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Oh how I wish this was true. Would have made this world a better place.
No doubt he's a egotistical dick, but to say the world would be a better place without him is categorically false on many grounds.
- The man popularized electric vehicles like no car manufacturers have ever been able to do.
- SpaceX's achievement in reducing the cost per pound and reusable rocket tech will have profound implications on our species survival over the long run.
- Starlink coverage now provides relatively affordable internet to far more remote areas of the world.
So while I think recent years of criticism is fair based on his behavior (why the hell is he wasting precious time on Twitter again?) to say the world would be better off without him is to overlook the substantial contributions he has made towards technological advancement and global connectivity. It's important to separate the individual's personal flaws from the broader value of their work. Just my 2 cents.
Yay, electric vehicles are popular! Only bring loads of issues, cost a lot of rare earth metals which are mined by slaves and children, run on fossil fuel electricity (many coal plants and bio gas which are burned forests) and they are too heavy for the roads we have and electricity network, causing both to require many more replacements and maintenance, which costs loads of co2 emissions.
SpaceX is awesome! Costs less materials, so much easier to launch way more rockets into the sky! Like for starlink for example. Luckily the fuel used for it has zero emissions /s
But starlink is nice. Loads of space junk and coverage in most places is where already a different and faster network is, but it's nice to have connectivity in hard to reach places. But is it worth all the emissions and space junk? And child labor for all the rare earth metals?
That connectivity in hard-to-reach places—much like free speech absolutism—is conditional upon whether he (or the dictator of an invading force, with whom he agrees) will allow it
[edit] and apparently Starlink may not even be profitable, with its accounting described as “more art than science” which always bodes well