All I’ve ever wanted is for the now-Stellantis brands to live up to their potential. It’s not about getting specific vehicles (I can accept that the Hellcat-powered Pacifica probably ain’t happening). These are important carmakers, and each has a role in the greater marketplace. In particular, I’ve harped a lot on Stellantis for letting Chrysler and Dodge wither on the vine, but it comes from a place of caring.
It’s why a new report hinting that Stellantis may be trying to help those brands out is music to my ears. This is good news, and I’m feeling like I need to make The Morning Dump a little more positive after Archie Manning disappointed the Longhorn faithful again this weekend.
Other good news? Well, it sounds like the White House might be considering offsetting tariff costs for manufacturers who build cars in the United States. What’s that going to look like? No one knows! How will that work? See the previous answer.
BYD doesn’t have to worry about U.S. tariffs at the moment, and it can now officially celebrate besting Tesla for four straight quarters in EV sales. In five years, that might look like when the Red Sox beat up on the Astros earlier this season. It doesn’t matter anymore!
And, finally, Genesis has established itself as a real player in the luxury space. The next move? Show it can build a performance identity.
How To Fix Stellantis, Redux
I have never been even partially responsible for a company that’s built a car. When David finishes the Jeep, I suppose that’ll change. Until then, I understand why you’d wonder where I get off telling car execs what they’re doing wrong. Sure. Fair.
Though, in the case of Stellantis, I specifically pointed out all the reasons why I thought the company was in bad shape, even after reporting huge profits. Stellantis shuffled off its CEO less than a year later, for many of the reasons that I identified, and the company has swung from big profits to losses.
I think I like the new guy, Anthonio Filosa, or at the very least, I think he’s saying the right things and deserves some time to try and get it right. According to a new report from Bloomberg, he’s maybe going to get a lot right:
Stellantis NV is planning to invest about $10 billion in the US as the troubled maker of Jeep sport utility vehicles and Ram pickups refocuses on the market that’s pivotal to its profits, according to people familiar with the situation.
The carmaker may announce in the coming weeks about $5 billion in fresh money on top of a similar amount earmarked earlier in the year, said the people, who declined to be identified discussing information that’s not public. The investments over several years could be funneled into plants — including re-openings, hiring and new models — in states such as Illinois and Michigan, the people said.
Stellantis is focused on reclaiming the past success of the Jeep brand and is considering fresh investments into Dodge, which could result in a new Dodge V8 muscle car, and possibly even the Chrysler brand in the long term, some of the people said. Talks are ongoing, no final decision has been made and the amount and targeted projects could still change, the people said.
I guess it’s time to play the “Re-Build Stellantis Plan Waltz” one more time:
- Jeep: A top and bottom approach. The most important brand, so give engineers more money and fight back against Bronco with a more modern Wrangler. At the same time, more volume hybrids that looks good.
- Ram: I still think putting it under Dodge is smart, but in lieu of that: A midsize hybrid truck, which the company has basically said will happen.
- Dodge: Muscle car? Sure. A replacement for the Durango is also key, and an entry-level crossover that can compete with the HR-Vs of the world. Maybe something French?
- Chrysler: Literally, anything that’s not a van. More specifically, make it your luxury brand, build a luxury car and a luxury SUV. And, when you do that, you should also…
- Kick The Italian Brands Out Of The US: You can’t do everything at once. Sergio’s dream was a great dream, but it wasn’t implemented properly. Sell Maserati (I know, I know, “it’s not for sale,” but sell it). Keep Alfa for Europe. Keep Fiat for Europe. I don’t care what you do with Lancia.
- Keep Peugeot And Citroën, Dump DS: I love the French brands, and I can’t pretend like I don’t (I probably am emotionally invested in Lancia’s outcome a little). The French government owns a big chunk of the company, so there’s really no choice here. I’d dump DS, but if you get rid of Maserati then maybe DS can do what Chrysler is going to do in the United States (no V8s for Europe, though).
- Leapmotor: Seems fine!
This gets way more complicated in practice.
Obviously, the UAW loves this plan. The White House is going to love this plan. The Italian government is going to hate it. You can’t make everyone happy, and Stellantis doesn’t have unlimited money.
After a lot of back-and-forth, the Tavares-run Stellantis committed itself to spending more in Europe. But with the company cutting back across the continent due to overcapacity, I don’t get how that’s going to work.
It sounds like Filosa is going to meet with the Italian unions later this month. Oh, to be a mosca on that wall.
The Anti-Inflation White House Allegedly Wants To Address Car Price Inflation
Inflation became such a bad word that President Biden named his signature piece of legislation the Inflation Reduction Act. I’m not sure how much reduction of inflation actually occurred, and it’s clear that the price of eggs had a lot to do with the election of President Trump.
