The Paradox Of Elon Musk

"Tropical Depression" by Patti Liszkay
0.99 on Amazon Kindle
February 1- February 7
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BTPN7NYY

​The Paradox Of Elon Musk

      When I read that Elon Musk's company Neuralink had invented a brain chip the purpose of which was to restore vision to the blind and mobility to the paralyzed, my initial reaction was to give Elon Musk credit for using his talent and treasure to produce something for the potential betterment of humankind. Which is hard to do. Give Elon Musk credit, I mean. 
        After all, this brilliant amoral neanderthal richest-man-in-the-world ignorant genius occasional philanthropist mistreats his workers, allows the abuse of his test animals, denigrates transfolk and lobbies against their rights, ​

​...insults heroes, 

...and allows the spread of misinformation, QAnon conspiracy theories and hate speech on his social media website X, on which he in turn runs his own nasty mouth. 

     And yet between his bouts of professional and public noxiousness, Elon Musk has given the world the first self-driving electric vehicle.

       Well, okay, maybe not the very first autopilot EV...but, you know, the first one to catch fire. Figuratively speaking.
       And though Teslas may be few and far between here in the Heartland (though you do see the odd one now and then around Columbus), when I was in Los Angeles last month the Teslas were plentiful on the highways and byways.
          And from what I've garnered, whatever their opinion of its producer,     

...people love their Teslas.
         I know one Angelino who loved their Tesla, but found Elon Musk so morally abhorrent that they got rid of their Tesla on principle and replaced it with a Ford EV, which. while a sharp-looking and not a bad ride, 

...simply can't, according to its owner, compare to the Tesla.
      One time in a parking lot they came across this bumper sticker:​      

...and felt regret that they hadn't been able to procure one of these stickers to slap on their Tesla, which, they felt, would have explained to the world their stand and eliminated the need to get rid of their beloved Tesla, spawn of Elon though it was.
       And then there's the thousands of SpaceX Starlink satellite dishes Musk gave to Ukraine and continues to fund to this day to keep the people connected to the internet after the Russian invasion of Ukraine and assault on that country's electrical grid.

        Not to mention the  $100 million Elon Musk is giving as a prize in a competition he's running to find ways to capture carbon from the atmosphere in order to fight climate change,

...or the funding of 1 million trees that he donated in 2020 and again in 2021 to #Team Trees, a world-wide volunteer group whose aim is to plant 20 million trees around the planet,

...playfully calling himself "Treelon" for the occasion.

       
     But then you have this, reported today by Bloomberg:

       If only people weren't such mixed bags.

References:
https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/30/business/elon-musk-brain-implant-neuralink-intl-hnk/index.html
​
https://edition.cnn.com/2022/10/15/business/elon-musk-starlink-ukraine-scn/index.html

https://www.npr.org/2021/02/08/965372754/elon-musk-funds-100-million-xprize-for-pursuit-of-new-carbon-removal-ideas