Tea at Trianon: Tesla Loses Its Appeal to the Left

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Saturday, April 26, 2025

Tesla Loses Its Appeal to the Left

From Direct Line:

Fast-forward to the Tesla era.
If Subaru is stealth signaling, Tesla is the equivalent of a pride parade riding a Bitcoin bull. Elon Musk doesn’t do subtle. And yet, the early Tesla buyer had a few clear boxes to check:
✅ Tech Savvy
✅ Climate Conscious
✅ Casually Affluent
The car was sleek, the software was new, and the vibe was distinctly coastal—bicoastal, to be specific. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez had one. So did Adam Schiff. Climate guilt? Assuaged. Luxury status? Secured. The only hiccup for the Left was that Teslas weren’t union-made. But faced with a choice between climate correctness and “the workers,” AOC chose to go green. Essentially sums up the priorities of today’s progressives.
But here’s the twist. Cars, unlike hats or hashtags, don’t change with the season. You’re stuck with one for years. So when Elon Musk made his not-so-subtle ideological pivot (Dogecoin tweets, anti-woke rants, boisterous MAGA cheerleading), it left Tesla’s early adopters in a bind.
Because if you’re a progressive with a Tesla in your garage, you’re now driving around in the equivalent of a red hat—just with better aerodynamics.
It’s the same identity whiplash that hit Bud Light.
Once the go-to beer of suburban backyard masculinity, Bud Light found itself center stage in a culture war after a brief partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney. The campaign wasn’t even a full ad—just a branded can and an Instagram video. But it was enough to trigger a collective identity crisis among its most performatively macho consumers.
Pity the guy who just wanted a cold one and ended up in the wrong side of a Newsmax segment. Many switched to Modelo, Coors Light, or whatever beverage still felt “safe” from narrative shifts. That’s the dilemma for brand-loyal consumers today: You don’t just buy a product—you buy its politics, its vibe, its signal. And when the signal changes, you’re left stranded. With a six-pack. Or a $60,000 electric car.
It gets worse. EVs, it turns out, don’t hold their value. There’s no thriving used market. No easy off-ramp. Teslas can depreciate more rapidly than other vehicles, especially due to factors like frequent price changes and evolving technology. The rapid pace of innovation in the EV market can make older Teslas feel less desirable quickly, affecting their resale value. That sleek car in your driveway is aging into a paperweight with a lithium-ion battery.
So, feel free to give Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez a call. She’s looking to unload her Tesla at a reasonable price. And she wants to continue following Bernie Sanders’ lead and get a Subaru Forester. (Read more.)