn’t be possible to bring that level of infrastructure to these places and these people.

Starlink is the greatest humanitarian project this century.

[2naSalit]

72. Once again...

I disagree, I don't see where it will really be all of that and that it will benefit most of those it claims it will. It's a nice sales pitch, I don't buy it.

[USALiberal]

52. No it does not! Nt

[USALiberal]

51. Lol, ok! Nt

[Autumn]

46. My SIL got his Starlink. He paid 500 for the equipment 8 months ago and finally came up on

the list 2 weeks ago. It's very fast but at 500 for the equipment not a lot out in our rural area can afford it.

[PTWB]

48. It's all about the economy of scale.

The costs will come down as production increases.

https://www.pcmag.com/news/native-american-tribe-gets-early-access-to-spacexs-starlink-and-says-its?amp=true

“The last eight years I feel like we have been paddling up river with a spoon, and almost getting nowhere with getting internet to the reservation,” Melvinjohn Ashue, vice chairman of the Hoh Tribe, said in the video.

Knowing the problems, the department introduced SpaceX’s Starlink team to the tribe, which prompted the company to provide early access to the satellite network. “It seemed like out of nowhere SpaceX just came up and catapulted us into the 21st century," Ashue said of the speed increase.

[manicdem]

91. Not a bad cost considering

I'm sure the alternatives for service at that internet speed must be much higher than that. Tens of thousands, or millions, to run internet lines out with that capability.

Even for impoverished villages, $500 to run starlink in the village isn't much with international aid.

[Autumn]

93. He paid $500 to run starlink in his own house. We live next door to him and he can't access it on a

lap top from our house. It's expensive if everyone in a village has to pay 500 for equpment to put on their houses in any village. I pay 160 a month for Centuarylink. And it's down often.

[PTWB]

99. Why can't he access it on a laptop from your house?

That sounds like a problem with his own network and not with Starlink. If he cant connect to the network at his own house while he's next door at your house, then of course he couldn't use it while at your house. If he can connect to his own network when he's at your house, it will function like any other ISP.

[Autumn]

104. He cant connect to his Starlink in our house. He can connect to it outside

in the shop on his tablet or lap top but not in our house. He's going to look into it after the holidays to see what he can do.

[PTWB]

105. There are a number of solutions.

If possible, bury some shielded / direct burial rated Cat6 and connect the two properties that way. Then he could add a wireless access point at your residence and share the connection.

[hunter]

78. All those are horrible.

Elon Musk is not making the world a better place.

[PTWB]

79. LOL

They’re all fantastic.

[hunter]

82. The world would be a better place without any of that crap.

If someone gave me a Tesla or Power Wall I'd give it away like a hot potato, never accepting title.

Instead of PayPal we might have a Post Office Bank.

Instead of Teslas we might have attractive pedestrian friendly cities where car ownership is unnecessary.

Nowadays manned space flight beyond low earth orbit is just a stupid hold-my-beer human trick and always will be. Robots have made humans obsolete for any legitimate exploration of our solar system. We natural born humans are just too damned fragile for that work.

Don't even get me started about Star Link. All I see is some fat ass millionaire adventure tourist dialing 911 complaining about his diarrhea from some place he shouldn't have been in the first place. Or a mining company scout discovering some new place to strip mine. That's why we pollute the sky? Remote villages can get their cell phone services in other ways, and many have, even in impoverished parts of the world.

I'm completely serious. I don't think anything Elon Musk is doing makes the world a better place.

[PTWB]

83. Sounds like you have quite the chip.

I’ll leave you to your misconceptions.

[hunter]

88. And I'll leave you to yours.

[PTWB]

89. Thanks. Reality is pretty nice.

[EX500rider]

102. "Instead of PayPal we might have a Post Office Bank"

Paypal works great for online shopping, how would a "Post Office bank" be better, and what's stopping them from doing it if it is better?

[EX500rider]

119. "we might have attractive pedestrian friendly cities"

My city is close to 100 square miles, hard to make that more "pedestrian friendly"
And I am not slepping 9 bags of groceries on a bus and then walking blocks from the bus stop to my house.

[Calculating]

80. He made evs a reality

I'd say that counts

[hunter]

87. Automobile culture is not sustainable.

With the human population approaching 8 billion every adult can't have a car.

It's not just the cars and whatever powers them, it's all the roads, parking lots, and other automobile infrastructure as well.

The environmental footprint of automobile culture is huge.

Buying an electric car is just another facet of destructive super-consumerism.

That's my personal opinion. There will of course be those who will attribute the views of an eccentric environmentalist such as myself to the Democratic Party and then claim that's why they vote Republican, but they were always going to vote Republican anyways.

