Inconceivable!

[JBee]

HCOL = high cost of living area, like San Francisco or New York City. The cost of living is high because the jobs picture is great and everyone wants to live there.

LCOL = low cost of living area, like the rural backwater where I grew up. The cost of living is low because there's no economy to speak of.

MCOL = medium cost of living area. A place with both affordable housing and a good economy. Not as exciting as the HCOL areas, but they're very nice place to be if you're into what these places have to offer -- which we are.

You're just in the wrong business maybe? My "rural" neighbour just bought another 10,000acres for $31m. Grain farming is profitable, even for the employed. Our local mines run $billion dollar profits and have some of the highest paid middle class jobs.

 

[JBee]

HCOL = high cost of living area, like San Francisco or New York City. The cost of living is high because the jobs picture is great and everyone wants to live there.

LCOL = low cost of living area, like the rural backwater where I grew up. The cost of living is low because there's no economy to speak of.

MCOL = medium cost of living area. A place with both affordable housing and a good economy. Not as exciting as the HCOL areas, but they're very nice place to be if you're into what these places have to offer -- which we are.

You're just in the wrong business maybe? My "rural" neighbour just bought another 10,000acres for $31m. Grain farming is profitable, even for the employed. Our local mines run $billion dollar profits and have some of the highest paid middle class jobs.

 

[HaulingAss]

Messing with you

Not very effectively. It just ends up making you sound mixed up.

 

[HaulingAss]

Our local mines run $billion dollar profits and have some of the highest paid middle class jobs.

They are only the highest paid middle class jobs because, if they paid any more, they wouldn't be middle class! /s

 

[Luke42]

Our local mines run $billion dollar profits and have some of the highest paid middle class jobs.

Being a major stockholder on a mine is great work, of you have a few million dollars to buy your way in.

Same with owning farmland.

Actually doing the work that farming & mining enterprises requires isn't particularly profitable (at the personal level) if you're a rank-and-file employee. Plus, most of those rank-and-file jobs have been (or will be) automated away.

That's is why I got an education and GTFO'd from Rural America. I started with $0 in capital, and my talents are far more profitable (at the personal level) when employed outside of Rural America.

Maybe I'll be able to live off of my investments (meaning "own enough stock that my share of those mining profits matters") by the time I die.

The optimistic flip side is that maybe my children will be able to struggle less in a capitalist society than I did, due to my investments. But the hustle becomes exhausting as the decades wear on.

 

[Diehard]

Not very effectively. It just ends up making you sound mixed up.

Except I didn't say anything like that. I believe in having strong principles, but having different political preferences from the CEO of a company doesn't affect my purchase decisions. And why should it?

I would be far more likely to avoid VW's since they lied about the emissions of their vehicles. But I don't care about the personal or political views of the CEO of VW, nor do I care about the personal views of the rest of management or the people who assembled the car I buy. If I did, I could never buy anything.

This is an attempt to make it sound a little less mixed up by taking humor out of it and answer “why should it?“ question. Chief Executive Officer of a company is not the same as an assembly line worker. He/she makes major decisions that can have major impact on the product, the customer and the shareholders. He or She is also the face of the company and in case of Tesla more so than other companies. If they make judgment and choices that are questionable in one aspects of their life it is reasonable to question where the company is going. For example if Elon cheated on his wife, even if it directly has nothing to do with how Tesla operates, it is reasonable to question if Tesla would do something like VW while he is CEO. I know there are guardrails but VW had those too.

I am not personally aware of all of Elon’s political views and not sure how much of it align with mine. And despite the fact that I do not agree with a few things he did and said, I am still considering CT. Despite the fact that I have many lines I won’t cross, I do not consider myself a STRONG principled man. I am much more likely not to buy a Tesla for choices Tesla has made than Elon’s political view but I completely understand why my wife or @Luke42 ’s wife would not buy one. In a capitalist system, money is the best feedback mechanism. If you don’t like child labor, you stop buying shoes from a company that exploit children. Then the companies that are thinking about it may make different choices. This example is more direct and clear but your money can be used to send feedback to anyone for any reason. And as it was shown in this interview, it has accomplished some of what was intended; Elon did get the message. He did not respond the way those who send the feedback hoped for but he did get it. I see absolutely nothing wrong in a democratic capitalist society with people using their money to vote. Elon is a powerful man. What he thinks matters and trying to influence his thoughts through legal and moral means is reasonable. That is what people with Strong Principals with different political views are doing. Again I personally spend my energy and focus in different areas of my life (not politics) but I understand those that do.