1/ Allow me a thread on this German $tsla & @elonmusk documentary. First, thank you, @russ1mitchell, for calling it to our attention. And, yes, it is well done, and it was heartening to see @CristinaIBalan have an opportunity to tell a small part of her story.
https://twitter.com/russ1mitchell/status/1371920656091078658
2/ One hesitates to quibble at a production so fine, but there are some serious shortcomings that should be mentioned...
3/ ...For instance, the idea that Musk was responsible for the success of PayPal is nonsense, and has been amply debunked by many, most especially by @Tweetermeyer in his superb book, Ludicrous. Still the best book out there about both Musk and Tesla. amazon.com/Ludicrous-Unva…
4/ Also, Musk may put humans on Mars? It won't happen. The entire Musk-Mars narrative is, as many science writers have demonstrated, utterly absurd. There are only two explanations for Musk's claims...
5/ ...First, as @CoverDrive12 postulates, he is testing the gullibility of his media & cultist followers. (If so, he must be hugely encouraged.) Second, his immeasurable narcissism compels him to make such outlandish claims. Choose one. Or both. (I favor both.)
6/ Now, to errors of omission rather than commission. For example, it would have been useful to mention that Tesla's only profits come from picking the pockets (via regulatory credits) of people who don't want to buy EVs. Similarly, to mention his 2018 fraud (he can't deny it).
7/ Also, some mistaken assumptions. Tesla won't build 500k cars at that factory. It would have been useful to mention that Tesla sold fewer cars in Europe in 2020 than in 2019, and the number is lower than 100k. There is a huge overcapacity crisis about to descend on Tesla.
8/ All that out of the way, let's celebrate the documentary's glorious aspects. First, the starstruck behavior of German politicians, most especially Jörg Steinbach. The economic renaissance he's counting on will happen, but it won't be in Brandenburg. It will be in Shanghai.
9/ And, the sickening sycophancy of Jens Spahn, the Minister of Health, awarding COVID-denier Musk, the Axel Springer award. If it were fiction, it would not be believed. As @Andreas_Hopf has so often told us, this idiocy is a product of the zeitgeist.
10/ Also lovely, the way in which Musk, through force of celebrity, has brainwashed not only his followers, but also the German politicians and the press, into pretending that Brandenburg is really Berlin.
11/ Another brilliant aspect: the demonstration of how Musk simply runs over those who care about workplace safety. How he bullies the unions. And argle-bargles the environmentalists, who should be asking questions about his grossly exaggerated environmental claims.
12/ Let's face it: in Germany, as in the U.S., Musk is above the law. He can raze a forest & build a factory over a watershed without a permit. He can drill 500+ piles into the watershed, in violation of the law, with no material consequence.
13/ The politicians grovel at his feet. They crave his celebrity gaze. They shower in his greenwash. It is the zeitgeist.
14/ The documentary had simply brilliant graphics. The artists deserve an award.
15/ A final thing I really loved: the shots of Musk. Inarticulate, stuttering, corpulent. It was almost as if we were watching a drug-addled, spoiled brat, Afrikaner, raised by a twisted father and appearance-obsessed mother.
16/ I should have added a direct link to the documentary. Here it is: zdf.de/politik/fronta…
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