If you consider the wages he pays to the many people who work directly and indirectly for him, the things that those people buy from others, which provides their income, and all of the investment earnings, Elon does in fact feed a lot of people.
My 20-something old son is one of those newly minted millionaires. Obviously, I think my son is a genius, what father wouldn't. But what really mattered for him was finding a place where he could put his engineering talents to something he loves and that is guided by a person with vision, perseverance, and unmatched entrepreneurial talent. God bless Elon Musk. The world needs him.
Am I jealous? Hell yes! Who wouldn't want to be fabulously wealthy?
But, Elon Musk didn't take anything away from me to become a trillionaire, he got there because he created things that never were. I respect and admire him for what he's accomplished.
I only wish that I was blessed with his genius. Absent that I'm happy to benefit from the things he creates.
I'm badly paraphrasing Robert Heinlein, but he noted that "prosperity is rare and largely created by a "despised" minority, a society's failure to protect these innovators leads to a return to poverty", which he sarcastically terms "bad luck". Elon is the epitome of that "despised minority". Warren and Kimmel would gleefully drive him out of society or imprison him. Socialism / Communism has a foundational pillar of societal / class envy. Capitalistic / ostensibly democratic "like" systems (eg. representative democracies), which are "the worst system possible...except for all the others", give the "despised minority" a chance. History has shown again and again that socialism / communism collapses, whether by stifling innovation, its inherent corruption, or by sending their "despised minority" to the gulag. Oddly, late-stage, unfettered crony capitalism is almost indistinguishable from advanced socialism (the government lets you keep your company but you have to do what they tell you). See Krupp and Mercedes, National Socialism, and the run up to WWII. But at least the traditional western system offers a chance to avoid the trap. It's a truism, but we are veering towards a major socialist influence in our nation's governance that may lead us to "voting our way into a socialist government". History shows if we do that, we will almost certainly have to shoot our way out of it. That would truly be "bad luck".
The actual quotation is ‘Throughout history, poverty is the normal condition of man. Advances which permit this norm to be exceeded—here and there, now and then—are the work of an extremely small minority, frequently despised, often condemned, and almost always opposed by all right-thinking people. Whenever this tiny minority is kept from creating, or (as sometimes happens) is driven out of a society, the people then slip back into abject poverty. This is known as “bad luck.”’ (minerva.fandom.com/wiki/The_Notebooks_of_Lazarus_Long).
BTW, Professor Reynolds, could you please post links to those dumb tweets as well as just images, so that we can see (and perhaps like) the rebuttals?
I started writing a comment and it turned into an essay. So, that will be on my own substack later today. Suffice it to say that Elon Musk has just about singlehandedly changed the world we live in. And he’s just getting started.
Humans have a moral duty to pull their own weight, to produce more than they consume, to not be a burden on their fellows. We live better than our ancestors, material progress exists, because we are all heirs to that surplus of value created by former generations. It follows that the man who produces far, far more than he consumes and contributes that enormous wealth to posterity, is the most moral and praiseworthy among us.
If Musk is a Bond villain, then so are Edison, and Ford, and Rockefeller, and Bell, and the Wright brothers. We need more Bond villains.
Perfesser- Another fine piece. We are indeed fortunate to have Elon with us - here - in this country, at this time. Proof that the sky is indeed not the limit, for African Americans...
I’ve read that the first five commandments teach us how to live with G-d, and the second five teach us how to live with each other. (The basics, at least.)
My own take is that 6 through 9 teach us how to live with each other, and the 10th commandment teaches us how to live with ourselves.
Those who are put off by Musk’s achievements will never know happiness.
I admit that I have not always been an Elon fan. I couldn't see what the big deal was with Tesla and saw him as someone who was taking advantage of government subsidies for a boondoggle. I was wrong. Elon has a rare combination of intelligence, vision, attention to detail, ability to implement and willingness to take on risk. Add to that his willingness to work hard and demand the best from people around him and you get all the innovation that he has delivered. And yes -- he earns lots of money doing it but to a large extent that is a function of the risks he is willing to take. And Elon doesn't earn his money by manipulating the stock market or by getting paid obscene amounts of money for speeches -- he builds value for himself and for everyone else. Personally as excited as I am for SpaceX, I am also in awe of the work being done by Neuralink.
"The envious man seeks not his own gain, But the fall of another, And in his malice, loses his soul, For the gods despise such hearts"
-Euripides
If you consider the wages he pays to the many people who work directly and indirectly for him, the things that those people buy from others, which provides their income, and all of the investment earnings, Elon does in fact feed a lot of people.
Very well put, Professor Reynolds.
Yeah, that Elon Musk sure is a real ‘Bond villain.’ What is wrong with these people?
