I, along with the rest of Santa Barbara, was rudely awakened at 5:20 a.m. by an “Elon Boom.” This one sounded like a thermonuclear blast; others feel like an earthquake and freak out all the neighborhood dogs. And they’re getting worse, as if the Vandenberg crew has been emboldened by Trump’s victory.
Somebody tell me exactly why I should be delighted about this. It would be bad enough if these launches had benevolent purpose. But at this point, Elon Musk and benevolence have no business in the same sentence. He has amply demonstrated that he’s interested in power and (good God) even more money. He has shown a disturbing flexibility in his worldview: Now that he is Best Friends Forever with Donald, climate change is suddenly unimportant. He’s also shown a willingness to race-bait and demagogue his way to hell to get his money and power.
He clearly knows money and machines, but there’s one big problem: he doesn’t understand people. His political speeches sound like poor versions of high school conspiracy theories.
Why should I be delighted to simply tolerate these blasts so that Elon can become master of a very dark universe in his own twisted image?