Student: “So Elon Musk is a trillionaire?”
Me: “Yup.”
Student: “How did he get that much money?”
Me: “Well, he doesn’t really have a trillion dollars cash. He just owns a lot of stock in companies that are valued at a trillion dollars.”
Student: “So those companies make huge profits?”
Me: “Oh gosh no. They all lose billions of dollars a year. All of them. Huge losses.”
The Economist headline: “Gen Z Mysteriously Hates Capitalism and No One Can Figure Out Why.”
@nswigger Not to let facts get in the way of your lols but in 6/2020 Tesla became profitable after four consecutive quarters in the black.
Yes, Elon is an asshole and a huge disappointment but there would be no US EV industry without the pressure #tesla put on legacy manufacturers
I know I know buses and bicycles, I use them frequently but the majority of Americans never will but are more likely to drive an #ev
@ahltorp @nswigger anti public transit sentiment in America goes way back, before Elon was even born. Yet another class distinction that we wrap in racism. We had loads of street car suburbs in the early 1900s, it was other industrialist that ended that, to sell us cars. #transit #streetcar #urbanism #electrifyeverything
Edit: before Elon went full fascist, who do you think was trying to convince you EVs weren’t possible? This is all the same struggle
@woodenmachines @nswigger Yes, he's someone in a long tradition.
And we might agree (I do at least) that every car should be an EV, but mass car culture is still mass car culture, EVs don't help one bit there.
Noise pollution, tire pollution, huge paved areas for roads and parking, driver's desire for pedestrians and cyclists to keep out of the way, thus making threats of death and injury a required part of the culture.
All these problems are still there with EVs.
Nathaniel Swigger
Skim Shady (331.36 ppm)
Magnus Ahltorp