I greatly enjoyed this skewering of his stupid cybertruck. Maybe you will too.
If you really want to annoy Musk, be a wealthy woman. Mackenzie Scott, Jeff Bezos’ ex-wife, has announced that she plans to donate $640 million to charity, which will lead to the downfall of Western Civilization, according to one really wealthy idiot.
‘Super rich ex-wives who hate their former spouse’ should filed be listed among ‘Reasons that Western Civilization died,’Musk said in a now-deleted X post on March 6.Musk didn’t elaborate on why he’d singled out Scott, but he’s been a harsh critic of efforts to promote corporate diversity, equity, and inclusion.
DEI is just another word for racism. Shame on anyone who uses it,Musk said in an X post in January.
Scott does not impress me — she has a net worth of $40
I should write something about DEI, because I’m at a university that doesn’t blink twice at DEI initiatives, so I’ve got lots of experience with it. It wouldn’t be an exciting post, though, because DEI is just fine, we should do more of it.
I always wanted a car I could uses as a vegetable peeler.
Mackenzie Scott has given away a total of close to $20 billion to charity to real charities over the past 5 years, with plans to give away much, much more, which actually is kind of impressive.
I’m honestly kind of amazed- for a few years, it was very clear that Musk had a media team that was dedicated to crafting the image of him as an eccentric genius. They were good at their jobs (unlike Musk). And clearly, he’s fired them. He bought his own hype and thinks he’s a special genius of the rarest variety, when in reality he’s the avatar of Dunning-Krueger.
Mahatma Gandhi’s apocryphal reamrk about Western civilisation being a good idea springs to mind here.
Western = ???
Civilisation = ???
Musk would be the one to know this why?
I may have to send that video to my son. He was kind of excited about the Cybertruck when it first emerged although he’s cooled on it a lot.
I do question their take on the F150 and other big work trucks like the F250 or F350. No question that some people…men…buy them as status symbols to drive to their jobs at Google or Apple or BofA…I’ve seen that. But I also know people who use that size for their jobs to haul crews and gear to job sites.
I didnt think he’d been married that often.. I sure can’t blame Muskés exés given , well, Musk.’
Huh, that’s the sorty of typo Imake allthe time. I must be a Jean-i-ous!
On the issue of “hate” and
“reasons western civilisation died”…
Look no further than Crazy Lady in House of Representatives.
She has apparently just issued a motion to vacate the Republican speaker Mike Johnson.
ROFL!
It is beautiful to behold, how these far-right individuals think they have all the answers but when given power they promptly bugger up everything, from the businesses they own to their own political power.
Go on, Elon! Go on, Marjorie! And go on Donald!
@ ^ birgerjohansson : Yikes! I’d rather they didn’t. Unless by “go” you mean depart our sight and the scene and power forever.
Really much rather they were stopped and we got better..
Where they are going and taking us with them? That ain’t a good place or path to go.
The Cybertruck has a square wheel?! Really? WHY?! This shit just keeps getting better and better! (By shit standards anyway.)
And what fucking good is a car whose body needs constant wipe-downs lest it wilt from each and every exposure to real-world weather and dirt?
And half a meter wider than other pickups? How’s that gonna fit in a standard parking space? Maybe it’s for people who want to crowd everyone else out to show how “big” they are?
It’s starting to look like #QElon is using his stupidity as a superpower to troll everyone else and keep hogging attention.
Every time Elon Musk posts something, a Tesla car sale dies.
Or, more like a 1,000 Tesla car sales dies.
Tesla is not doing well in 2024. They car sales aren’t growing and this is being reflected in the companies stock price.
Elon Musk just lost the super rich ex-wives market.
He also lost the drunk super rich wives market when Angela Chao died in a Tesla death trap SUV. (Angela Chao was 3X the legal limit of blood alcohol.)
To be sure, those are probably very small markets.
He has also lost the DEI market.
Which is actually a huge market. It includes progressive whites, nonwhites, women, and everyone who isn’t a right wing racist cis het white male.