Perhaps the Financial Times could take some lessons from Musk about hiring great employees. They seem to need help.
Also, is it just me, or is Elizabeth Warren a living, breathing, walking example of how not to do analysis — on just about anything?
My 20-something old son is one of those newly minted millionaires. Obviously, I think my son is a genius, what father wouldn't. But what really mattered for him was finding a place where he could put his engineering talents to something he loves and that is guided by a person with vision, perseverance, and unmatched entrepreneurial talent. God bless Elon Musk. The world needs him.
Am I jealous? Hell yes! Who wouldn't want to be fabulously wealthy?
But, Elon Musk didn't take anything away from me to become a trillionaire, he got there because he created things that never were. I respect and admire him for what he's accomplished.
I only wish that I was blessed with his genius. Absent that I'm happy to benefit from the things he creates.
I'm happy not to be blessed with such genius. I've never wanted to work that hard.
I'm badly paraphrasing Robert Heinlein, but he noted that "prosperity is rare and largely created by a "despised" minority, a society's failure to protect these innovators leads to a return to poverty", which he sarcastically terms "bad luck". Elon is the epitome of that "despised minority". Warren and Kimmel would gleefully drive him out of society or imprison him. Socialism / Communism has a foundational pillar of societal / class envy. Capitalistic / ostensibly democratic "like" systems (eg. representative democracies), which are "the worst system possible...except for all the others", give the "despised minority" a chance. History has shown again and again that socialism / communism collapses, whether by stifling innovation, its inherent corruption, or by sending their "despised minority" to the gulag. Oddly, late-stage, unfettered crony capitalism is almost indistinguishable from advanced socialism (the government lets you keep your company but you have to do what they tell you). See Krupp and Mercedes, National Socialism, and the run up to WWII. But at least the traditional western system offers a chance to avoid the trap. It's a truism, but we are veering towards a major socialist influence in our nation's governance that may lead us to "voting our way into a socialist government". History shows if we do that, we will almost certainly have to shoot our way out of it. That would truly be "bad luck".
The actual quotation is ‘Throughout history, poverty is the normal condition of man. Advances which permit this norm to be exceeded—here and there, now and then—are the work of an extremely small minority, frequently despised, often condemned, and almost always opposed by all right-thinking people. Whenever this tiny minority is kept from creating, or (as sometimes happens) is driven out of a society, the people then slip back into abject poverty. This is known as “bad luck.”’ (minerva.fandom.com/wiki/The_Notebooks_of_Lazarus_Long).
BTW, Professor Reynolds, could you please post links to those dumb tweets as well as just images, so that we can see (and perhaps like) the rebuttals?
I started writing a comment and it turned into an essay. So, that will be on my own substack later today. Suffice it to say that Elon Musk has just about singlehandedly changed the world we live in. And he’s just getting started.
Excellent article!!
Humans have a moral duty to pull their own weight, to produce more than they consume, to not be a burden on their fellows. We live better than our ancestors, material progress exists, because we are all heirs to that surplus of value created by former generations. It follows that the man who produces far, far more than he consumes and contributes that enormous wealth to posterity, is the most moral and praiseworthy among us.
If Musk is a Bond villain, then so are Edison, and Ford, and Rockefeller, and Bell, and the Wright brothers. We need more Bond villains.
Thank you. That was beautiful and truthful. I am grateful to be alive while he is. Thank you for your words.
This is why I subscribe — and will continue to do so. Excellent perspective, Prof. Reynolds.
Perfesser- Another fine piece. We are indeed fortunate to have Elon with us - here - in this country, at this time. Proof that the sky is indeed not the limit, for African Americans...
I’ve read that the first five commandments teach us how to live with G-d, and the second five teach us how to live with each other. (The basics, at least.)
My own take is that 6 through 9 teach us how to live with each other, and the 10th commandment teaches us how to live with ourselves.
Those who are put off by Musk’s achievements will never know happiness.
I admit that I have not always been an Elon fan. I couldn't see what the big deal was with Tesla and saw him as someone who was taking advantage of government subsidies for a boondoggle. I was wrong. Elon has a rare combination of intelligence, vision, attention to detail, ability to implement and willingness to take on risk. Add to that his willingness to work hard and demand the best from people around him and you get all the innovation that he has delivered. And yes -- he earns lots of money doing it but to a large extent that is a function of the risks he is willing to take. And Elon doesn't earn his money by manipulating the stock market or by getting paid obscene amounts of money for speeches -- he builds value for himself and for everyone else. Personally as excited as I am for SpaceX, I am also in awe of the work being done by Neuralink.
Well done.
Also, these same people who want to tear Musk down would probably be keeping their mouths shut if they'd bought shares in Tesla in 2014.
Wow. Very well said