The Musk public persona is kind of interesting because it appears as though the back and forth between fans and detractors is an argument about different things. Or maybe it's not, it's hard to tell, and I can't claim to know the motivations of everyone who likes or dislikes Musk. It seems as though the fans vest a lot of hope, admiration, and aspiration in Musk as an individual, whereas the detractors aren't so specifically concerned with Musk as an individual (though obviously the discussions will often pivot around his most recent actions), but more that he is a microcosm of the billionaire/ownership class and so is grounds for the ideological battle over removing their power in society. This will confuse or agitate the fans who say something like "but he helped Puerto Rico!" or "he is going to send filters to Flint, how is that bad?", which may be because the contention is that his publicity eclipses the impression of what is possible for a lot of others. Those who criticize him see him as propaganda for billionaires or large capital owners, offering a vision of a better world led by the magnanimous, disruptive futurist who uses the power of his resolve to smash through sclerotic institutions and carry everybody into a bright tomorrow. He'll take us to space, he'll make travelling from coast to coast take two hours (or whatever), he'll stop global warming. That is what is specifically depressing about him which draws a lot of distaste. Of course, he actualizes this in some ways. Like when he is on twitter rebuffing some other guy by declaring he supports half a million people with his wealth. He seems to take a lot of importance onto himself, and he gets very publicly upset when criticized, so it makes him an easy target for people who really want the world (American society specifically?) to move towards having confidence in itself to solve problems, and the mutual trust in each other to move that sense of hope back to common people all sharing the same burdens.
Sorry if this has already been said a dozen times, I haven't read the whole thread.
