2012 US Election: Mitt Romney vs Elon Musk

[Infected Mushroom]

Musk. I really don't get why people are picking Romney here.

"Oh but he's a moderate" - No, he isn't. He's whatever he thinks is going to get him the most political clout at the time. As it became more apparent that Trump was going to have a tough time with the 2020 election, he grew more distant and blended more with the GOP establishment. Not to mention the guy is a slimy career politician who flip-flops like a badly-made pancake.

He's basically the generic US President in any action/disaster movie ever (and that's not a good thing).

For the record, I do not support Trump. I saw him as the lesser of two evils in 2016/2020 but not on a level of supporting him.

I was thinking Elon because he’d probably be very firm with environmental commitments, technology, and measures.

[Resilient Acceleration]

After the scenario is changed to allow Musk to run for office, let me see.

Mitt Romney.

Elon Musk is neither a politician, statesman, nor a public administrator, nor do he has any experience with it. I mean, any president will expected to, you know, do things like negotiating budgets with the Congress, making national security decisions, or lead the party's electoral efforts. Meanwhile, Musk going into politics in 2012 means that every single thing he done for the 8 years—lifting Tesla from near bankruptcy into top-tier automaker, Falcon launches, Starlink ISP (which will benefit me and my country in multitides of ways if it finally goes global), starting Neuralink, GPT-3—won't happen. That's an infinitely worse world to live in.

[Kilobugya]

I was thinking Elon because he’d probably be very firm with environmental commitments, technology, and measures.

Elon Musk "environmental commitments" are a complete joke. His Starlink is an environmental disaster, and electric cars are only marginally better than fossil-fuel ones when you look at the full cycle (producing and recycling the car and the battery, charging them, ...). To tackle the environmental crisis we need collective action and focus on public transport, shortening the supply chains, ... all the opposite of what neoliberal Elon Musk strives for.

[Infected Mushroom]

I was thinking Elon because he’d probably be very firm with environmental commitments, technology, and measures.

Elon Musk "environmental commitments" are a complete joke. His Starlink is an environmental disaster, and electric cars are only marginally better than fossil-fuel ones when you look at the full cycle (producing and recycling the car and the battery, charging them, ...). To tackle the environmental crisis we need collective action and focus on public transport, shortening the supply chains, ... all the opposite of what neoliberal Elon Musk strives for.

I was thinking when in terms of when he refused to work with Trump because Trump was messing with the Paris agreement

https://www.theverge.com/2017/6/1/15726 ... e-decision

[Kilobugya]

I was thinking when in terms of when he refused to work with Trump because Trump was messing with the Paris agreement

https://www.theverge.com/2017/6/1/15726 ... e-decision

Well, caring more the environment than Trump is like caring more for the Jews than Hitler or caring more for Black people than Robert E. Lee, it's a very, very low bar to clear.

[United Acadia]

Jeb!, of course. And to those who might answer this question differently, please wait patiently in your homes while God Emperor Jeb redirects his space lasers towards your home.

[Odreria]

I would probably jump off a cliff.

[-Ocelot-]

That's one way to make NSG collectively crash. Well done.

[Picairn]

The last time the American people voted an "anti-establishment" non-politician into office, the results were disastrous. I would hold my nose and vote for Romney, then end myself from this cursed timeline.

[The Huskar Social Union]

I cast my ballot for Lord Buckethead.

[Ifreann]

I call Posadas and tell him to please end our miserable existence.

This.

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Uh... I fail to see how Elon aligns with the left at all.

If anything it'd make more sense to literally make Mitt the democratic candidate and Elon the republican one.

But to answer your question: neither, I was too young to vote in 2012

I was thinking in terms of Elon having very environmentalist and futurist views and coming out in 2021 to congratulate Biden etc

Musk is not remotely and environmentalist.

[Infected Mushroom]

I call Posadas and tell him to please end our miserable existence.

This.

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I was thinking in terms of Elon having very environmentalist and futurist views and coming out in 2021 to congratulate Biden etc

Musk is not remotely and environmentalist.

He's literally a pioneer in electric energy and clean energy

[Whitemore]

I think we've already learned what happened when a Businessman becomes President of the United States with no prior political experience. While I may not support all of Mitt Rommey's policies I will vote for the experienced politician that can at least understand how to run the country.

