The ‘path out of poverty,’ according to Elon Musk

Elon Musk has become the richest person on Earth within the last few years, and he has continued to run some of the world’s largest businesses in their respective industries. Recently, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO spoke about one factor that he thinks can help people out of poverty, and it’s something more straightforward than you might expect. 

Musk said on Twitter that he thinks education is the “path out of poverty,” as reported by Teslarati earlier this month. He also described another critical factor that he thinks leads to the availability of education, and it’s one that he has vouched for many a time — the internet.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Musk values the internet as a tool for education, seeing as SpaceX is behind Starlink, the low-Earth orbit satellite internet constellation that the space company has been deploying so rapidly this and last year. The internet service has become operational in a dozen countries across the world in 2022 alone, and Musk is connecting more people to the internet than ever before.

“Education is the path out of poverty,” said Musk in a tweet earlier this month. Musk continued, adding that he thinks “Internet access enables education.”

The statement came in a thread about SpaceX recently activating Starlink internet in the Brazil’s Amazon region, which helped a school connect to the internet. Tesla Owners Silicon Valley pointed out that “People who weren’t able to get access to education will now have it.”

Education is the path out of poverty and Internet access enables education

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 23, 2022

SpaceX’s Starlink internet continues to connect remote regions worldwide, and it’s also planning to launch satellites weekly in 2023 to improve its orbital satellite constellation. With the tool of improved internet access globally, as Musk has suggested, communities may be able to help themselves to vital daily information to make more informed decisions.

If you look at SpaceX’s track record and how it holds up with Musk’s alleged value in giving communities access to education through the internet, it seems to hold up. SpaceX has connected remote communities inside and outside of the U.S., recently offering Starlink kits to those experiencing Hurricane Ian in Florida and earlier this year offering terminals to those in Ukraine amidst the Russian invasion — and these are just a small few.

Musk has demonstrated his belief in providing people with education, information and, simply put, internet access through these and other actions. Polarizing as Musk may be, many would agree that education and reliable internet access are key factors in the modern world, both of which are worth working to improve.

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