Tariffs are historically inflationary, and it’s only a matter of time before companies raise prices to offset tariffs. Unless, unless… the White House does something to reverse or offset them.
Here’s Senator Bernie Moreno–a car dealer–explaining how this might work in a Reuters exclusive:
“The signal to the car companies around the world is look, you have final assembly in the U.S.: we’re going to reward you,” Moreno said in an interview. “For Ford, for Toyota, for Honda, for Tesla, for GM, those are the almost in order the top five domestic content vehicle producers – they’ll be immune to tariffs.”
[…]
Moreno added automakers with significant final production in the United States should get tariff breaks: “Look, at the end of the day, they’re doing exactly we want them to do – paying employees in America well and doing final assembly in the United States with the cars that they sell here.”
Asked for comment on the proposal, a White House official told Reuters that Trump and the administration “are committed to a nuanced and multi-faceted approach to securing domestic auto and auto parts production. Until any official action is signed by the president, however, any discussion about administration policymaking is speculative.”
I love the “almost in order” there. I guess it depends on which measure you’re looking at, but I assume somewhere in Senator Moreno’s mind he was aware that this is not the correct order. It doesn’t really matter because the concept is sound. If you want more manufacturing in the United States, then the automakers who build here should get some sort of tariff relief.
What this means in Realityville is another question.
The biggest sticking point is probably Canada and Mexico. President Trump clearly doesn’t love that there’s production in those places, but he was the one who wrote the most recent treaty (USCMA) that continued to make it efficient for companies to do so…
Will automakers like Toyota and Honda get a 1:1 discount on imported cars for every car built here? Or are automakers going to get a break if there’s “final assembly” and that means some parts made in Canada are fine? One of the biggest obstacles to building cars efficiently in the United States is the steel and aluminum tariffs, so will automakers get a break from that?
Again, the form that this takes is extremely important.
I’m torn on how to think about some of this. On one hand, President Biden and the Democrats have made a big deal out of bringing manufacturing back to the United States, and no small portion of the plants that carmakers are bragging about are ones that were already going to be built because of Biden-era policies. On the other hand, Democrats seemed mostly content to let the USMCA status quo continue (they might argue that one way to slow cross-border immigration is improve Mexico’s economy and allow more jobs there).
It likely makes sense for automakers to shift as much manufacturing here from overseas as they can because Democrats will probably take credit for the plants being built/planned if they somehow win back the White House in a few years. You think any Democrat President, on the off chance it happens, is going to ship the jobs back?
BYD Beats Tesla For Fourth Straight Quarter
Tesla v. BYD is potentially not the best framing for the Chinese car market over the long term, but it has some value in the moment. The fact that BYD has now gone a year straight selling more electric cars globally is a not-small detail, especially given that BYD doesn’t have the same market access that Tesla has.
It’s also interesting because Tesla and BYD both seem in trouble in China according to this Bloomberg article:
BYD is losing momentum in its home market, where policymakers are increasingly concerned about destructive competition. Tesla will have trouble replicating last quarter’s showing now that the US has phased out federal tax credits supporting EV purchases.
China’s government has sought to temper cutthroat competitive practices in the world’s biggest car market, where manufacturers have waged a relentless price war since early 2023. BYD has been at the fore of the discounting trend and in late August reported a surprise 30% drop in quarterly profit.
Both BYD and Tesla are more than capable of overcoming these challenges, although only BYD seems truly interested in building better cars. Tesla seems more into robots right now.
‘Driving Control, Precision, And Confidence’ Will Define The Future Of Genesis Performance Cars
![[hero6]genesis Magma 2](https://images-stag.jazelc.com/uploads/theautopian-m2en/Hero6Genesis-Magma-2-scaled.jpg)
The larger automaker known as Hyundai went on a bit of a buying spree about a decade ago, bringing on some of the best designers and engineers from peak-era Germany. It’s how we ended up with the guy behind the best M cars tuning Velosters, and the guy who designed some of the best Audis, transforming Genesis into a real luxury player.
The Hyundai N cars are never quite the fastest, but damn if they don’t just feel right.
Genesis also has a host of highly competitive vehicles (I encouraged a friend to test one, and he fell in love), but it’s apparently not enough to merely make nice cars. What’s missing, according to the company, is a sense of true performance. That’s where the company’s Magma performance brand comes in.
BTW, let’s please recognize how metal that name is: MAGMA. I’m pretty sure I saw them open for Rob Zombie at L’Amour.
A big part of MAGMA’s mission will be planned by Manfred Harrer, head of the Vehicle Development Technology Unit at Hyundai (and ex- of Porsche, BMW, Audi, Apple…). Here’s what he told Automotive News what’s key to making this work:
“In my eyes, we have one gap with the brand and the brand image, and that’s the performance part,” Harrer said in a separate interview at the automaker’s Namyang R&D center south of Seoul.
