The US is an idiot for not investing more in trains. The country literally was built with trains. People just stopped caring because air travel became popular and cheap. Just go invest in high speed trains, repair the tracks already out there, expand. Hoping someone would make trains sexy again isn't stupid. Elon Musk is though. Falling for his scams is stupid too, but I've been there as well in the beginning. I was just not aware people could lie that much and get away with it. The to continue with even bigger scams. Guess I'm stupid too.

Most billionaires just want more money. They know how to sell something, so they try to get as much investors as possible for any stupid idea which they think they are able to sell. Same with kickstarter scammers. They become rich by doing the same trick. White collar scam artists.

You weren't an idiot. Musk was really good at marketing back then, and hadn't yet revealed his true self to the world.