Don’t buy a Tesla car from a guy who hates you and has nothing but contempt for you.
@10– I’m sure this is the reason Elon wanted that unprecedented $56B one-time payment from Tesla this year.
So he agrees that racism is bad?
EEOC Sues Tesla for Racial Harassment and Retaliation
SpaceX sued for discrimination, again
MacKenzie Scott has given away over $17 billion and plans to give away almost all of the rest.
What is most unusual is the donations are given without conditions, letting the recipients decide how to use the funds.
There’s a list of her donations at https://yieldgiving.com/gifts/ .
Scott is an example of what billionaires could do with their money if they made ethical choices.
No wonder she pisses Musk off.
Heaven forefend — she’s giving money away without forcing anyone to pretend Ayn Rand was a serious political theorist?! How can she not do her part to make the Takers keep on sucking up to their betters forever?! Truly this is the end of civilization as people who don’t know shit about civilization know it!
From what I heard DEI at the corporate level is just CYA and not really meaningful; about as useful as those “sexual harassment awareness training” videos we have to watch each year. To call it racist is like saying, “Taking away my white privilege is racist!”
PZ writes:
Scott does not impress me — she has a net worth of $40 billion, so giving away a small percentage of that is not much of a sacrifice. But OK, it’s a token amount, wish it was a lot more. But what will kill American civilization, at least, is the existence of billionaires of either sex who wield undue influence on the culture. Scott, Bezos, and Musk are the problem.”
Others write:
1.Mackenzie Scott has given away a total of close to $20 billion to charity to real charities over the past 5 years, with plans to give away much, much more, which actually is kind of impressive.
2.MacKenzie Scott has given away over $17 billion and plans to give away almost all of the rest.
What is most unusual is the donations are given without conditions, letting the recipients decide how to use the funds.
There’s a list of her donations at https://yieldgiving.com/gifts/ .
Scott is an example of what billionaires could do with their money if they made ethical choices.
So PZ, you were so quick to criticize Scott based only on the fact that she gave away only $640 million. And concluded
that she and others will kill American culture-based on WHAT. Now that you’ve learned she has give away $20 billion with no strings.
Out of her $40 billion have you changed your mind? I usually agree with your frequent criticisms of people but sometimes you, and others here, seem to quick to vilify some people on little evidence. Please tell us if you want your criticism of her to stand.
I will have respect for Scott if she begins to donate funds towards unionization efforts to counter the abusive practices of Amazon.
@ chesapeake
I love how “not impressed” became “vilify”.
Silentbob, do you even know to what the term ‘vilify’ refers?
(I think not, given your little comment, which is hardly impressive)
But sure, one should not be impressed by (at the very least) hundreds of millions of dollars of gifts to charity.
After all, they could have given even more!
I think PZ’s point about not being impressed is ok given that I agree with him that billionaires shouldn’t exist. They should not have that much money to give away in the first place, it gives themway to much power over everyone else. Andy who is to say that the money they donate is actually going to good causes.
MacKenzie Scott seems like a decent human being. It is odd that she was once attracted to a cynical worker-abuser like Jeff Bezos.
But – on second thoughts – past a certain income level, lives become perfectly disconnected from the lives of ordinary commoners like us.
(I am reminded of a current film, Zone of Interest. NOT a feel-good movie)
I have a little bit of experience in working with non-profits and NGOs and it is true that Scott could be doing more, but I’m coming from the perspective that it’s a long-term endeavor and giving too much at once can cause more trouble for an individual charity (lot to unpack there).
One thing that Scott is doing the right way, and that so many billionaires don’t do, is that she’s giving to established concerns (this is touched on in an earlier comment), So many places, like the Packard charities, give money to new ventures that often compete with ongoing efforts (and are often started by techbros, and often take resources away from community-based work). Or the rich need to start “foundations” in their own names. So someone has read “Winners Take All”!
Morales, you’re obsession with me is stupid and weird. Try to focus on the topic.
Muskrat is living proof that money cannot buy smarts but it can hire people to get others to think(?) that the person is much smarter than he really is. Hooray for ameirkan advertising.