“And this should be covered by our new Genesis Magma lineup.”
Part of the Magma proposition will be raw power and torque, acceleration and top speed, Harrer said. But the differentiator, he said, will be driving control, precision and confidence.
“This is the philosophy, from an engineering standpoint,” said Harrer, who previously worked on Apple’s discontinued electric vehicle project and earlier at Porsche, BMW and Audi. “It’s the preciseness and controllability of the powerful engines in these powerful cars.”
I like the way that sounds. Pure power is getting super boring, and while it’s not like AMG is just handing out 1,000 HP cars (that’s what SRT is for), I think N is a good example of Hyundai prioritizing feel over numbers.
What I’m Listening To While Writing TMD
If you don’t have a daughter or, maybe, you don’t have ears, you may be unaware there’s another Taylor Swift album that just dropped on Friday. I don’t love it. I respect that she puts out a bunch of music and tries things. It’s also not really for me, sure, but as an enjoyer of the odd pop tune, I don’t think it’s doing anything new. Both the latest Sabrina Carpenter and Charli XCX album feel like they’re doing a lot more.
Oh, right. Sabrina Carpenter shows up on this album on the titular track and is predictably one of the better ones. The best song on the album thus far is probably “Actually Romantic.” People who care more than I do seem to think this is about Charli XCX, and I think that’s probably right (inasmuch as the song is about any one person and not about a few individuals, like the people in New York Magazine).
I suppose Charli fired the first shot with “Sympathy is a Knife,” but that song feels like less of a diss track and more just an artist sharing her own feelings of inadequacy? This kinda feels like punching down. Also, it’s pop music, it doesn’t matter.
The Big Question
What should Jeep do with the money?
Top photo: Chrysler
Stellantis can fix its problems by building reliable products that people want to buy.
In other words, their problems are unsolvable.
I think Jeep needs to do more jeep stuff. pitting chrysler/ram/dodge agianst each other in the market is kind of problematic. making Jeep products high end and not very offroad worthy just seems wrong when an ostentiously designed Wagoneer named Imperial or Newport could give them more room to focus on the tech and ride quality while not worrying about a trail rated badge.
Bring back the K-Car !!!!!!!
Bring back any car. Not everyone wants a truck.
Stellantis’ best bet to win back customers would likely be to emulate Hyundai/Kia and offer a 10yr/100,000mi warranty. Even non-car enthusiasts know that new Dodges and Jeeps are just kinda garbage. If they ever want to be perceived as anything besides deeply discounted close-outs, they need to make their cars desirable and reliable. They’re currently 0 for 2.
Ram has done this. They now offer 10/100 on at least their 1500 series trucks, though it may go to larger models as well.
Not all of them though. There seems to be some kind of catch, but I haven’t figured out what it is.
I’ve been looking at Rams, and some window stickers show 10/100k, others still show 5/60K.
I most likely won’t get one though, I recently joined a Ram Hurricane FB group and these things seem like nightmares.
They’d have to include paint/rust in that 10yr warranty to sway anyone. At least here in Iowa, Dodges don’t seem to hold up well.
Jeep should make Wranglers affordable again. I know that is not going to happen but I can dream. If not a wrangler how about something smaller and cheaper that can still go down a trail, hauling camping gear, like importing 4 door Jimnys. (I know people will say they will not sell becasue they are too small, but again dream.)
I like this MWAA plan. Maybe you should have some red hats made up and go on tour.
This is all relative. with the inflation of a few years ago along with pandemic pricing kind of staying where it is because those american jobs a lot of people are pushing to bring back are just increased to make a “living wage” when the circle of pricing versus pay comes into play.
Yes and Wranglers use to be cheaper than Cherokees and Grand Cherokees. They were at the bottom of the line in price. Yes they are bigger and more capable but they moved up market regardless of inflation.
I think the base sport 2 door wrangler is supposed to be around 30K, unless that is changed drastically in the past year or so? I would agree that the basic unit like this should probably be closer to 25K and therefore be in the same ballbark as say a Trax or some other smallish SUV, though I am not sure that is the same group looking to be in the Duck chasing game. and most of the cheap suv’s seem to be rebadged or straight up korean vehicles, with the exception of the Chinese buick and Mexico built fords and/or chevys?
$33K with 0 options and before delivery
I’m firmly in the “import the Jimny” camp for a mini wrangler to add to the lineup.
I would second this sentiment
“The Life of a Showgirl” is the enshitification of Taylor Swift. “Hit Em Up” was a diss track; we need a different term for this passive-aggressive, mean-girl stuff.
If we’re going to back off fuel economy standards and electrification, Dodge and Chrysler should just bring back the Charger and 300. Or I guess make a 300 out of the new 2/4 door Charger, which I have to believe will be getting the V8.
