Item — HN Reader

> ...and so I do not believe they would seek to profit from controlling Kessler Syndrome.

I get the feel that logic from /Hollywood/tropes/James_Bond/ is being assumed here. In a simplistic action movie, it's reasonable to say "IF $Charismatic_Corporate_Leader profited from $Bad_Thing happening, THEN he is Totally Evil, secretly controls $Bad_Thing, and caused it to happening as part of his Evil Plans".

The Real World(tm) isn't like that. Elan and SpaceX don't control Kessler Syndrome. They are not the U.N. Space Police*. (Cripes, they can't even get timely launch approvals from the FAA, or a more sensible exclusion zone at the Cape!) "Failing" to have detailed plans & preparations for an orbital sh*t-storm - IF they don't cause it, and aren't badly damaged by it - is no more evil than "failing" to donate $75 million to African famine relief.

*Not a real thing. The point is that SpaceX ain't the law, ain't the sovereign, and ain't on some government contract to provide space emergency services & disaster relief.

(FWIW, I found the first two Starbase tour videos more interesting. Admittedly, they had the advantage of being ~3x longer.)

(Edit - formatting issue from an un-escaped '*' character.)

Perhaps instead of "control kessler syndrome" I should have used "mitigate" to be more clear in what I am saying. I am not merely implying that SpaceX wouldn't cause it to profit from it, but that they would actively try to avoid it and not let it happen through inaction. (Perhaps they would work toward solving it if it looks to be progressing quicker than anticipated and SpaceX seems best poised to tackle it)

Also a not-so-relevant nitpick - I wouldn't call Elon charismatic. Perhaps in a room full of engineers he may be. Nevertheless I still applaud him for learning how to be more personable in the corporate world.

Agreed, the first two videos were more captivating in their window into Musk's technical thought process (during which I took notes!) and the current SpaceX developments. The third struck me as a unique look into his everyday dealings while at the same time driving home how important he feels the entire undertaking is. The tone is different in the 3rd one. Much more of a serious message in contrast to the euphoric geekery in the first two.