Fifth and finally, the idea that we don't have "curiosity or genuine interest" in anything Musk is doing is clearly projection from profoundly uncurious people. We looked into it, we've watched him bloviate for decades, we've seen what he's "created," and determined that it essentially amounts to nothing but his own personal enrichment. And as a result, my scorn for the "value" that Musk has "created" is hardly "thinly veiled."
Fourth, nobody is saying that billionaires ought to "stay in their lane of enriching themselves." We're saying that they should pay taxes, improve the lives of others, stop leeching off of society, and treat their employees well; and if they're not willing to do one or more of those things, they should no longer be allowed to control their obscene fortunes.
Third, no, we don't "almost snicker" at his pontifications. We outright guffaw at them.
It's pretty clear that the only grand narrative he has any interest in is the one that ends with him getting everything he wants and memeing about it.
Second of all, the "grand narratives?"
-His grand narrative around Mars stayed pretty close to Earth for 19 years before they deprioritized it.
-His grand narrative around Hyperloop also didn't go anywhere. Literally.
-His grand narrative around Boring Company currently goes to one specific place.
-His grand narrative around X, the "everything app" has failed to launch repeatedly.
-His grand narrative around DOGE increased gov't spending by $0.5T and his cronies are in deposition.
And shortly after SpaceX in 2002, we saw Rocket Lab and ULA formed. The spaceflight market is *very* crowded.
SpaceX is predated in spaceflight by...
-Lockheed (by over 50 years)
-McDonnell Aircraft (by over 40 years)
-Douglas Aircraft (by over 40 years)
-Boeing (by over 40 years)
-Space Services Inc. (by 24 years)
-Arianespace (by 24 years)
-Orbital (by 12 years)
-Blue Origin (by 2 years, though in fairness Falcon 1 flew before New Shepard)
And that's just the companies that are still operating in space in some capacity!
First of all, the market clearly didn't "fail to act" in any of those cases.
-Twitter existed for 17 years before Musk bought it.
-Tesla existed for a year before Musk invested and five years before he installed himself as CEO.
-Boring Company and Hyperloop are DOA attempts to do light rail poorly. Both proposals died because their competitors are stronger than they are; to wit, light rail is *much* better as a gov't service.
-SpaceX? That's maybe the most laughable claim of them all. (...)
They're re-casting Musk's vanity projects as "attempting to build" something and anything other than "enriching [himself]". They're suggesting that his purchase of Twitter, his mishandling of Tesla, his money laundering with Boring Company and hyperloops, the SpaceX he's not actually running, his election interference, and the governmental terrorism he engaged in with DOGE were all some kind of "grand narrative." To which I say: LOL.
RE: https://infosec.exchange/@psh/116433059749986063
This is far from the most concerning part but:
"16. We should applaud those who attempt to build where the market has failed to act. The culture almost snickers at Musk's interest in grand narrative, as if billionaires ought to simply stay in their lane of enriching themselves . . . . Any curiosity or genuine interest in the value of what he has created is essentially dismissed, or perhaps lurks from beneath a thinly veiled scorn."
This is bafflingly disconnected from reality.
#palantir #musk
