I vehemently disagree with Musk's position on suing for peace with Russia now, I understand his reasoning I just think he's wrong. Still, the fact is Starlink has been a massive force multiplier for Ukraine. Yes most of the terminals were paid for by aid agencies, but over 3,000 were donated by Starlink and all the connectivity for the stations bought by aid agencies was provided for free. Plus these stations are the upgraded premium models with double the bandwidth and lots of nifty features increasing reliability. How many private individuals or companies have done more for Ukraine, really?
However yes he's had a hissy fit and the costs are mounting, and they're not minor costs. Two separate things, but they're happening at the same time which makes him look somewhat petty and mean. I think the former is right, he is being a bit petty, but I'm not sure about mean. He's done a huge amount for Ukraine, who can truly fairly demand that he _must_ do more? How much are most of us doing? As so often with Musk he's no saint, and certainly a sinner but he's also doing an incalculable amount of good.
Agreed on all counts. This is a textbook example of the Copenhagen Interpretation of Ethics (https://blog.jaibot.com/the-copenhagen-interpretation-of-eth...). Musk and SpaceX have done a huge amount for Ukraine, but they could possibly be doing even more and that somehow makes them worse than others who haven't done anything.
However yes he's had a hissy fit and the costs are mounting, and they're not minor costs. Two separate things, but they're happening at the same time which makes him look somewhat petty and mean. I think the former is right, he is being a bit petty, but I'm not sure about mean. He's done a huge amount for Ukraine, who can truly fairly demand that he _must_ do more? How much are most of us doing? As so often with Musk he's no saint, and certainly a sinner but he's also doing an incalculable amount of good.