I really don’t think Dodge needs a crossover and it seems like the entire concept of one is completely antithetical to the image Dodge is trying to cultivate. Give Jeep the crossovers and let Dodge/Chrysler have the bigger stuff.
IMO, the single biggest thing Dodge needs is a redone Journey. Build it on the Pacifica platform or whatever, but make it look like a tall wagon and keep it cheap. The entire appeal of the last one was that it was the most affordable 3-row on the market and gave minivan utility without being a Minivan.
I honestly think Chrysler just needs to die. The money they waste trying to build that brand back up from nothing would be better spent fixing Jeep and Dodge.
Yup, as long as you’re selling all the brands out of the same store you don’t need every brand in every segment.
With all due respect, wasn’t the Journey the epitome of “crossover”?
MAGMA is the dumbest performance name I’ve ever heard.. seriously.. All I can hear is Dr. Evil saying it.. “MAAGMAA”
Yup, I can’t even take it seriously despite thinking Genesis makes appealing stuff and the Hyundai N cars seem pretty capable.
I thought kids screamed that in Sapphire, Ruby, and Emerald.
“It Sounds Like Dodge And Chrysler Might Get The Help They Need”
Chrysler: Thanks for inviting me to a fondu party. I brought my own 28-pack. Natty Light was on sale. Who wants to see my…
Chrysler’s Sister: Hold up, Chrysler. I’m sorry about this, but we didn’t bring you here for fondu.
Therapist: Have a seat, Chrysler. Your sister can put the 28-pack away for you.
Chrysler: …the f**k is this?!
Chrysler’s Aunt: It’s just because we love you. Come on. Sit down.
Plymouth (In the corner): They said the same things to me…
Dodge (over by the TV, no beer in hand): They’re all talking about me…
Jeep needs a real Renegade, like the old Vitara/Sidekick/Tracker/Sunrunner/Jimny/Rocky. Also better amenities and hybrid in the Wrangler for the price, in the last few years they just added heated seats, that’s crazy at the price point they’re selling at.
What should Jeep do with the money?
I dunno, but I have a strong guess about what Jeep will do with the money: swallow it up, belch, keep doing whatever they were doing before, and beg for another bailout next year.
Buy more superbowel ads.
I’m hoping this was an intentional typo “superbowel”.
Since they will be flush with cash, yes.
One of my perennial pet peeves with the modern automotive landscape, at least as of the mid teenies, is that every manufacturer feels the need to have each of its brand be a full-line. Every brand has to have a compact, mid-size, full-size, and extended-length SUV, at least 3 flavors of sedan, a minivan, and a halo trim/unachievable muscle model.
At least this was more the case during the Era of Free Money; it’s not so true nowadays as product lines had to be trimmed to accommodate market realities and demand.
But my point is, it’s totally okay for a bunch of brands owned by the same conglomerate to focus on market segments. Dodge can focus on cheap muscle and social media brainrot machismo. It’s fine for Chrysler to be only like 3 highly luxurious models if they want to build the brand up to where it once was. Jeep and Ram are doing this well with basically being the “off road romance” and “truck” divisons, but Dodge/Chrysler have been lost in the weeds for a long time. It’s not 1965 any more, we don’t have to pretend all of the divisions are independent car companies.
Au contraire, we need a luxurious Plymouth and an entry-level Chrysler ASAP. How about a Jeep minivan?
> Jeep minivan
time and time again, westerners keep trying to re-invent the Mitsubishi Delica. but you can’t improve upon peak
None of the plans for Stellantis matter because they are 100% incapable of developing anything worth buying in any category. Stellantis and Nissan just need to die quickly so we can all move on.
Merge them. Then there’s only one for the firing squad.
What should Jeep do with money? Design and build an affordable, smaller Jeep. They don’t offer one of those anymore.
I have no qualms with the Build Back Better Plan Matt Hardigree laid out for Stellantis above. Yep, that about covers it.
For the love of God, Filosa, just cut bait on the US-Fiat and Maserati experiment. The market has spoken and it just didn’t work. You have limited cash, so don’t throw good after bad. Reinvest those funds into something that, you know, will actually make the company some revenue.
I think there’s still space in the US market for a luxury/luxury-adjacent droptop with room for four and a trunk that will hold two sets of golf clubs — a neo-Sebring or LeBaron, baby! Something that’ll make the Villages crowd SWOON.
Count me in — I’ll get some jorts and Nike Air Monarchs and plunk down my deposit tomorrow.
Stellantis has that.
It’s called the Maserati GranCabrio – it competes with the Mercedes-AMG SL and Porsche 911.
Ah, perfect successor for the Sebring which competed with the Toyota Solara and Pontiac G6.
