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Elon Musk is the last big industrialist alive, after Jobs passing. If his endeavors succeed he'll be remembered alongside Edison, Franklin, Ford, Jobs etc. It's

by nikster 13y ago

Elon Musk is the last big industrialist alive, after Jobs passing. If his endeavors succeed he'll be remembered alongside Edison, Franklin, Ford, Jobs etc. It's admirable. I just don't think it has anything to do with Ayn Rand and her philosophy. Strangely I just had a discussion about rational thinking and I kind of failed to make a point. Rational thinking is better than irrationality and crazy Bible-thumpers, but you really need to get over that. You need to see past this, you need to pass it by and leave it behind as a neat idea born out of the greatest misconception there ever has been: "I think therefore I am". The reality is - I am, therefore I can think.

eru 13y ago
> Elon Musk is the last big industrialist alive, after Jobs passing. If his endeavors succeed he'll be remembered alongside Edison, Franklin, Ford, Jobs etc. It's admirable. I think you don't know enough about the world's industrialists. (And neither do I.) Most of them are less well known than Elon Musk. So just because you don't know them doesn't mean they don't exist. My guess is that China has quite a few people with grand ideas and capabilities.
- rayiner 13y ago
  Industrialists in the developing world are disproportionately not those with grand ideas, but political connections and ties to resource extraction industries.
  - alphakappa 13y ago
    That's an unfair generalization. There are many industrialists in the developing world who started from scratch [1] and without connections, but managed to build something amazing. 1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhirubhai_Ambani http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhirubhai_Ambani
    - eru 13y ago
      And the US more than 100 years ago wasn't too different from contemporary developing countries, either.
      - rayiner 13y ago
        The U.S. really was never as bad as many developing countries are today. In the age of the robber barons, the U.S. government didn't do anything to stop them, but wasn't in bed with them the same way as in China or Russia. Remember, a huge portion of China's businesses are still state-owned, and many of the rest have very incestuous ties with the government. Think of the defense sector in the U.S., except far less transparent, far more corrupt, and far more extensive.
    - rayiner 13y ago
      Sure, it's a generalization. There are a lot of self-made entrepreneurs in the developing world. There are also a lot of tycoons getting rich in the oil and gas industries because of cozy relationships with corrupt governments.
    - deleted 13y ago
      [deleted]

by nikster 13y ago

eru 13y ago

> Elon Musk is the last big industrialist alive, after Jobs passing. If his endeavors succeed he'll be remembered alongside Edison, Franklin, Ford, Jobs etc. It's admirable. I think you don't know enough about the world's industrialists. (And neither do I.) Most of them are less well known than Elon Musk. So just because you don't know them doesn't mean they don't exist. My guess is that China has quite a few people with grand ideas and capabilities.

rayiner 13y ago
Industrialists in the developing world are disproportionately not those with grand ideas, but political connections and ties to resource extraction industries.
- alphakappa 13y ago
  That's an unfair generalization. There are many industrialists in the developing world who started from scratch [1] and without connections, but managed to build something amazing. 1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhirubhai_Ambani http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhirubhai_Ambani
  - eru 13y ago
    And the US more than 100 years ago wasn't too different from contemporary developing countries, either.
    - rayiner 13y ago
      The U.S. really was never as bad as many developing countries are today. In the age of the robber barons, the U.S. government didn't do anything to stop them, but wasn't in bed with them the same way as in China or Russia. Remember, a huge portion of China's businesses are still state-owned, and many of the rest have very incestuous ties with the government. Think of the defense sector in the U.S., except far less transparent, far more corrupt, and far more extensive.
  - rayiner 13y ago
    Sure, it's a generalization. There are a lot of self-made entrepreneurs in the developing world. There are also a lot of tycoons getting rich in the oil and gas industries because of cozy relationships with corrupt governments.
  - deleted 13y ago
    [deleted]