Given that Musk is actively working to undermine UE (L'Union européenne, EU in English, sorry for confusion), you'd have to be some kind of idiot to support him by buying a Tesla if you live in Europe.
Europe has since many years suffered with high bureaucracy, strict regulations and in general low innovation levels.
Musk has been very vocal about those issues in Europe. He might be right or wrong, but questioning European levels of bureaucracy and regulations is not undermining EU, it’s going to help it.
He is wrong on many things simply from not sharing the fundamental values that makes Europeans and Americans different.
Yet, even on the things he’s right on, it is not his responsibility as a foreign agent, to change. He can fix his adopted home country instead.
Musk is actively supporting the neo-nazi Afd in Germany. Whatever his reasons are, he is now the same type of oligarch as Henry Ford was when he supported Nazi Germany.
In a recent interview with the party chair of the Afd, it was clear that he is just entirely clueless about the Germany and history in particular.
There are a lot of issues in Europe, but it is far from clear if neocon deregulation is really helping anything at all.
It's in English. I found it worthwhile to watch, for a while. Musk really wasn't too bad but the amount of nonsense coming from Alice Weidel was a bit too much for me in the end. To Musk's credit, he even corrected her a couple of times.
You might find it worthwhile to watch after all, because they didn't agree on that.
Note that I don't agree with the AFD at all, however what the media writes about Musk is often so far from the truth that I tend to watch or read the sources when I have a chance.
What we're really talking about is the richest man in the world, who owns one of the largest social media platforms in the world, using his financial and social media power to directly influence politics and/or elections according to his whim, and (it seems) currently to the benefit of causes or candidates who are often right-wing, and/or extreme or anti-establishment in some way.
There's a lot to unpack there, beyond "free speech".
Why? Many people dislike the European Union(myself included). Some of us believe it's an anti-democratic organization that should be dismantled. It hardly makes us idiots.
Additionally, not every European country is a member of the EU. I would argue Europe would be a lot better without such centralized power in the hands of a few.
To do this with a generation of peace who cannot comprehend how you can end up with a conflict in western europe in the next couple of decades does come with some level of risk. You have to have a detailed gameplan right out of the gate having gameplayed how economically and politically antagonistic your neighbors are going to be to your early moves. And if in the early days the perception is that things are getting worse than they were before (see Brexit) the risk of future unrest and conflict increases I would think.
Fundamentally, I believe in a direct, decentralised democracy with Switzerland as a good example. I believe this system of governance gives prosperity and opportunity for as many as possible, while a centralised system like the EU(or USA) gives advantage to the already powerful and well connected, with the masses only an afterthought if beneficial to the ruling elite.
I think this is obvious to any thinking, rational individual.
I'm not a fan of Musk but you're getting his intentions wrong. He's not actively trying to undermine the EU. His recent support for AFD was actually meant, misguided or not, to support Germany.
And his support for Tommy Robinson in the UK was because he apparently believes freedom of speech in the UK is in danger.
Musk is a bit odd re the UK. He goes on about the Starmer and the grooming scandal but it's all a bit distorted like he's getting his info from American MAGA enthusiasts on X and doesn't seem to have spoken to many Brits. A recent poll has 71% of Brits having a negative opinion of him https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/71-of-britons-hold-negative-...