None of which were luxury or even luxury adjacent.
You’re almost there
Oooo, I got it! Introducing the Chrysler… LeBron! Marketed of course by LeBron himself, in fancy golfing duds just like MJ was wearing in Space Jam.
Wait, did Stellantis get rid of Opel and Vauxhall? Or were they simply forgotten about?
BTW, let’s please recognize how metal that name is: MAGMA. I’m pretty sure I saw them open for Rob Zombie at L’Amour.
Sure, when they were still underground. They sold out and now they’re just Lava.
This is god awful. Have your smiley and enjoy your free trip to COTD.
Times are tuff, so I welcome any mantle.
While these puns might not be liquid hot, at their core they aren’t crusty and pretty magnetic.
Just as long as you don’t take it for granite.
Oh, schist! Here we go again.
Iggy vetoed a reunion with the Stooges. He wasn’t all about a Raw Power tour.
Jeep needed more electrification yesterday. The 4Xe stuff has sold decently but reliability wise it’s been an unmitigated disaster and to say the execution left a lot to be desired would be putting it lightly. The Grand Cherokee is competing with Asian cars that offer hybrids that…you know, actually work. I think the new Cherokee is a step in the right direction and will probably sell like hotcakes, because the average middle or upper middle class suburbanite that’s buying a CRV or RAV4 absolutely sees themself as a rugged individualist and will gravitate towards that Jeep brand equity.
But will it actually be good in practice? The odds are very low. They should also develop an EREV Wrangler. They already did most of the groundwork for the (now canceled, I believe?) Ramcharger. With how interested people are in Scout I think it’s clear there’s a market for such things. It would also be useful for overlanding for obvious reasons…whether people would actually use it that way or just want to pretend they do. Also Ford somehow still doesn’t have a single hybrid Bronco which looks like it’s still an opening for Jeep to me.
Speaking of which, why isn’t the Hurricane in the Grand Cherokee yet? Does it not fit? The old 5.7 fits and obviously the Hurricane was engineered to be plug and play with all the cars that engine powered. Make that engine standard, which brings me to the next obvious choice-shove a bunch of Hemis in Grand Cherokees as well. Give them a Jeep version of the stupid BaDgE oF pRoTeSt, make the sports exhaust standard so the buyers can feel extra secure in their masculinity, charge an extra 10 grand for it, offer 84+ month financing to everyone with a pulse, and rake in those short term profits.
Will that part work forever? Of course not, but it’ll work for the next earnings call and I’ve learned that that’s all that matters if you want to be a lavishly compensated business executive. Get on that earnings call, proudly announce LINE GO UP, then bring in the strippers and blow.
I’d say a Hurricane in the GC would definitely motivate my wife to get another one after she’s done with her current one. Hell, if they put the Hurricane in the JL or JT, that would be awesome. To have an I6 in those would just be…right.
It’s almost like Jeep has a storied history with inline sixes and the fact that they aren’t using the incredibly powerful and fairly efficient one they have in house is really weird….
I’d be curious to get David Tracy’s input (not sure if there’s a Jeep® signal I have to light off to get him to show up) on this. Since he worked on the JT cooling system, I wonder if he believes whether that would be a feasible fit for the JL/JT…
The Grand Cherokee should get the hurricane (assuming it will fit), but it might be unwise to give them Hemis because of the overlap with Dodge’s lineup.
Then again, it might hasten a next gen Durango.
Now all Durangos have Hemis. The base ones are basically a Hemi that sort of, nominally has bits and pieces an SUV around it. They can’t sell them in a whole host of states because they can’t pass emissions lol.
Ram did cancel the Electric truck. They have not cancelled the planned EREV truck. First, it was going to be EV, then EREV. Then they changed the order and made it, EREV, then EV. Then they dropped the EV truck from lineup, and I think they changed the name of the EREV. But for now, its still on books, and I really hope they double down their investment in it so it comes out super reliable. I think it will prove to be a huge boon to their lineup if they do it right.
It’s a product that literally doesn’t exist. GM has a grand total of 0 body on frame hybrids. Toyota has the iForce Max stuff but it has virtually no fuel economy benefits, it’s just a way to add more power that cheats emissions. Ford has the Powerboost set up that’s actually really neat and has a lot of benefits but they only put it in the F150 and Police interceptors.
The Venn Diagram of the average civilian body on frame shopper and the average person who cares about the environment might as well be two separate circles but an EREV BOF truck sure would make sense for people that use their trucks for work…like fleet customers, contractors, etc.
The lower operating costs could save a ton of money over time and qualify them for discounts and tax breaks depending on locale. I think that’s where it would be really successful for them, and it would certainly win over some people that find things like the Scout and Rivian R1T enticing.