[Calculating]

96. Sounds like we need fewer people then

It's much better to have a smaller global population, where there's enough resources for everyone to have nice things than to have 8+ billion people and expect people to accept a lower standard of living. Nobody will vote for someone who tells them they have to get used to having a lower standard of living. Car ownership is built into our very cultural identity as Americans.

[larwdem]

9. I say

fuck that guy!

[2naSalit]

22. [phone]!

[USALiberal]

53. Jealous?? Nt

[BeckyDem]

10. Today, the Patriotic Millionaires blasted Elon Musk for his remarks opposing the Billionaires Income

Thursday, October 28, 2021, 8:24 am EDT

Patriotic Millionaires

Today, the Patriotic Millionaires blasted Elon Musk for his remarks opposing the Billionaires Income Tax proposed by Senator Ron Wyden. The group is running a billboard featuring an image of Musk and the text “Elon Musk: 300 billion more reasons to tax the rich” around the Capitol in Washington, DC all day beginning at 8am ET, as Democrats in the House and Senate debate what tax increases should be included in reconciliation.

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2021/10/28/patriotic-millionaires-blast-elon-musk-billionaires-income-tax-comments


Elon Musk’s growing empire is fueled by $4.9 billion in government subsidies

https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-hy-musk-subsidies-20150531-story.html

[dalton99a]

26. +1

[BeckyDem]

31. Can you believe anyone wanting to award this guy? He tweeted this to Senator Wyden at the time.

Link to tweet

[dalton99a]

34. No kidding

[irisblue]

12. Better choice IMO

Link to tweet

?s=20

[AngryOldDem]

14. I approve!

[2naSalit]

23. +1

[2naSalit]

13. Excellent!

[Celerity]

15. Really do not care either way. I never had much anti Musk feelings ever.

Tesla cars are a wonderful product on balance. A car line that helps to some extent to dagger internal combustion engine vehicles gets a thumbs up from me.

I am often dismayed at the reactionary anti EV (I am NOT, btw, saying that is the reason for the anti Musk stances some take, those are far more reasonable even if I am not in full agreement with them) sentiment exhibited here by some, especially the ones who wear it as if it was some badge of honour.

[Stinky The Clown]

16. Tesla is okay PayPal is convenient. Elon musk is an asshole

[Celerity]

17. Doesn't matter much to me. It does to some. To each their own.

[Miguelito Loveless]

27. He made EVs cool and proved a company could make money making

EVs. Like a lot of visionaries, he is personally a pain in the ass. But his product is revolutionary and he is changing the transport sector for the better just when it needs changing.

[Johonny]

25. Why not give it to his workers. The non-unionized ones that make him look so good

They do all the cool stuff and real work. He just takes the credit.

[EX500rider]

103. He pays pretty good I'd say

The average estimated annual salary, including base and bonus, at SpaceX is $107,555, or $51 per hour, while the estimated median salary is $115,954, or $55 per hour.

[cayugafalls]

32. Well, I guess I am an outlier. Elon is on the spectrum, so I understand his personality and like him

I know some other people on the spectrum and they too can appear to be less than stellar people, but they are inherently kind and good.

When I look at Elon's accomplishments and listen to what he says, I can't help but feel that he is inherently good.

He warns us about AI, he supports alternate fuels sources, he started Starlink to get internet access to ALL the world, etc...

Could he do more? Yup. Should he do more? Probably.

[hunter]

109. I'm "on the spectrum" and plenty of people think I'm an arrogant asshole.

There's nothing "inherently good" about anything Musk does.

I don't think he's making the world a better place.

He may think he is, and many of his fans may think he is, but he's not.

And frankly, a few hundred thousand years from now, if humans are even a dim memory, it will be in the minds of any artificial intelligences we gave birth to.

Saving humanity is a messy business that won't be accomplished by people selling cars, batteries, or manned spacecraft.

These days, and most days, the greatest dangers facing humanity are authoritarianism and a profound lack of critical thinking skills within the general population. Most of humanity is essentially illiterate, innumerate, and prone to follow leaders who do not have their best interests at heart. The U.S.A. is no exception.

If Musk is a savant like Wernher von Braun was, well then, look at Braun. Or Ferdinand Porsche.

I'm not singling out the fascists. The communists and imperialists have always had their share of amoral savants well.

[cayugafalls]

111. Thank you for your reply.

[samnsara]

33. is puzzling but he has accomplished quite a bit

[Javaman]

37. meh. countless morons from history have made the cover.

I can rattle off a number of them but what's the point.

all it is bragging rights among the rich, it effects reality very little.

