Path: ...!weretis.net!feeder9.news.weretis.net!panix!.POSTED.2602:f977:0:1::2!not-for-mail
From: kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.strips,rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: Monty: Elon has space lasers ?
Date: Thu, 22 May 2025 09:27:29 -0400 (EDT)
Organization: Former users of Netcom shell (1989-2000)
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Cryptoengineer  <petertrei@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>I suspect you held a different opinion of him in 2017.

A lot of us did, because in 2017 he was a loonie, but he was a loonie
doing good work.  Much like Steve Jobs, he was a guy with a vision and
with money and he might have been crazy and abusive but could be 
forgiven for that because of that vision.

Now he's gone from building things to destroying things, and so of
course many of us have changed our opinion of him.

>He didn't found Tesla, but did build it into the first successful new
>American car company in 50 years, and made the EV a serious option for
>drivers. The Model Y was the highest selling vehicle of any kind in
>2024.

This is true, and he does get a lot of credit for that, in part because
Tesla was built from the ground up and even if he didn't start from the
ground up himself, it wasn't built on any existing design or manufacturing
facility.  

But, now he's hurting his own company.

>He did found SpaceX, and has slashed cost to orbit at least 6 fold,
>with much further improvement expected.

This is true.

>Those are real, objective accomplishments, and pissing on them because
>you detest his politics doesn't make them go away.

No, our problem isn't that we detest his politics. I work with people all
day whose politics I detest.  The problem is that he is being actively 
destructive.   I detest destruction.

Some of this is because he seems to have the "physician's disease" where
he knows a lot about one thing and therefore assumes that he knows a lot
about everything.  Some of it is because he doesn't seem to understand 
the purpose of the Federal Government and how it works.  The government
is not designed to be efficient; it's designed to have checks and balances
that slow things down but prevent injustice.  Some of it is because his
"move fast and break things" method doesn't work well when peoples' lives
depend on the things you're breaking.

>Just to be clear: I detest his politics and his personality. He's
>shown us just how badly we need campaign contribution limits.
>
>My Tesla has gone from being Greta Thunberg's preferred ride to a
>'swasticar'. Its been a face/heel turn of astounding scale.

I wouldn't buy a Tesla because it's not just a car, it is part of a 
vast integrated system.  I want a car where everything is documented and
everything is repairable, where the car is independent and not connected
into a network that controls it and constantly updates onboard software.

I am waiting for someone to come out with an analogue control box that
replaces all the various computer networks in the Tesla and turns it into
a simple press-the-pedal-and-drive vehicle, with additional controls
to run power steering, brakes, and body lights.  It does not seem like a
difficult thing to do and I am surprised no aftermarket outfit has come
out with it.  The fact that they haven't is a testament to how tightly
Tesla holds on to their technology.

>I can hate his personality and politics, while still liking the
>cars and rockets, and recognizing that they wouldn't have happened
>without him at the helm.

I think they might have happened if someone else had been there at the
time, but's hard to tell.  
--scott
-- 
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."