Selling an EREV pickup to people for work sounds like a good business model if it means selling more of a 17 year old engine where the tooling is long paid for.
Which it is! They’re developing the system with the Pentastar V6. Is it a great engine? Not really, but it has a long track record as this point of being a pretty decent one and it shouldn’t be under as much stress when it’s simply there to charge the battery.
I mean…my dad bought a Grand Cherokee with that motor in 2014 and it’s still kicking around. My sister is currently driving it and it’s surpassed 150,000 miles. Has the car been problem free? Lmao of course not, it’s a Jeep…but none of the problems have been related to the engine.
I’ve heard that the WL Grand Cherokee wasn’t designed for the Hurricane to fit, as while it’s supposed to be plug and play with a 5.7, it’s still longer then a V8 and there’s not enough from the firewall to the radiator for it to fit.
Could be wrong though.
Y’all hear about the Porsche heir who wants to build a tunnel to his Salzburg mansion? They’re calling it a. . . wait for it. . . Autohöhle.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/oct/04/salzburg-mansion-tunnel-porsche-heir-jewish-writer-stefan-zweig
Dumping DS but making Chrysler a luxury brand is not a cohesive, global strategy. The plan should be: Chrysler = DS + gussied up big Dodges (or Alfas) and DS = Europe luxury brand. Still dump Maser. Make Alfa the more sporty, luxury brand in Europe
“I’m not sure how much reduction of inflation actually occurred, and it’s clear that the price of eggs had a lot to do with the election of President Trump.”
There is a lot going on in that sentence. It smacks of rhetoric. The amount of reduction of inflation is (well, was measured, at least before bad numbers would get you fired) is a look at not just how much it was reduced, but also, even if it increased, how much less it would have increased had there been no action. The bit about the eggs directly following the bit about inflation is a tactic is such a loud talking point of people looking for conservative votes that it is hard not to assume bias on your part.
And yet, it also eloquently speaks to the ignorance of vox populi, which certainly helped him win. Anyone with a modicum of curiosity and cognitive ability would be able to look at the avian flu that knocked out our chicken stock and say, “I wonder what the IRA could have possibly done to prevent a viral infection?” Then they could look at the way conservative administrations have addressed viruses ripping through different populations and said, “Oh, that tracks”
Rarely does one sentence bother me so much. It may be we have contradictory views on the world.
I guess the question is: “What was the editorial reasoning for leaving that sentence in the blog?”
This comment reads like a bit from Xavier: Renegade Angel.
Who is that?
an philosopher
Looked it up, but not one I’ve even heard of before, which makes sense since I stopped using cable ages ago.
Philosophy is where you find it though.
Not to speak for Matt, but I’m pretty damn sure there’s no conservative bias intended here. The simple fact is that there was inflation, regardless of its causes or any attempts to rein it in, that Trump lied through his teeth that he’d magically solve it on “day one”, and enough people fell for that lie to elect (again) the worst human being that 250 years of American exceptionalism has yet managed to produce*.
*with the possible exception of everybody in his cabinet or otherwise associated with his administration. Also any of his adult children with the possible exception of Ivanka, who we don’t seem to hear much from lately.
Honestly Biden et al would’ve done better if they never said the word inflation and just pretended it didn’t exist in every public appearance. Instead they acknowledged the problem, tried to do something about it openly, got results were decent on a macro level but unnoticeable at best on a micro one, and the average mouth breathing ignoramus that inhabits the vast majority of this country saw their higher grocery bills, freaked the fuck out, blamed the last person they saw on TV saying the word inflation, and voted for their fellow mouth breathing ignoramus who was loudly shouting INFLATION BAD!
The moral of the story? We’re really, really goddamn stupid.
In the meantime, I paid $5.75 for a Lindt dark chocolate bar yesterday because TARIFFS GOOD! This must be what winning feels like…
I ordered a custom guitar for my birthday this year that was made in the Netherlands. I paid a whopping $600 in tariffs for it, and I regret nothing because it’s the best instrument I’ve ever owned and the equivalent American made guitar has a not insignificant chance of being total ass despite the $4,000+ price tag.
The idiots who swear by those guitars (Gibsons, mainly) tell me that I have to go play dozens of them until I find a “good” one and that one good one is worth the time and money. I say fuck that, if I can use that money to get someone to custom build something that’s tailored to my every whim I’m gonna do it.
The only reason we don’t hear from Ivanka is that she and her animatronic husband got their billions from the Saudis and now have the rare common sense to lay low.
Like I said, though, it may be a bias of mine clashing with the writing. I find it hard to make a compound sentence like that exclusive of some intent. Editorially, I would suggest it was very much not needed. So, why have it?
I think it was mordant humor about political rhetoric, and I think you have just explored the entire vector-space the joke occupies without encountering it. Also, agreed on all points.
