The whole social media or blog outrage about Musk being worth a trillion dollars is an excellent example of how few people actually understand the concept of wealth and value.
First, the amount of people who cannot understand the fact that providing services under government contracts and receiving money from the government are not the same thing. SpaceX and Starlink are providing value to the government and have been paid for what they have provided.
Second, all too many people don't understand that Musk's wealth is not him sitting on a pile of cash. His wealth is in his ownership of shares of stock which can rise or fall in value.
Third, this notion that his wealth can be taxed without causing harm to the economy is insane. The only way to pay a wealth tax is to sell things. Yet the very sale of enough assets to pay the tax, would likely distort the markets and cause changes that would ripple throughout the economy.
Fourth, while Musk became a trillionaire, we also saw many of the SpaceX employees become millionaires.
Ignorance is seriously powerful, when attached to either power or a public voice.
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