Saying Elon Musk is a complicated person is like saying, “Star Wars is just a movie.” There’s more to him than being the richest person in the world, which is starting to have some truly horrible consequences. He’s making the news for good and bad reasons, but we are so deep into the rabbit hole that, at this stage, I don’t think there’s much difference.

I’ll be honest here, I’ve tried to be balanced with this topic, but it’s awkward.

I admire Musk’s work with SpaceX and The Boring Company because they are creative and inventive companies that are pushing human development and advancement. It may not be popular, but I don’t care that he’s the wealthiest person in the world, because if its not him, its going to be Jeff Bezos or some other loser that has not become Batman.

I’m not particularly fond of billionaires in general, but I think Musk is impressive for his contributions to scientific development. However, I believe that billionaires should be taxed at a higher rate, regardless of where they reside.

However, my admiration of Musk can only go so far. His shenanigans with DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency), his anti-woke crusade, the buyout of Twitter (X) to ensure/suppress freedom of speech, and his not-so-subtle sympathising with Nazis, have slowly turned him into a financial and social pariah.

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This amazing transition brings us to Tesla. Although Musk did not start Tesla, Inc., he is now Tesla’s face to the world. When you think of Tesla, you think of Musk, like Jeff Bezos and Amazon, Bill Gates and Microsoft, Steve Jobs and Apple, and Ronald McDonald and some random burger chain.

To help combat climate change, I believe Tesla is a crucial player in this effort. As one of the world’s leading electric car manufacturers, it employs over 125,000 people. While it is a business focused on making a profit, it also provides a valuable resource to the world: electric cars.

I’m naive about many things in this beautiful world, but I understand how capitalism and businesses work, because I purchase products from major corporations, including food, books, shoes and clothes; they are a necessary burden. But they provide a service or product, that we, the consumers, want.

Tesla is no different in that regard, so I have no major ill will towards them. They have a great concept and I wish them all the luck in the world with their electric cars. If I had the money, I would own an electric car of some type.

But Tesla is in trouble, because of Musk’s actions and speeches. The backlash towards Musk is justified because his personal life is clashing with his professional and business life. It’s been a snowball of conservative actions, topped off with his ascension to DOGE, and he is, for all of the optics, a Nazi sympathiser.

Tesla dealerships are getting graffitied and attacked, while the cars are being fire-bombed, destroyed, vandalised, scratched, and defaced, whether they are on a lot, in car parks, or at people’s homes. This has meant that Tesla stock has taken a hit, not just across North America, but around the world. It’s a global boycott.

About four years ago, a former colleague of mine and her husband bought a second-hand Tesla with the help of a bank loan. She often spoke about how owning a Tesla was a dream for her because she believed strongly in the electric car industry and its potential to combat climate change.

Last week, my wife was talking to another mother at school, who revealed that she had purchased a second-hand Tesla 10 months ago, for the same reasons my ex-work colleague had. However, she also explained in the last few weeks, members of the public have been yelling and cursing at her, with one man calling her a Nazi.

She reinforced to my wife that had she got the car, “…before Elon become a dickhead. We didn’t know he liked Nazis. We haven’t done anything wrong.”

I am both impressed and proud of the resistance against the actions of the richest person on Earth. It’s truly remarkable what people can stand up to—if you can’t confront an ultra-wealthy Nazi sympathiser, then who can you stand up to?

On the other hand, Tesla was not Musk’s creation, but he is their poster boy. What happens if Tesla’s stock keeps falling? Job losses, that’s what. How many of the 125,000 workers will lose their jobs, because of Tesla’s financial issues? 10%? 25%? 75%?

Would the total collapse of one of the world’s largest electric car manufacturers be a positive thing? The oil and gas industry would say yes, but climate activists and other electric car manufacturers would say no.

To the best of my understanding, Musk owns 12.8% of Tesla stock, which is worth about US$97.8 billion. His net worth is estimated to be around US$327.3 billion, so his Tesla stock works out to about 30% of his wealth.

If Tesla collapsed and Musk lost all of the money in Tesla stock, he would still have at least US$220 billion.

If Tesla collapsed, what would the 125,000 workers have? Could the electric car industry recover from that disaster? I don’t want to find out.

So, as a global village, we have a dilemma. Do we continue the destruction of Tesla vehicles and the company, until it is completely destroyed, because of its connection to Musk? Should we then destroy and cancel Twitter (X), SpaceX, the Boring Company, Neuralink, as well as OpenAI?

Or do we ignore Tesla, and allow Musk to continue his harmful rhetoric and policies, without any more pushback or punishment?

Or maybe, there’s a compromise. What if society could stop cancelling Tesla, but Musk could still be held accountable?

Hear me out. Because of the huge number of stocks he holds, Musk is the CEO of Tesla. But imagine if Tesla drew a line in the sand and wanted to put distance from itself and Musk, by forcing Musk out of the company; either by buying him out, or firing him as CEO.

This way, Musk faces consequences, but Tesla could survive and continue its mission to combat climate change, alongside other electric car manufacturers. I know it sounds like a foolish idea, but just imagine if that were possible.