Silentbob
23 March 2024 at 12:14 am
@ chesapeake
“I love how “not impressed” became “vilify”.”
To be correct I did not say PZ was vilifying Scott. I did say
“ I usually agree with your frequent criticisms of people but sometimes you, and others here, seem to quick to vilify some people on little evidence.”, which is different.
But then he added:
“But what will kill American civilization, at least, is the existence of billionaires of either sex who wield undue influence on the culture. Scott, Bezos, and Musk are the problem.” That does sound like vilification. Based on what? How is she like Bezos and Musk beside rich? And unearned riches too. That she gave only $640 million away when she had $40 billion. He doesn’t say what she has done that will help kill American civilization. And then we find she gave away 50% of her 40 billion. But someone says “ I will have respect for Scott if she begins to donate funds towards unionization efforts to counter the abusive practices of Amazon.” I must agree. Giving 20 billion to many good causes is not worthy of respect. She must do one particular thing that I designate before she gets my respect..
Oh please!
PZ, any comment? Please tell us how she is destroying America’s civilization . Or agree you’ve changed your mind with new information.
To be fair, chesapeake, MacKenzie Scott did not have $40 billion and then gave away half of it. She still has a net worth of about $36 billion after giving away about $17 billion, which you repeatedly inflate to $20 billion and $3 billion is no small chunk of change. It’s not as if her absurd amount of wealth just froze and diminished since she divorced Bezos.
https://www.forbes.com/profile/mackenzie-scott/?sh=23bb8f89243d
It would be nice if the worthy causes of the world did not have to depend on winning the MacKenzie Scott lottery, to depend on the undue influence of a billionaire, and the exception to a rule at that, to make more of a difference.
What do you think it took to make that $62 billion she was estimated to have back in 2020? Do you think that $62 billion was earned from the sweat of her brow, sweetness and light, and cat videos? Yes, what some few billionaires like her and Bill Gates and such do is nice. What they did to get it, not so nice. What companies like Amazon did to this country, not so nice.
Good luck processing the new information.
Looking at a gift horse in the mouth, that’s the ticket!
Ah, right, Silentbob still indulging in DARVO via mimicry.
What, I should not address such comments?
You think you’re somehow special there, because it was you this time?
Heh.
The only way that claim could be true is if I were obsessed with every single other mistaken or wrong comment to which I make a retort. It’s not about you personally, it’s about what you wrote.
—
Again. Look up to what ‘vilify’ refers. It fits.
—
So. The topic.
“Mackenzie Scott, Jeff Bezos’ ex-wife, has announced that she plans to donate $640 million to charity” and “Scott does not impress me — she has a net worth of $40 billion, so giving away a small percentage of that is not much of a sacrifice. But OK, it’s a token amount, wish it was a lot more.”
So, basically,her being put down for a mere donation $640 million to charity could have been avoided by not making that donation. PZ would not have been unimpressed and felt the need to post about how he feels about such a feeble donation.
Not much of a sacrifice perhaps, but surely not exactly a scabby amount, is it?
What was that parable? Ah yes: Luke 21:1-4
Imagine you represent a charity.
Someone offers to donate $640 million, but that’s only a fraction of their wealth (say, 15% of their wealth)
Someone else offers to donate $640, which is 50% their wealth.
Perhaps one is more meritorious (depending on the criteria), but you wouldn’t want to be unimpressed by either donation, would you?
(Well, perhaps I am ascribing to others the way I feel, but putting down generosity is not my style)
Some years ago, I had a job where I had a good view of a strip center parking lot.
There was a dry cleaner there that was pretty busy. I saw plenty of gigantic SUVs pull in there and a small woman, barely 5’2″ climb down from their giant beastmobiles to go to the dry cleaner with a handful of clothing. Watching these women climb up into their massive gas guzzling beastmobiles was always entertaining. Vroom! Vroom!
i don’t even understand how the cybertruck “looks cool.” maybe there’s no accounting for taste, but i can’t even comprehend the mind that would consider it in good taste.