Tesla owners didn’t buy a car: We bought a set of beliefs Elon is trashing

""" As one friend said of Musk’s recent behavior, “I’m willing to go back in time and be a dinosaur with a gas-powered car just not to feel embarrassed when I drive.” """

The Elon Tragedy is complex and multi-layered. The article goes into some depth regarding the advantages of a direct sales model, home chargers, and the SuperCharger network. Who, after all, wants to deal with car salesmen and the weird, politically perverted incentive structure behind conventional car dealers? Bravo for breaking that. And there are many other things that are purely good that Elon has made happen.

Then there is a hype-based layer for the gullible: Humans will live on Mars. Agile project management is appropriate for building the biggest-ever rocket. Huge rockets can be launched multiple times per day. There is a viable market for an internet in orbit, launched by this huge rocket that is increasingly looking like a Space Spruce Goose. Etc.

But then there is the scammy, evil layer that goes beyond hype into selling people a fantasy of "self-driving" that kills. Or announcing laid off employees will get severance and not delivering. Or running unethical experiments that don't adhere to regulations regarding primate research animals. Promoting a known-to-fail tunnel transport model to stop a rail project. Etc.

It was not a foregone conclusion that the bad outweighs the good. But then Elon sealed the deal by letting all the neofascists, misogynists, Putinists, anti-vaxxers, etc. back on Twitter and then making it clear he agrees with them. And on top of that it all looks like an extended-play tantrum over being made to conclude the deal to buy Twitter, which is one of the most financially ruinous errors in history.

Now almost every unlikely thing Elon has said would happen looks like a fraud. Nobody will cut him slack. Say "Teslabot" out loud and people will look at you like a pitiable fool.

Totally not a cult.

Religion for all its faults had these sort of people occupied in somewhat beneficial activities for themselves and for others.

When religious affiliation goes down, this sort of craziness goes up.