The Autopian’s recent analysis of Tesla presents a compelling case that demands full attention:
…just about every major automaker has skeletons in the closet. Henry Ford was no saint, Mitsubishi and Subaru made warplanes before cars, Mercedes-Benz’s history in the ’30s and ’40s is probably self-explanatory, GM played both sides, the list goes on. However, there is a difference in experience between reading about past actions and watching things play out in real time.
This observation brilliantly captures what makes Tesla’s situation uniquely troubling. While established automakers beg our awareness of their historical burdens, Tesla emerges as a company that had the opportunity to learn from these mistakes and yet seemingly chose to ignore every lesson instead.
The Autopian correctly notes, Volvo being just one of many brands notably absent from the typical roster of automotive historical transgressions, that ethical practices are easily achievable in the industry. Tesla intentionally built its brand around present willful ignorance and disregard for harms.
The article further illuminates how this translates into growing and late consequences:
…there is a difference in experience between reading about past actions and watching things play out in real time. […] One writer from the Atlantic drove a rented Cybertruck for a day and reported ‘I had been flipped off at least 17 times, called a ‘motherfucker’ (in both English and Spanish), and a ‘fucking dork.’ Imagine putting up with that on a daily basis.
This reporting captures the essence of contemporary accountability. It’s like telling the story of a Titanic captain who called anyone “woke” and “leftist” if they dared to say dangerous ice was directly ahead.
I mean can you imagine if the Titanic was pulling out of a harbor and the captain complained that people were flipping him off and yelling “hey, get a lifeboat you dork”. The hefty criticism isn’t wrong, as these Cybertruck drivers and those around them are in danger and all should be compelled to reduce predictable harm. After a decade of getting away with refusing to fix known deadly defects, throwing armies of lawyers at victims instead, Tesla and its buyers no longer can avoid an inevitable crash into reality.
The visceral public disgust with Tesla’s many ongoing moral failures represents a form of immediate historical judgment that older companies did not face nearly enough of in their formative years.
If Henry Ford were alive today funding Trump and making antisemitic statements, or if Subaru still was making the equipment used in explosions killing Americans, society would rightly demand accountability now too.
The Autopian’s analysis correctly frames Tesla not as subjected to special scrutiny, but as a company willfully replicating known problematic patterns despite having full access to the cautionary tales of basic history.
This real-time documentation of Tesla’s self-destructive trajectory offers both an obvious warning and an opportunity for reflection on corporate responsibility in America’s present moment of anti-accountability extremism (e.g. MAGA). Those who are not protesting and holding Tesla accountable are enabling the worst mistakes in history to repeat.
Never again, is right now.
