6/14/2026 at 3:04:50 PM
Yes, but many tried to build rockets and failed. Many if not all new, critical businesses are built with government subsidies. The question is whether those businesses ultimately help society.With SpaceX and Tesla at least - it seems clear the answer is yes.
by epsteingpt
6/14/2026 at 3:08:53 PM
It is? In what way is society being helped by Elon?Admittedly, morals and values vary widely, along with the idea of "what is helping," but what Musk sells is transhumanist fantasy, technocracy, and a religion of surveillance and control by elite people.
If that's what you support then he's helping.
by dtagames
6/14/2026 at 3:12:52 PM
Since you seem to be earnest here: 1. Tesla single-handedly spurred the widespread consumer adoption of electric cars. 2. He's the first person to ever get rockets to orbit and back - governments had been trying for years.Yes space satellites will be used for surveillance, but you should be much more worried about your digital footprint than your physical one.
I dunno - there are people to be worried about as supervillains maybe. Musk doesn't seem like the worst of them.
You can argue with his values, but his impact... harder to do.
by epsteingpt
6/14/2026 at 3:19:27 PM
I definitely concede that he popularized electric cars in the modern era (they predated gasoline cars in invention) and I'm grateful for that.But just as the US managed to kill the electric car the first time, no actual social benefit of electric cars is accruing here in the US. Is that Tesla's fault? Somewhat.
At his core, Elon lives his values. I don't think they're socially motivated.
by dtagames
6/14/2026 at 3:33:47 PM
There is significant value to reducing pollution (in human health and flourishing).That said, GP comment is intellectually dishonest. It doesn't account for the negative externalities of his choices/politics that, as you correctly identify, are tied to his values.
by botacode
6/14/2026 at 6:01:19 PM
I think his personal impact is overstated. Maybe I have a bad taste in my mouth from overzealous fanboys, but all I see is a manchild who likes scifi and tech, and threw a bunch of money he didn't work very hard to get in the first place at the right problem at the right time. The reason Tesla and SpaceX succeed is because of every person at the company besides Musk.Have you forgotten Musk nearly sabotaging their own company with tweets tanking their stocks?
by retrochameleon
6/14/2026 at 6:11:25 PM
I think I will take the word of the world’s foremost rocket engine designer and person who was in the room over that of a random Internet commenter.by NetMageSCW
6/14/2026 at 3:28:00 PM
I have a Tesla with a Starlink mini inside it for rural area roadtripping. It has worked extremely well. For power I can plug into any electrical outlet I see or stay in RV parks with adapter plugs.People may hate Elon but not seeing the value his companies brought to general people is willfully misunderstanding it in this case. And of course, without Tesla where would the electric car market be? Only the Chinese would have good EVs while the US falls ever behind and continues to ban them as they do now.
by satvikpendem
6/14/2026 at 5:38:41 PM
But that's exactly where we are with electric cars. Only the Chinese have good ones. Surely we don't think they had to wait until Elon figured it out.by dtagames
6/14/2026 at 6:23:01 PM
They did, actually, as Tesla entering the US is what spurred innovation from them, as the Chinese government pointed to Tesla as something native car makers should emulate. Before the introduction of Tesla in the Chinese market it wasn't nearly as good as today.https://fortune.com/2024/08/09/elon-musk-may-not-fully-under...
by satvikpendem
6/14/2026 at 3:36:57 PM
Transhumanism is our certain future, it's not about Elon Musk, it will happen regardless with or without him pushing for it, when we know for a fact something is coming, better accelerate.It would be delusional to think that we won't all have BCI or similar chips in the next let say 30 years, I mean which human would want to be left out and have no incomes and no interconnected capacity? Working individuals will not have a real choice (with a few exceptions of course). Realistically we will control every device around us (and agents) with our mind in the next decade.
One thing he does provide is a large amount of jobs (directly & indirectly).
by pixel_popping
6/14/2026 at 5:40:04 PM
Belief on one deterministic future is characteristic of all religions, which I why I labeled transhumanism that way. All religons are certain that they're inevitable and the folks who don't agree are delusional.While it's certainly as valid as any other religion, I'm not signing up.
by dtagames