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Comment by bsaul | Hacker News Reader

This article completely misses the mark. People worship jobs or elon because they’re the modern rock stars. They entertain us with technical marvels, and we’re grateful to them. Nobody care if keith richards is a nice guy, or if kurt cobain took drugs or was nice to kids. We liked what they did professionally, and we don’t car about the rest.

Nobody is saying we should copy elon work ethic, or public communication, or jobs’ family affairs. Everybody agrees they’re not perfect and can probably be aholes sometimes. But we don’t care. And we’re angry at people trying to focus on the bad aspects of their personalities as a way to diminish their professional accomplishments.

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We still have modern rock (or pick your genre) stars. You won't see a crowd of teenage girls holding "MARRY ME" signs and losing their minds when Zuckerberg is giving a talk. I also disagree with trivializing/ignoring the fact that these industry titans sit at the top of companies that employ thousands of people. I don't think Nirvana ever had cities competing with handouts and tax incentives to get them to tour. No, these guys aren't the rock stars, they're the record execs, and they've earned the public's disdain.

Aren't tech leaders such as Musk and Jobs different from rock stars though? Both groups might exhibit poor personal behavior but only tech leaders have the ability to make thousands of employees work in miserable conditions. I agree that the article kind of misses the point when it discusses the private lives of these figures but there is definitely something to the idea that people who treat their employees like shit shouldn't be worshipped.

I’m pretty sure workers at DpaceX are treated way better than workers on rockstar concerts.

I remember reading that SpaceX employees work crazy long hours and that the burnout rate is high. Is the same true for the people who work the venues or go on the road with bands?

Well I mean beside the fact people do say that Elon's work ethic is inspirational or that he's a great communicator. You might not but a loud and aggressive minority do.

That said, although I can see why you might disagree with others on Musk I don't really understand why you'd get properly angry on Musk's behalf. Musk is rich enough, powerful enough and old enough to stand up for himself without needing an army of internet warriors.

I think "angry" is a bit strong, but i understand why some people overreact against musk critics. There aren't that many people on earth able to do what he's done at the moment. Same for jobs at his time. They're able to make the tech industry move forward, and at the same time provide a show for everyone to enjoy, and be inspired by (the show, not themselves, at least initialy).

This is rare. I don't think i've had the sensation of seeing humanity move forward as much as the day i saw that car fly around earth, and the two launcher get back to earth vertically. This was straight from a science fiction movie, and yet, thanks to Elon (and all the people he recruited), that was true.

This is something that should legitimately be admired, without being ashamed of it (as opposed to being a fan of certain music star).

Doesn't mean Elon should have a free rein for everything he does, and shouldn't be called overoptimistic when he is (if not borderline bullshiter). But at the minimum, we should feel grateful for what he already did.

But like those rockstars, they do become role models for other's behavior.

I certainly support many of the goals Musk has, and would like to see him succeed in those. However, he seems to have made some pretty questionable decisions recently which he does need to answer for appropriately.

> But like those rockstars, they do become role models for other's behavior.

How many rock star can you name who became a role model?

The problem comes when people want to achieve similar success, and think that this type of behavior is the key to doing it, so they emulate being jerks because that’s what these guys did. Maybe being a jerk is one trait that helps you achieve that status, or maybe it’s a byproduct of other traits that make people successful.

I disagree. Riches and fame are sure to draw legions of fame, no matter how offensive the misdeeds of the celebrity.

It seems part of modern day life.

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