I genuinely appreciate the protests, but destroying Tesla won’t eliminate Musk; it would instead devastate hundreds of thousands of lives through job losses. And who benefits from that? The oil and gas industry, that’s who.

If there is an end game with the protests, it has to be to put pressure on Tesla to act, and force Musk out, or fire him. That is the best scenario I can think of, and that result would make me happy. But hey, what do I know? Also, on a shameful note, I really do like the term, swasticar. It’s really clever.

Anyway, how do you propose we solve the Musk-Tesla problem? Does it need to be solved? As always, please let me know.

That’s another blog for another week. Thanks once again for reading, following, and subscribing to Some Geek Told Me. If I didn’t have this weird writing project, I don’t know where I would be, so again, thank you.

Please don’t forget to walk your dog, read a banned book, continue to pressure Israel and Russia for ceasefires, and I’ll see you next week.

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After smelling something disgusting at a market the other day, it reminded me of two things; vomiting and writing a new Food and Prejudice blog post. Because the original blog post was such a success, let’s pull a Terminator 2: Judgment Day, and be better than the original.

For any unfortunate culinary fans that missed the first entry on this journey of truth, you can find it here, where I explained my disdain for Sour Cream and Chives, Corn, and Beetroot. I feel I need to clean my fingers because I just typed their names.

To give our fellow homo sapiens some context for this thoroughly thought-out project, the idea is this:

I enjoy eating food, mainly because it helps me to live, but also because of the fantastic tastes and flavours. However, as you can imagine, I don’t love everything. There are some foods that I dislike so much, that I’m prejudiced against them.

I would also like to mention that if you like and enjoy any of the entries on the lists, please don’t get upset too much, because you’re a better person than me, since you can actually eat those foods. Ok? One small thing to add is that the word “food” in the context of these blog posts, also covers drinks. Awesome.

Without further time wasting, because as we all know, The Honourable Simeon Brown MP does not like time wasting, or going slow, so let’s crack on with Food and Prejudice: Volume 2!

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Asparagus

Where do I start on this hybrid of woe? Asparagus is not as dangerous as Corn, but that’s like comparing an orca to a wolf. One is more dangerous than the other, but they are both predators and out to get you; just like Corn and asparagus.¹

On paper, asparagus has a lot going for it, but in what I like to call reality, it doesn’t. It really doesn’t. This limp and flaccid spring vegetable, which is what people call asparagus and eat, are the young shoots of the plant.

Its texture is slimy like a mutated worm with an algae addiction, the smell is like pure petrol, and its taste is like the offspring of a leprosy-afflicted cockroach and a depressed bamboo.

An interesting fact about asparagus is that if the shoots are allowed to develop and grow, it can produce fruit in the form of red berries, which to nobody’s surprise, can be toxic to humans. Yet another reason to fester ill thoughts about this terrible vegetable.

I hate asparagus.

Pears

This is an odd entry because I love fruit, so I should enjoy eating pears. I’m emphasising on the word should, since I really want to like pears. I just can’t. I feel disappointed in myself over this, however, this pity party for one ends, when I remember that pears are deceptive.

They look like an apple that has been on one too many rides around a particle accelerator, hence the shape. I can overlook this since it’s not the pear’s fault it looks like that. The problem is that my support for pears fades when it comes to the taste.

Even though the pear looks like a misshaped apple, it tastes nothing like an apple; unless there is a new variety of apple that tastes like sawdust and sand. It’s so gritty, seriously, it’s gross. Like I said earlier, I really want to like pears, but my body is allergic to foods that make me want to clean my tongue after eating them.

I hate pears.

Ginger Beer

Like myself, and every other member of the human race, we all make mistakes and have faults.² My wife is no exception to this rule, because not only does she love Corn, she also enjoys ginger beer. Yes, yes, I know nobody is perfect, but I was devastated to learn that ginger beer was one of her favourite beverages.

I try to be a supportive and loving husband by sometimes purchasing ginger beer for her. I never think it through though, because if she wants to drink it, the bottle/can will need to be opened, and frankly, when that happens, that’s it for me.

Ginger beer tastes of regret and guilt, mixed with disappointment, stress, and failure; however, it pales in comparison to the smell of ginger beer. Once I can smell that awful odour from my wife’s open bottle or can, I have to fight the instinct to start twisting and distorting my body in discomfort.

My mind is screaming at me, “Even though you love that woman, you need to get away from her and that smell. Run, don’t walk. Run as fast as you can and get away from that smell, because if you don’t, she’ll offer you a taste of that ginger-flavoured septic discharge, and the words that fall out of your mouth will result in a divorce. Run!”

I hate ginger beer.

Do you agree with any of my food prejudices? What are yours? As always, please let me know.

We are officially in December now, so the Christmas chaos can officially start. Are you ready for it? I’m not, but what’s new?

So that’s it for another week. Thanks for reading, following, and subscribing to Some Geek Told Me. Please remember to walk your dog, read a banned book, go and lose a board game to a child, and I’ll see you next week because we’re going back to 1955. See you there.

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¹ I spell Corn with a upper case C, because Corn is dangerous and deserves your respect. When you’re not paying attention, Corn will get you, because Corn is always stalking you.

² This of course does not include Chuck Norris, since he is the exception to the rule. I mean, why would he not be?