Why do most companies and most people in charge, of anything, not just companies, ignore the public?
The general public is very aware of this, but has mostly felt helpless, but is currently feeling less helpless and more desperate.
Are those in control corrupt or ignorant?
Most bad acts fall under one or the other.
Historically, this inevitably doesn’t end well, as historians have been pointing out for decades.
It’s notable that Sanders, often tone deaf, seems to be the only politician pointing out that cognitive dissonance may not be the best approach to decisions.
How about Yes?
Inexplicable, but often true.
“Are those in control corrupt or ignorant?”
I would proffer a third option: People in power are beholden only to themselves and the people that can help them.
For people not ‘in control’ (i.e., the common layperson), I follow a quote that helps keep me from road raging, table-flipping, et al. “Never attribute to malice what is more likely explained by stupidity”
The farmers losing their generational farms? Maybe not malice in their votes. It is easy to see that it could be that way, but it is more likely that they were not able to make the connection between soy prices and our relationship with China vis-a-vis the last time president Trump killed trade with them. Is it karma? FAFO? Oh, Dang, lemme have that vote back? Dunno. I am an NPC in their main epic. It won’t, however, stop their farms from going on acretrader.com, a company whose early round funding partially came from Narya capital, a firm JD Vance co-founded.
So, while ‘farmers’ helped get president Trump elected, he doesn’t really need them. The corporate farms that buy up these family farms will support him afterwards.
Line go up: GOOD
Line go down: BAD
Must do whatever makes line go up.
And only the next quarter matters!
I’m going to go out on a limb here-
There is no plan to reduce costs/prices for cars built in the US to offset tariff costs.
Could be because they don’t know what they’re doing. Could be because they don’t care. Could be because the “domestic” automakers wouldn’t lower prices anyway and would just take the extra profits. Could be because economic policy is extremely complicated and doodling numbers on a white board for a 200% tariff on the Canary Islands is bad way to approach things but the people who know how to make good policy get told to shutup. Maybe more than one of those things combined.
Agreed. It’s probably worth remembering that tariffs are about the only thing trump himself really believes in—the only thing not coming from a policy think tank. He was paying for editorials 40 years ago calling for protectionist tariffs. Which means there isn’t going to be a greater strategy here, and folks who know better are letting him have this sandbox to get the other things they want.
man even by pop music standards that song is bland
people are going wild online for this?!?
Swift is a brilliant performer, business person, is incredibly hard working, a master of using celebrity to work for her, an absolute master of the craft of being a star, and a terrible musician. I won’t hate on people who find enjoyment in it, but it is objectively bad music.
Honestly if it were bad I’d prefer it, it’s not interesting enough to be bad
The last song of hers I was exposed to was Shake It Off, I’m not ashamed to admit it got under my skin for a bit. I’ve already forgotten the song from TMD
In case you haven’t seen it, here’s the best version of that song.
I mean, shake it off is a great example—it has all the vocal range of what, a minor 3rd? There’s a small bit of craft in making it seem like something other than monorythmic spoken word by shifting the harmony under the single note lines… but yeah… I’ll stand by objectively bad.
I would say there is no such thing as “objectively bad music”. There’s music I enjoy and music I dislike and music that I don’t care about, but none of it is “objectively bad”. I find music that isn’t complicated easy to enjoy, as do most people, hence the existence of pop music. I can see how a musician might find it uninteresting though.
Like films, most people never see the worst options in music.
Often, most of the best either.
It would be a much better world if people took the time to see the worst films, and find the joy in them.
You might regret that.
I’ve seen a lot of unreleased films and some are bafflingly bad, perhaps useful only for learning what not to do.
I had a copy of a Belushi biography and it was stunningly boring.
I’m not even sure how they managed to. make it so dull.
At a media co-op we got copies of the original version of The Cleaner, and the later professional indie film.
Both good, but contrasting scenes were educational.
Great film.
No resemblance to the Hollywood production, which I found disappointing.
They probably bought the rights to the original, so I can only find short clips now.
If you have any job in the music industry, people will bring you demos or play for you.
Some are brilliant, some aren’t.
I am too old and too detached from pop music to have heard a Taylor Swift song before about 5 years ago. My friend told me to listen to the Ryan Adams cover of the Taylor Swift Album 1989, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I think I can’t get into the modern pop production values, but the songs themselves were enjoyable when translated into a style with which I am more attuned.
Ryan Adams’ 1989 is a damn masterpiece and might be his best album. The best covers are the ones that find something new in the source material and he pretty much sustains that for the whole album.
Before I heard Ryan Adams’ cover 1989 I thought Taylor Swift was a product, afterwards I was forced to admit that she is actually an incredibly talented songwriter. I haven’t listened to her newest album, generally don’t seek out her music, and still find her fans to be obnoxious, but credit where credit is due she has the potential to write great music.
