[frenchman99]

I fail to see how Tesla fixes an "important problem". They're big electric SUV with huge batteries that require tons of mining and destroy the environment. They're largely non repairable. The full self driving feature seems to be vapor ware.

The space stuff looked interesting until he started sending all kinds of things into space to become an ISP, polluting space the same way Tesla pollutes the earth.

The real issues are still here: poverty, lack of access to clean water, etc. How does Musk fix that?

[xeromal]

This seems like those conservative talking points "I saw a homeless child on my drive to work today. Why are we sending money to Ukraine".

We can work on many problems at once. Tesla also makes a car.

[frenchman99]

This had nothing to do with conservative talking points. It has to do with current capitalism always looking for money but letting the real societal issues ongoing because fixing them doesn't pay enough dividends.

Simplified, with current capitalism, doing the right thing doesn't pay off. We have more than enough know-how and technology to fix real issues but we'd rather put rich people in overweight electric cars.

Yes, full self driving could help save lifes. Space exploration helps us better understand our world. But often times, current capitalism encourages the use of technology and know-how for things that benefit a minority at the expense of the most vulnerable.

[pb7]

It’s not Musk’s responsibility to fix societal problems, it’s the government’s. He sucks as a person but the companies he’s in charge of are quite useful and I’m happy they exist. I’m watching my government fail every single day at addressing basic issues like homelessness despite near infinite money. They would fail at fast satellite internet and electric cars too.

[frenchman99]

That's where we disagree then.

I think people do have a responsibility and in a democratic state, government can only be as good as the people it governs.

[pb7]

I don’t entirely disagree with your point of view, I just question what the hell we pay taxes for if we (the people) are still responsible for all the societal issues. If I have to dedicate a portion of my day’s effort to chipping away at these things then why is the government entitled to a significant portion of my money? It doesn’t make sense to me.