Also shows you how effective FUD is until you get shown the difference and I bet even then some rather stick to their reinforced bias than see through the lies.
Whenever I go on Facebook there are 3-5 anti EV memes and ads plus the usual nationalist fear and hate mongering. Those must be targeted paid for content. It's disgusting.
Obviously reporting them does nothing on that platform.
Butts in seats in real life can undo some of this locally, but it feels overwhelming online.
Got an interesting tidbit for you guys.
As it happens, the father of my son-in-law happens to like to read fact-based historical novels. He discovered that I like to read about history and, as #2 on the number of books he's sent my way, he sent me
The Path Between The Seas, by a David McCulloch, published in 1977. So, well before Elon or any shenanigans with Tesla.
It's an interesting read about how the Panama Canal got built. As it happens, there was this crazed Frenchman, name of Vicomte Ferdinand de Lesseps. Not a man with an engineering degree of any type, but a really good diplomat who could move Heaven and Earth towards a dream he fancied. The first goal he fancied and actually Made Happen was the Suez Canal. I am not kidding: this fellow really appears to be the Musk-like figure of his day.
He, his backers, and with support of the then-current government of Egypt, raised money in the form of bonds. Which was mainly subscribed by the citizens of France. There was extensive press coverage that encouraged this. When the money ran a bit short, more bonds were issued at advantageous rates. The Suez Canal
did get built; made ridiculous money; and the bonds-holders made out like bandits. Honestly, A show of Just What Capitalism Can Do.
The fact that Mr. de Lesseps didn't have any kind of serious technical acumen didn't really stop him and his helpers; civil engineers were hired like mad. And, despite various setbacks and such, the canal, a specimen of a
sea level canal, with no locks, went on in. In retrospect, while insanely difficult to do this, it helped that the path of the canal went over pretty much flat terrain. And there weren't any serious plagues afflicting the workforce.
So, after finishing all this, it appears that Mr. de Lesseps looked about for His Next Big Thing and figured that a canal through the Isthmus of Panama would be Just the Thing.. to make his mark on the world (mainly) but also to collect a bag of serious cash on the way. This didn't work out so well, but it sure wasn't because of a lack of (serious) trying. If I had to put my finger on the Main Problem, it would be that de Lesseps figured that if One Sea-Level Canal Would Do, So Would A Second. And it wasn't until he (probably) had a serious case of dementia, brought on by old age, that other people realized that digging it on the flat Wasn't Working. Fine: The French attempt failed (but they kept the hardware they were using in good shape), the Americans eventually took over, and it Got Done.
But the reason I bring up all this is that during the French Attempt to fund the whole thing, another bond-funding party was planned. And there were.. bankers. The bankers wanted a piece of the pie. Notable amongst these bankers was Morgan (yes,
that Morgan) who promptly started paying newspapers, mostly in France, but in lots of other places, to put out Negative Press about the chances of this canal succeeding. Mind you, Morgan and his cronies had No Technical Expertise Whatsoever; but they wanted money. The first attempt at raising funds through bond sales
failed, in large part because of this FUD.
After a bit of a pause, it appears that de Lesseps and company figured out which way the wind was blowing, showed in NYC, met with Morgan, and got the backing of his bank. With a very healthy percentage of the monies raised going straight into J.P. Morgan & Co..
At which point all the various newspaper articles got very sunny about the prospects, people were swayed, and the bond-raising was oversubscribed. Less money to actually
build the canal, of course, but the bankers were happy. (And, at the time, people really
did believe that de Lesseps could pull it off. Except some experts who actually knew better.. but got overridden by a very, very, good diplomat.)
Interestingly, after the attempt failed (mainly due to disease killing off the workforce, including the engineers), there was a trial about Where All The Money Had Gone; by this time, de Lessips was moribund, but his son was tried. And, interestingly, the bribing of newspapers left and right
did come out in the trial. None of those newspapers were brought to court, ever.
Yeah, yeah: one would look at all this fun in the late 1800's and early 1900's and think, "Jeez, financial reporting is better than
that!". Except that.. FUD on Tesla. Funded by Parties Unknown (but probably oil and gas interests, as well as potential competitors), but putting out Huge Quantities of FUD on Tesla and Elon.
Don't get me wrong: Elon is, sometimes, his own worst enemy. But that bit about, "Those who don't know their history are doomed to repeat it." comes to mind.