[radius777]

49. Musk is a power hungry pretentious dork

of the types that have fucked up our country over the past 50 years, that tend to be adherents to some brand of sociopathic libertarianism, which is an ideology that is antithetical to egalitarianism and democracy. Time Traitor of the Year would be a more apt commendation.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/dec/08/elon-musk-slams-build-back-better-electric-car-incentive
Elon Musk slams Biden’s Build Back Better bill and its electric car incentives
Critics suggest the multibillionaire is annoyed that Tesla’s nonunion-made cars wouldn’t qualify for the subsidy
Musk, the multibillionaire founder of the electric car company Tesla, said that if he were in charge of the federal government “I would just can this whole bill. That’s my recommendation.” The entrepreneur, speaking at a Wall Street Journal summit on Monday, added: “It might be better if the bill doesn’t pass because we’ve spent so much money, you know, it’s like the federal budget deficit is insane.”

[bigtree]

63. who still pays attention to TIME?

..it's been a dressed up, tabloid, gossip rag since the 70's.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

65. Meh

I wouldn't have picked him.

[roamer65]

70. Elon Stavro Blofeld

The laser satellite is coming soon.

[Takket]

71. He is a visionary and an asshole. I can see why Time picked him

But I would not have picked him this year. The very public hissy fit he threw with California over Covid restrictions, and moving to Texas, was exactly the type of immature behavior that has helped perpetuate the pandemic. The complete lack of empathy shown for his workers should have disqualified him from being named person of the year. Musk tried to backtrack on those reasons but I'm not buying it........... he knew how bad it looked........ this article discusses the original pandemic hissy fit and the backtracking......

https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2021-10-11/tesla-texas-elon-musk

[BeckyDem]

77. Elon Musk's @TIME debut is a good time to remind you that he illegally threatened

Link to tweet

[fescuerescue]

86. Only 43?

I would have guess thousands. Which is pretty common for any large company.

I wonder how many were substantiated?

[BeckyDem]

101. uh huh

The billionaire entrepreneur is escalating criticism about the administration and Democrats for a proposal to give union-made, U.S.-built electric vehicles an additional $4,500 tax incentive. Tesla and foreign automakers do not have unions at their U.S. factories.

"Honestly, it might be better if the bill doesn't pass," Musk said at the WSJ CEO Council Summit.

https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/teslas-musk-says-bidens-ev-bill-shouldnt-pass-2021-12-07/

[fescuerescue]

114. A union isn't going to save us from drowning when the glaciers melt.

I'm pro-union, but I haven't seen the UAW doing much to save the planet lately.

They should work on that.

[radius777]

115. Neither are oligarchs like Musk

who don't pay taxes and who don't believe in a middle class, but in guys like himself running the show.

The biggest threat to our planet are RW economics and their control of our gov't over the past 50 years.

[fescuerescue]

125. Well let's lock up Musk and crush all the electric cars then!

The bump to the auto industry alone will be worth it.

[BeckyDem]

117. lol

[fescuerescue]

84. I don't understand the hate on this man in some quarters

How many other Billionairs have done this much to expand our knowledge of space, or fight global warming?

Without him, electric vehicles would be at least a generation out.

I think most of this hate is just classical hate the person who smarter and richer.

We need a few more Musks.

[myohmy2]

107. bowel musk...

"I think most of this hate is just classical hate the person who smarter and richer."

...I know it is for me...

[Zeitghost]

92. Well deserved!

The man has his faults, but he is driving progress in this country.

[Blecht]

94. A thread to remind us how many assholes there are on DU -- Musk defenders

There is nothing good about that man. He is an example of all that is wrong with unbridled capitalism

He and the 1938 recipient are in the same class.

[obnoxiousdrunk]

95. Agree

' A thread to remind us how many assholes there are on DU '

[PTWB]

98. LOL

Wow.

[radius777]

116. There are also some clueless folks

who think that anyone pro-technology or secular is somehow 'liberal' or more progressive. This is simply false, as most of these guys are libertarians and oligarchs of the worst kind.

There are also 'deeply embedded trolls' ie RW posters on liberal message boards and blogs who make it a long term project to gently push RW narratives while artfully blending in.

[EX500rider]

120. "He and the 1938 recipient are in the same class." lol

Exactly how are Hitler and Musk in the same class?

[Coventina]

97. I see the Musk fanbois are out in force.

[jcgoldie]

106. Does he have to give the award back

...if starlink goes bankrupt despite hundreds of millions in federal aid?

[cadoman]

110. stop giving time the power

We should make a forum rule to ignore their selection and do a DU person of the year poll instead.

[iemanja]

124. That would be fun

[48656c6c6f20]

112. TFG didn't pay taxes and he was rightfully

villainized here. Bark at the moon loon does it and he's a DU hero? Wtlf?

[Ilsa]

126. TPY is about influence, not righteousness or any

idealized behavior or messaging.

[Mr. Sparkle]

127. Slow year!