"Whether you like Tesla or not, there is no doubt that Elon is ahead of the rest of the world."
The thing about Elon is that the whole cult-of-personality has completely taken over, and any legitimate criticism of him, or Tesla, is completely disregarded by obedient believers. Very dangerous!
My Model S is by far the best vehicle I have ever owned. There is no doubt that Musk, through Space X, has cut the costs of space launches by vertically landing boosters and reusing them. When so many companies today care only about next quarter's profit and nothing about the planet, Musk actually started his companies to try to save us. I wish more companies were like his, because at this point we are at risk of destroying the planet. Many large businesses are doing their best to ensure that they amass fortunes at the expense of everyone else and the planet. Yes, Musk oversells and over-promises, but if you look at what he has done with Tesla and SpaceX his track record is incredible. How many people would have thought that someone could come in and disrupt two established industries? How many thought it would be crazy to try? Musk is far from perfect, but I think its clear that he has a certain genius that is quite rare. Yes, his companies may ultimately fail, but even if they do he has already succeeded at his goals of pushing us toward electric cars, renewable energy, and cheaper space launches. I don't disregard the criticism. My PhD is in AI and I am very skeptical that Tesla will be able to achieve full self driving in the next few years. But I knew that over a year ago when I bought my S. For me and my family, buying a Model S was in part investing in Musk's vision and in part a big middle finger to Trump and Trump supporters--we decided to buy just after participating in the Science March in DC.
It's amazing what can be achieve in the private sector with taxpayer support.
I agree. Many advancements would not be possible without taxpayer support to provide incentives to endeavors that would take too long to initially turn into a profitable business. The trick is working hard to prevent rent-seeking through legislative capture, which most governments are not all that good at controlling. Politicians live off of selling legislation to private industries. I think it is also tricky to gauge certain subsidies. For example, I'm in favor of EV tax credits, because they help offset the artificially low fossil fuel prices. The only reason fossil fuel is so cheap is because private companies are externalizing a lot of cost of environmental and health damage along with current and future damage caused by burning those fuels. If these companies had to pay these costs, we would likely not need EV incentives, because the cost of gas (at least here in the US) would be much much higher. Here in Houston the bill for Harvey should really go to several private industries, including the fossil fuel companies, realtors who got Harris County to take down flood level signs at neighborhood entrances, and developers who fought for less flood abatement requirements.
That is absolutely true. It became like politics. There is no rational discussion with either side about Musk or Tesla.
And any legitimate points made for him or the company are completely disregarded by the naysayers.
That is also dangerous.
It turned into politics and religion.