That time Elon got pissed at me

https://makemenemotionalagain.substack.com/p/that-time-elon-got-pissed-at-me?utm_source=activity_item

created by futuredebris on 12/02/2025 at 16:44 UTC

579 upvotes, 7 top-level comments (showing 7)

Comments

Comment by futuredebris at 12/02/2025 at 16:45 UTC

597 upvotes, 3 direct replies

Back in 2018 I wrote[1] about Elon Musk’s plan to build an underground train from downtown Chicago to O’Hare International Airport, and how it was—like many of Musk’s endeavors—a massive giveaway of public dollars to the rich.

1: https://jacobin.com/2018/06/public-private-partnership-rahm-emanuel-musk

Musk didn’t like that. He responded[2] (on Twitter before he bought it): “Btw, if anyone else wants to build this tunnel, please do so. It’s a lot of work.”

2: https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1009950544490741761

That tweet has been on my mind the past few weeks as Musk and Trump have attempted to destroy the parts of the government meant to help people who aren’t rich. I think it reveals a lot about the connection between capitalism and the ideas that Musk and Trump are pushing about so-called “traditional masculinity[3].” Let me know what you think!

3: https://makemenemotionalagain.substack.com/p/what-tradhusbands-get-wrong-about

Comment by Kill_Welly at 12/02/2025 at 17:08 UTC

149 upvotes, 2 direct replies

it's probably also worth pointing out that *there is already a train between downtown Chicago and O'Hare*. It's the CTA Blue Line and it's been there *since the 80s*. Like, okay yeah that's not what this is about now but fuck, that plan was obviously never meant to be useful for any actual people.

Comment by juliuspepperwoodchi at 13/02/2025 at 16:16 UTC

11 upvotes, 0 direct replies

Fun fact: that tunnel has not even been started, much less built, because it was always a pipe dream grift.

Comment by F3N215 at 13/02/2025 at 15:37 UTC

4 upvotes, 0 direct replies

Not from Chicago (but love that city), but thought bout something similar that happened in Toronto (where I'm from).

A private company built a direct rail train from the heart of downtown that takes you directly to the departures terminal at Pearson, about five stops on the line total. When it was finally finished that company immediately sought to subsidize the cost by making tickets a whopping $50, clearly telling the rest of the country that this amazingly convenient option was only meant for wealthy business types flying places for work and alienating the rest of the city in the process.

Near-abysmal ridership finally made the cost of a ticket accessible to everyone but it took ages for them to wise up.

How many wealthy people even take public transit, anyway? In Chicago OR Toronto?