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Last time he got a bunch of money he used it to fund SpaceX and Tesla. Now also Neuralink. It’s hard to imagine anyone else who’s done more for the planet wit

Last time he got a bunch of money he used it to fund SpaceX and Tesla. Now also Neuralink. It’s hard to imagine anyone else who’s done more for the planet with his money than Musk.

biaachmonkie 6mo ago
[flagged]
- WalterBright 6mo ago
  Another recent commentator wrote here that he's responsible for "millions" of dead via the curtailing of USAID. I'm a bit skeptical of estimates that vary by 3 orders of magnitude.
  - Teever 6mo ago
    For the sake of argument let’s say that number was accurate. How would you feel about that?
    - WalterBright 6mo ago
      I'm not engaging in convicting people without concrete evidence.
      - Teever 6mo ago
        I think that the reason you reject the claims and won’t even entertain the notion as a hypothetical is because you know deep down that you’ve been duped by Musk and can’t admit that fact publicly. Should incontrovertible proof of the magnitude of the atrocities that he has committed come to light you’ll pivot and say that it was worth it because he’s taking us to Mars. That’s how conmen work and Musk is a damn good one. The sooner you can admit that you’re duped is the sooner you’ll stop letting yourself be duped by him. I’ll admit that I was duped by him too. I used to believe his stuff and this dream of mars.
        WalterBright 6mo ago
        When you find proof of atrocities, feel free to post it. > dream of mars He's doing something about it, while nobody else does nuttin. Meanwhile, https://medium.com/swlh/here-s-to-the-crazy-ones-941190f58c55 https://medium.com/swlh/here-s-to-the-crazy-ones-941190f58c5... And it's his money being spent on it, not yours. You're not out anything. And if he succeeds, we all win. The starship is a reality. Not a con.
        Teever 6mo ago
        Why don’t you just admit that you don’t really give a shit how many people he kills or laws he breaks as long as he does cool space stuff? Like why beat around the bush? Just be honest man. The honesty would be refreshing. It’s not like this attitude is unprecedented in aeronautics.
        bigstrat2003 6mo ago
        Presumably he doesn't "admit" it because it isn't true. You aren't going to get anywhere convincing people if you make attacks on your interlocutor like this.
        WalterBright 6mo ago
        He hasn't killed anybody. Nor has he been charged with any crimes. google sez: "One estimate suggests Tesla’s impact, through emission reductions, has saved over 20,000 lives globally." google sez: "A 2022 report suggested that Tesla and other electric vehicle technologies (which often include enhanced safety features) have contributed to saving thousands of lives." Empathy is judged by what one is willing to freely give. Not by making someone else give, and not by spending someone else's money. > It’s not like this attitude is unprecedented in aeronautics. You'd be quite wrong. I've worked with many aeronautical engineers, and their primary concern is safety. I'm personally very proud that the system I worked on has never been at fault in an accident. When the MD-83 went down because of jackscrew failure, I was sweating bullets worrying that it was a 757. Whenever I board an aircraft that is a 757, I feel a lot of pride and I always ask to speak to the captain and ask him how he likes it. They always say they love the 757. Makes me happy!
esseph 6mo ago
He's directly responsible for the deaths of several hundred thousand people via DOGE and their abrupt withdrawal and support of food aid. https://hsph.harvard.edu/news/usaid-shutdown-has-led-to-hundreds-of-thousands-of-deaths/ https://hsph.harvard.edu/news/usaid-shutdown-has-led-to-hund...
- asdfasvea 6mo ago
  Directly? I do not think it means what you think it means. Hate the guy all you want, even for this, but don't try and juice it another 20% with emotional words that are ultimately incorrect.
  - esseph 6mo ago
    Okay let me juice you with some "emotional words". There is a direct line from his decisions to more than ten times the number of Americans KIA in the entirety of the Vietnam war. Argue about how it happened all you want, the bodies are at his fucking feet. CEOs and leadership of organizations are accountable for their decisions. "Emotional" How about get a fucking working conscience. Hundreds of thousands are dead, two thirds of which were kids. Children.
- brightball 6mo ago
  Those estimates are highly disputed because they all come from modeled projections, not anything attributed on the ground. If a death toll like that was real and attributable it would be the only thing in the news, 24/7, until the next election. The fact is, it’s not. Aid was relocated to other departments and continued. Significant insider pork was cut leading to a lot of very loud people complaining with hyperbole in their outrage. Elon remains the most effective person in history at wielding wealth for the benefit of mankind. It is not particularly close and he has banked more credibility for moon-shot efforts (pun intended) than anyone on the planet.
  - esseph 6mo ago
    > The fact is, it’s not. Aid was relocated to other departments and continued. Source? All the recent data I can find shows a more than 80% decline in global food aid, education, and vaccinations, as of February 2026. Education aid for 23 million children, 95 million lost access to basic healthcare, and from March 2025 to Feb 2026, an estimated ~3 million preventable deaths caused by this. Sources: https://www.oxfamamerica.org/explore/issues/making-foreign-aid-work/what-do-trumps-proposed-foreign-aid-cuts-mean/ https://www.oxfamamerica.org/explore/issues/making-foreign-a... https://firstfocus.org/resource/fact-sheet-usaid-cuts-total-4-billion-for-children-tens-of-thousands-of-lives/ https://firstfocus.org/resource/fact-sheet-usaid-cuts-total-... https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/chikungunya/quick-takes-death-toll-usaid-cuts-withdrawal-chikungunya-vaccine-funding-updated-ebola https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/chikungunya/quick-takes-death-tol... https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/02/04/africa-trump-musk-usaid-funding-cuts/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/02/04/africa-trump... https://www.rescue.org/article/innovation-vs-cuts-humanitarian-aid-2026 https://www.rescue.org/article/innovation-vs-cuts-humanitari...

