[cweagans]

> If they're self-made, they earned the praise.

They aren’t and they didn’t.

> Being a self-made billionaire means they created a billion dollars of value. They didn't take it from you or anyone else.

Nobody is a “self made” billionaire. That value you’re talking about didn’t just spring into existence. It had to come from somewhere. There is always a source.

Who flew the rocket? Who built the rocket? Who built the parts for the rocket? Who mixed the fuel?

Building big ambitious things is a good thing. But consolidating an amount of money that nobody could ever reasonably spend into the hands of one person (especially when that money is just the excess value produced by the workers) is unethical and unneeded.

[WalterBright]

> That value you’re talking about didn’t just spring into existence. It had to come from somewhere.

Are you arguing that wealth is not created, but is transferred? Where was SpaceX's value transferred from? Where was the current wealth in the United States 250 years ago?

[WalterBright]

What you're referring to are called "expenses". The value created is what somebody is willing to pay for a piece of that action (i.e. an ownership share). Expenses reduce the value.

For example, if you bake a cake the value you created is what you can sell the cake for minus the cost of the ingredients and the use of an oven. For SpaceX, the money spent to buy materials and pay employees takes away value.

> that nobody could ever reasonably spend into the hands of one person (especially when that money is just the excess value produced by the workers) is unethical and unneeded.

Musk doesn't spend much of his money. He invests it in creating more businesses.

> is unethical and unneeded.

You're arguing that Tesla, SpaceX, Starlink, etc., are unethical and unneeded. None of those companies would exist without Musk investing his fortune into them.

BTW, why don't you and your friends get together and start a rocket company and make yourselves billionaires?

[Teever]

This is usually the part of the conversation where someone mentions slave labour in an emerald mine and immigration fraud and then comes the part where you usually say something along the lines like "hasn't been proven in court!"

[WalterBright]

Musk started with a $20,000 loan from his family. You could buy a used car for $20,000, no emerald mine and slaves required.

Musk parlayed the loan into $trillions.

[Teever]

It would have been so cool if you didn't derail this conversation about 'Confronting America’s gerontocratic crisis' with your Elon Musk fanboy-ism.

So cool.

[WalterBright]

I am indeed an unapologetic Musk fanboy. For good reason.