A lot of the derision I see being directed at Elon Musk has to do with the fact that he isn’t an engineer, but rather a person with a checkbook and a carnival barker’s instinct for self promotion.

While those things are all true I feel the need to point out that it’s alright to not be an engineer within the context of owning or operating even a software company. Steve Jobs did it, and the internet still takes pleasure in reminding us that he wasn’t an engineer, either.

Sometimes, the application of good taste is enough. Careful curation of experiences—weighting towards the good—along with a modicum of care and decency towards the people who use your products can be enough.

Elon Musk’s crime is not that he isn’t an engineer; it’s that he’s a philistine conman using the world’s current fascination with fascism as a way to build himself a fiefdom.