Screaming Females version of Shake it Off for AV Undercover was awesome.
This. I can’t deny that she’s an incredible businesswoman. She’s also charismatic, knows how to relate young women (who are quite literally the demographic that decides what’s cool and what isn’t), and has a level of media savvy that’s on another level.
But the actual music? Most of it isn’t very good. It’s super formulaic, polished to a fault, and watered down so it’s quick and easy for the masses to consume. It’s basically the musical equivalent of fast food. Taylor Swift is a Brand above all else.
And that’s why, as a musician, I have a hard time enjoying it. But I also think she gets entirely too much hate, mainly from people that are involuntarily celibate. She’s just writing and performing harmless bland pop songs for people that think eating at Panera Bread is a treat.
It ain’t my jam but I have better things to do with my free time then get mad about pop music. I also think she does have a handful of great songs in her discography. Most of 1989 is a legitimately good pop record. She’s capable of writing great music when she wants to, I just think her business interests probably have her on a schedule that’s too tight to allow her to be as creative as she can be.
That being said the cult like adoration she gets is a little weird….but then again we’re all on this site obsessing over headlights and cracking inside jokes about shower spaghetti so pot, meet kettle!
A teacher was recently accused of racism for using that saying in its usual context.
The circle is complete.
I like/dislike Taylor Swift for various reasons and have enjoyed her music in the past.
That said, as of late she’s occupied a spot in my considerations of whether there’s such thing as an “ethical” billionaire. There’s no denying she worked for what she has, and largely the product she’s selling is herself/her brand, so she’s not really exploiting the labor of others (at least in the way, say, Amazon does). So in that way maybe having a billion dollars as a result of being famous making music is ethical?
But OTOH, her relentlessness is partially devoted to sucking up a lot of the airtime/fan dedication and not sharing it around. And there’s no obligation for her to do that, either, but to me it seems like there’s gotta be something morally off if your ambitions drive you to the point of billions of dollars without ever stopping and saying, “maybe I should share this attention with some shoutouts or features of lesser-known talents.”
And then this album comes out with the “feud” with Charli XCX and kind of confirms that she’d prefer to punch down when she thinks it could benefit her, and it just leaves me feeling like she’s not the type of woman I want my daughters to look up to.
In all fairness I’m not entirely sure you want your daughters looking up to Charli either…she’s a brilliant artist but she has a long history of being a notorious party animal (which is really saying something when it comes to any EDM or EDM adjacent artist) and she’s just as petty the myriad musicians she feuds with. She’s also overtly sexual…which I’m not saying is a bad thing necessarily (and I’m the furthest thing from a prude, not to overshare or anything but your pal NSane has always been a very sexual being) but it does kind of come with a PG13 rating in a way that Taylor doesn’t.
But other than that I agree. I’ve personally wrestled with this a lot. For a long time I thought the “there’s no ethical way to become a billionaire” takes were a bit reductive, but with the direction our society is going in I don’t think there’s a whole lot of evidence to the contrary left.
Yes, maybe a disclaimer was warranted there that I don’t encourage them to look up to Charli either. There are vanishingly few pop stars to hold as idols generally (and such is true for a lot of famous musicians/actors/creative types). We just casually listen to some of her music and saw the “girl, so confusing” saga with Lorde as a more positive way of handling jealousy among peers.
Our true musical role model is Hayley Williams 🙂
Yeah Hayley has always been a gem and all of Paramore’s 2000s and early 2010s stuff holds up shockingly well
This is not entirely fair. An indie band I follow (Delta Rae) did a Kickstarter a number of years back after leaving Big Machine and she shouted them out and was hugely influential in blowing past their fundraising goals.
I realize that may very well have been as much an FU to Big Machine as it was a hand up to a smaller band, but either way the end result was the same.
In the context of the thought experiment, though, I view it similarly to any other billionaire philanthropy. If they don’t “give away” enough of the resources they’ve hoarded to no longer be a billionaire, does it absolve them of hoarding resources to that extent?
I would 100% attend a Philosophy 101 class on the ethics of Taylor Swift. 🙂
It’s offered right here, in the comment section of the finest automotive news blog this side of the Andromeda!
There are two entirely different parts to the music industry now.
The primary one operates independently of major distributors and companies.
Those are only an afterthought for most music careers now, once you already are successful.
You can have a career now without ever meeting a major distributor and whoever controls them.
Sort of last gasp of a blindly stumbling dinosaur that hasn’t realized it’s sinking into the sand.
Autopian is being rebranded as Autotune.
Genesis – now with Liquid Hot Magma. Get Dr. Evil into the commercials.
New logo, sharks with lasers.
Frickin‘ lasers! On their heads!