CMV: Elon Musk has done more harm than good in the world.

Musk has touted himself as the moral compass of tech, and defenders of him say his ventures have done incredibly good things for the world. However, I think if you consider all the evidence of this man's life, not only has he done more harm than good but he's been a net negative for the world. <br><br>I'm open to being proven wrong.<br><br><br>EDIT: I'd like to say that I didn't do the best job articulating my points, or responding to comments. This was my first time posting on a thread like this. I had no idea the response would be so substantial. <br><br>People pointed out that a lot of the points I brought up were discrepancies or incorrect. Transparency is incredibly important in business and public figures. This was poor on my end.<br><br>I've been reading the comments, and I want to first address the over-arching criticism that I have not been clear with my points. I did not adequately articulate the reasoning behind why I believed Elon Musk has done net harm. I'm going to outline clearer why that is, and how my view has shifted since this thread.<br><br>First, I should have done a better job defining what "harm" means to me. By harm, I mean anything done by Elon that has a negative societal impact, or ousted promises of help that did not come to fruition. Elon Musk is a figure with vast resources and wealth, so I take the idea that he has the responsibility to use that wealth for good, or to at least make a strong effort to.<br><br>I think the best example of how he's failed to do that is his position on AI. Musk has stated that he thinks there's a 10% chance AI is humanity-ending. Given that, you'd think he'd make it a top priority to combat that. But he doesn't. He barely does anything at all to address this problem. Why? Why would the richest man in the world, who has admitted that he believes there is a 10% chance of the near end of human civilization, do nothing about it? It's not a lack of access to resources, or a lack of a clear path of action. Its a lack of concern. He doesn't seem to take seriously the probable apocalyptic future that his fellow technologists have warned humanity of. Musk has stated publically that he wishes to die on Mars to ensure the survival of humanity. But how is that helpful? How would you rather die in a potentially nuclear war when you're much older, but on Mars, than as a young person on Earth with more time to live? Is this really the right person to be in control of the destiny of our world? He thinks humanity will end in 100 years, and stated he wants to die on Mars to preserve life. So why isn't he doing that? Why is he so uninterested?<br><br>And if you think that is unfair, the best examples of how he has done harm are Tesla, Twitter, and Starship. Twitter is no longer a platform for speech, but instead a place for Elon to spout anti-Semitic hate-speech. Tesla touted itself as the future of the automobile, but instead it is a car that is so wasteful, it is somehow actually worse for the environment.<br><br>Starship is literally a massive project for Elon to die on Mars. That's great and all for him to do that, but why is he draining so many resources from what are, in my mind, much more important ventures like Tesla or Solar City, only for them to wildly underperform? Starship is also a militarized spacecraft. The last thing we need is a private billionaire with his hand on the trigger of a nuclear missile. We already have enough of those to destroy the world many times over. No more is needed. I don't want to live in a world where a single person can end humanity.<br><br>Furthermore, Elon has used his wealth to evade taxes. He has promised helping those in need, like the people in Flint Michigan, and the survivors of the Iran plane crash, only to bail when he actually has to put his money where his mouth is. He has gleefully fired employees who disagree with him, and constantly spouts out anti-Semitic rhetoric on Twitter. And while he may not be the CEO of Twitter, he has definitely used his influence to shape the platform, making it more and more toxic while also making it more and more difficult to get things done on the app.<br><br>I also think there is an extension of the Gettier problem when looking at Musk's ventures. People point to Tesla as an example of how innovative Musk was, but the fact is that Tesla was bought by Elon Musk, and then was heavily funded by the government. Solar City? Also heavily funded by the government. Starship? Also heavily funded by the government. Twitter? Also heavily funded by the Saudi government. Now, I am not accusing Musk of doing anything wrong by accepting these funds, but I think it is a disingenuous claim that he has done any of these ventures off his own back. Elon Musk is a billionaire. He has access to a near endless amount of resources, and yet time and time again, he chooses to rely on the government or on venture capitalists to fund his projects. While I do think it's fair he expects some return for his work on these projects, I don't think he deserves the full amount of the credit for them. Why does he rely so heavily on tax payer dollars to fund his ventures? Shouldn't the guy with the world's largest fortune be able to do these kinds of things on his own? Why is he relying on the tax payer to do these kinds of things? And what does he accomplish as a result of that? How does that benefit society?<br><br>I also think that the people who call Elon a "self-made billionaire" are being a bit confusing. He is not. He comes from an incredibly wealthy family, and was handed a large sum of money at a young age. He has also constantly relied on government funds to keep his business alive. So how is he self-made? He's done nothing but rely on other people's money. Why should he be celebrated so heavily for that?<br><br>I think the best example of how Elon Musk has not done anything good is by the fact that the most vocal defenders of him are right-wing extremists. Everyone from Marjorie Taylor Green to Matt Walsh have all defended Elon to their last breath. Why do you think that is? I think it's because he has done more to harm people than help them. I think Elon has become a poster boy for the kinds of evils that capitalism is capable of. By pretending he's trying to save humanity when in reality he's actually trying to destroy it, Musk makes the case for anti-capitalism over and over again. I might be a capitalist myself, but there is still a limit beyond which you are doing more harm than good, and I think Elon has long since passed that.