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Comment by P_I_Staker | Hacker News Reader

I'll never understand why people look up to him. I have friends that are totally extreme communists, who hate everything capitalist and they idolize him. He's still a billionaire and a shitty person, just because he has interests in helping the planet (with his great business ventures) doesn't make him a swell fellow. He's still trash, like most billionaires.

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I'll never understand why people embrace crab mentality.

He's playing a positive sum game - his ventures are growing the pie and moving us toward a better future (e.g., sustainable energy).

Focus on the rent seekers, not the pie growers.

Deep down a lot of people know they're not a crab that will be leaving the bucket so they'd prefer nobody left the bucket so that they don't have to be reminded it's possible.

Of course, most of us are. This isn't crab mentality though, I just dislike the man's politics and personality. I have no problem with him being a good person, making billions, and creating cool cars/rockets; it's the workers rights stuff I'm upset about.

Doing a few things that better society while growing your wealth and influence doesn't make you a good person. I don't like most billionaires because they invariably have huge egos and think they're gods great gift to capitalism. When you're using your power to promote business practices that hurt people who aren't receiving lavish compensation, it isn't a benign thing.

I was just musing about how strange it is that people love him despite his sketchy business practices. The OP was about him forcing a plant open and having a bad record on workers rights. That's what I objected to, not all the money he's making.

I do understand my comment didn't really explain that, so I understand the downvotes. I guess I thought it was clear from the context, why I had a problem with him.

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