Last time he got a bunch of money he used it to fund SpaceX and Tesla. Now also Neuralink. It’s hard to imagine anyone else who’s done more for the planet with his money than Musk.

biaachmonkie 6mo ago

[flagged]

WalterBright 6mo ago
Another recent commentator wrote here that he's responsible for "millions" of dead via the curtailing of USAID. I'm a bit skeptical of estimates that vary by 3 orders of magnitude.
- Teever 6mo ago
  For the sake of argument let’s say that number was accurate. How would you feel about that?
  - WalterBright 6mo ago
    I'm not engaging in convicting people without concrete evidence.
    - Teever 6mo ago
      I think that the reason you reject the claims and won’t even entertain the notion as a hypothetical is because you know deep down that you’ve been duped by Musk and can’t admit that fact publicly. Should incontrovertible proof of the magnitude of the atrocities that he has committed come to light you’ll pivot and say that it was worth it because he’s taking us to Mars. That’s how conmen work and Musk is a damn good one. The sooner you can admit that you’re duped is the sooner you’ll stop letting yourself be duped by him. I’ll admit that I was duped by him too. I used to believe his stuff and this dream of mars.
      - WalterBright 6mo ago
        When you find proof of atrocities, feel free to post it. > dream of mars He's doing something about it, while nobody else does nuttin. Meanwhile, https://medium.com/swlh/here-s-to-the-crazy-ones-941190f58c55 https://medium.com/swlh/here-s-to-the-crazy-ones-941190f58c5... And it's his money being spent on it, not yours. You're not out anything. And if he succeeds, we all win. The starship is a reality. Not a con.
        Teever 6mo ago
        Why don’t you just admit that you don’t really give a shit how many people he kills or laws he breaks as long as he does cool space stuff? Like why beat around the bush? Just be honest man. The honesty would be refreshing. It’s not like this attitude is unprecedented in aeronautics.
        bigstrat2003 6mo ago
        Presumably he doesn't "admit" it because it isn't true. You aren't going to get anywhere convincing people if you make attacks on your interlocutor like this.
        WalterBright 6mo ago
        He hasn't killed anybody. Nor has he been charged with any crimes. google sez: "One estimate suggests Tesla’s impact, through emission reductions, has saved over 20,000 lives globally." google sez: "A 2022 report suggested that Tesla and other electric vehicle technologies (which often include enhanced safety features) have contributed to saving thousands of lives." Empathy is judged by what one is willing to freely give. Not by making someone else give, and not by spending someone else's money. > It’s not like this attitude is unprecedented in aeronautics. You'd be quite wrong. I've worked with many aeronautical engineers, and their primary concern is safety. I'm personally very proud that the system I worked on has never been at fault in an accident. When the MD-83 went down because of jackscrew failure, I was sweating bullets worrying that it was a 757. Whenever I board an aircraft that is a 757, I feel a lot of pride and I always ask to speak to the captain and ask him how he likes it. They always say they love the 757. Makes me happy!

esseph 6mo ago

He's directly responsible for the deaths of several hundred thousand people via DOGE and their abrupt withdrawal and support of food aid. https://hsph.harvard.edu/news/usaid-shutdown-has-led-to-hundreds-of-thousands-of-deaths/ https://hsph.harvard.edu/news/usaid-shutdown-has-led-to-hund...

asdfasvea 6mo ago
Directly? I do not think it means what you think it means. Hate the guy all you want, even for this, but don't try and juice it another 20% with emotional words that are ultimately incorrect.
- esseph 6mo ago
  Okay let me juice you with some "emotional words". There is a direct line from his decisions to more than ten times the number of Americans KIA in the entirety of the Vietnam war. Argue about how it happened all you want, the bodies are at his fucking feet. CEOs and leadership of organizations are accountable for their decisions. "Emotional" How about get a fucking working conscience. Hundreds of thousands are dead, two thirds of which were kids. Children.
brightball 6mo ago
Those estimates are highly disputed because they all come from modeled projections, not anything attributed on the ground. If a death toll like that was real and attributable it would be the only thing in the news, 24/7, until the next election. The fact is, it’s not. Aid was relocated to other departments and continued. Significant insider pork was cut leading to a lot of very loud people complaining with hyperbole in their outrage. Elon remains the most effective person in history at wielding wealth for the benefit of mankind. It is not particularly close and he has banked more credibility for moon-shot efforts (pun intended) than anyone on the planet.
- esseph 6mo ago
  > The fact is, it’s not. Aid was relocated to other departments and continued. Source? All the recent data I can find shows a more than 80% decline in global food aid, education, and vaccinations, as of February 2026. Education aid for 23 million children, 95 million lost access to basic healthcare, and from March 2025 to Feb 2026, an estimated ~3 million preventable deaths caused by this. Sources: https://www.oxfamamerica.org/explore/issues/making-foreign-aid-work/what-do-trumps-proposed-foreign-aid-cuts-mean/ https://www.oxfamamerica.org/explore/issues/making-foreign-a... https://firstfocus.org/resource/fact-sheet-usaid-cuts-total-4-billion-for-children-tens-of-thousands-of-lives/ https://firstfocus.org/resource/fact-sheet-usaid-cuts-total-... https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/chikungunya/quick-takes-death-toll-usaid-cuts-withdrawal-chikungunya-vaccine-funding-updated-ebola https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/chikungunya/quick-takes-death-tol... https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/02/04/africa-trump-musk-usaid-funding-cuts/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/02/04/africa-trump... https://www.rescue.org/article/innovation-vs-cuts-humanitarian-aid-2026 https://www.rescue.org/article/innovation-vs-cuts-humanitari...