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Comment by pauletienney | Hacker News Reader

Well, to me, he used to represent technological ambition, impossible achievements made real. Now he represents foreign interference, social violence and neo fascism. And we, European (and especially French people), have a very very low tolerance for social violence and fascism.

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As someone who lived in the sud-ouest during the yellow vests protests, "very very low tolerance for social violence" is...not my general impression of the French people.

(Low tolerance for fascism, yes, obviously. But "social violence" is pretty much what passes for entertainment on a Saturday morning)

Social violence describes the gutting of social security, healthcare systems etc to the detriment of primarily the most vulnerable. Not the fact that people protest, however violently. It's just not the right vocabulary.

> "very very low tolerance for social violence" is...not my general impression of the French people.

"French people" includes the French police, I presume.

For "social violence" it might be informative to substitute "direct action". For example, there is José Bové.

A rose by any other name...

By the way, "Action Directe" was a famous French terrorist organisation in the 80s [1].

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_Directe

I don't view political organization as violence, I view it as a healthy democracy - even if the country or people don't agree with the conclusions of that group of people. It is healthy that they feel comfortable expressing their wants and needs to the people with power to change it.

What Elon is doing in the US isn't organizing or demanding the system to be better; it's taking control of the system and saying he can do better.

To be clear, the french regularly engage in violence, of which the yellow vest riots are an excellent example. Damage to property and injury to persons is not “political organization”, it is definitionally violence.

The French are the European experts on social violence (and I am French)...

In fact OP's comment somewhat shows the often noxious atmosphere in France. Here in the UK I see Teslas everywhere and people don't say or do anything (maybe they comment on the neighbour's new Tesla at home but they are polite in public in a very British way, and criminal damage is a serious crime...) In France I can believe that a Tesla owner may fear that their car will be vandalised or that some random people might throw insults at them in the street if Tesla is labeled the wrong way...

Edit: TBH, I wouldn't even say that there is a low tolerance for fascism because historically and to this day, economic interventionism, strong state, strong leader, political violence, tendency towards authoritarism, social conservatism have been big part of the culture. That is balanced by a tendency towards anarchism at the same time...

At least in the UK the license plate lets you know when the car was registered, so it's simple to tell if they bought the Tesla before Elon went off the cliff fully. I'm not going to begrudge anyone who doesn't sell their car, my judgement is reserved for the people buying them now

Wow, that is not sinister at all... /s

Edit: My comment is obviously not about cars number plates...

It's harmless, it's a 6 month window. Number plate:

XX24 - registered between 1 Mar 2024 - 31 Aug 2024

XX74 - registered between 1 Sep 2024 - 28 Feb 2025

XX25 - registered between 1 Mar 2025 - 31 Aug 2025

etc

The first two letters of a number plate identifies the location where the vehicle was registered. For example, LA – LY covers London and MA – MY covers Manchester and Merseyside. Nothing personally identifying whatsoever.

If you're truly paranoid about such things you can always buy a car registered hundreds of miles from your residence, and in practice with an abundance of second-hand (used) cars in the marketplace from across all the UK, there's always a huge variety of registration letters driving about anyway!

They said "judgement", not setting them ablaze. I will also, inevitably, have some sort of opinion on people who have bought a Tesla after Jan 2025.

I mean, what's sinister about judging someone for their car?

People are literally putting stickers on Teslas in London calling them Swasticars.

https://www.newsweek.com/activists-brand-tesla-vehicles-swas...

https://www.instagram.com/gainzilla80_ifbbpro/p/DFdRzMAvv6k/

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRaK8eM...

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTEMZ4w...

Obviously there are idiots everywhere... My point is about cultural and societal tendencies.

People who hate nazi’s are putting swastikas everywhere. It’s on the level of gluing yourself somewhere or throwing paint on works of art when protesting.

Worst part (or best) the left will take an L on their beloved cars while selling them to right.

A car needs a working supply chain to stay on the road. If no one's buying new Teslas the longevity/viability of existing ones changes from owning a popular car to owning a Fisker. Get out while the resale value is still decent.

You are tripping if you think most popular car in the world will become Fisker.

What's factory service going to look like when new sales are down even further in Europe and the stores are struggling? I definitely wouldn't be buying from a manufacturer where that has to be a consideration which then adds to a vicious cycle for Tesla. Is Tesla going to keep stores open that aren't selling any vehicles just to provide service?

Are you going to buy from BYD instead?

This has been exactly my take on the situation. 2 years ago, I followed his exploits and his companies. Now I skim articles about him at best mostly shaking my head. He went from a fellow tech bro to to tech no.

> have a very very low tolerance social violence and fascism

Except when it comes to enforcing mandates and putting people in jail for stuff they post online.

It's always the same thing. Don't pretend Europeans have principles when they failed every test in the past 10 years

Yep, freedoms of speech, of association, and to bear arms are seriously jeapordized by nearly every ruling European regime. It’s a shame America doesn’t stand up for our values and punish Europe until she quits oppressing her citizens.

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