[Varnalaya]

This scenario would have led to the stellar rise of a third party with either Elizabeth Warren or Bernie Sanders at the helm - and by 2016 Bernie Sanders would have obliterated both other candidates, while Warren becomes senate leader.

[Ifreann]

This.

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Musk is not remotely and environmentalist.

He's literally a pioneer in electric energy and clean energy

No he isn't. Elon Musk is a businessman, not a scientist or engineer. He has never pioneered anything. He pays other people to develop things because he has some vague idea that they would be cool, and in the pursuit of that stupid goal he is threatening the future of astronomy and space flight. He tried to have an employee killed when that employee blew the whistle on the total disregard of environmental regulations at one of his factories. Elon Musk doesn't give a shit about the environment.

[Kilobugya]

He's literally a pioneer in electric energy and clean energy

People didn't wait for Elon Musk to care about clean and electric energy. You've countries like France which has 80% nuclear power and 15% hydroelectric, or Ecuador which has 95%+ hydroeletric power. He's not a pioneer at all in those fields. His proposals and policies, from electric cars to starlink actually have very negative environmental footprints, compared to many alternatives. He's a business man, focused on making money and pursuing stupid dreams of personal grandeur, the exact opposite of the collective solutions we need to tackle the environmental crisis.

[Varnalaya]

Musk is indeed a pioneer - of the bandwagon that the rest of the world had gotten off and rolling.

* slow clap *

And Romney is a vulture (Baine capital, anyone?)

[Chan Island]

Jeb!, of course. And to those who might answer this question differently, please wait patiently in your homes while God Emperor Jeb redirects his space lasers towards your home.

I too will clap for Jeb to save myself in this cursed timeline.

[The Yeetusa]

Wtf did I just read

[Infected Mushroom]

He's literally a pioneer in electric energy and clean energy

No he isn't. Elon Musk is a businessman, not a scientist or engineer. He has never pioneered anything. He pays other people to develop things because he has some vague idea that they would be cool, and in the pursuit of that stupid goal he is threatening the future of astronomy and space flight. He tried to have an employee killed when that employee blew the whistle on the total disregard of environmental regulations at one of his factories. Elon Musk doesn't give a shit about the environment.

The first iterations of any technology is going to be inefficient, and where they exist within the private sector, a degree of focus has to be on the profits (no profits, the business dies, no further innovations)

but without him, electric cars and green energy would not be where they are now

[Infected Mushroom]

He's literally a pioneer in electric energy and clean energy

People didn't wait for Elon Musk to care about clean and electric energy. You've countries like France which has 80% nuclear power and 15% hydroelectric, or Ecuador which has 95%+ hydroeletric power. He's not a pioneer at all in those fields. His proposals and policies, from electric cars to starlink actually have very negative environmental footprints, compared to many alternatives. He's a business man, focused on making money and pursuing stupid dreams of personal grandeur, the exact opposite of the collective solutions we need to tackle the environmental crisis.

pretty much all businesses have a negative carbon footprint, environmentally beneficial technology can be innovated and improved within the framework of a business that has a negative carbon footprint in the short term

[Kilobugya]

but without him, electric cars and green energy would not be where they are now

Electric cars are not a solution. Mass transit is.

As for green energy, I gave you example of countries that do much better despite (or rather, because) they have no Elon Musk.

Having ultra-rich people with oversized ego pushing pipedreams while sabotaging the ability of societies to regulate themsleves aren't how we solve problems, quite the opposite. Elon Musk, by pushing for deregulation, lower taxes, weaker governments and supporting anti-envrionmentalist candidates did much more harm that his mostly useless shiny gadgets ever did good.

[Nakena]

Hydrogen cars are where it goes. They are the solution.

[Kilobugya]

Hydrogen cars are where it goes. They are the solution.

Nah. Mass transit is the solution. Cars, whatever their propulsion method, are very inefficient, in term of energy usage, but also for their whole lifecycle, and heavy footprint in term of roads, parking places, ... They should be the exception, for the "last mile", when you've something heavy to carry, or must travel in the middle of the night. But they should not be the default transit option, as long as we don't change that, we won't fix the main problem.

[Heloin]

I cast my ballot for Lord Buckethead.