Yeah, there are faint mentions of moon colonization from Musk, but more often than not he talks about Mars.

I do agree more and more that Musk is a grifter (look no further than Twitter), but SpaceX seems to be one of his ventures that’s not a grift. The technology actually works (falcon 9 works, dragon works, Starlink works), and I don’t see what kind of financial gain he has in going to Mars. Possibly hoping the government subsidizes his Starship rockets that he then will use for contracts?

Delusions of grandeur and wanting to become the ruler of Mars? He's also said before that passengers can pay off their transit in an indentured servitude like fashion.

From Starlink TOS:

>"For Services provided on Mars, or in transit to Mars via Starship or other colonization spacecraft, the parties recognize Mars as a free planet and that no Earth-based government has authority or sovereignty over Martian activities. Accordingly, Disputes will be settled through self-governing principles, established in good faith, at the time of Martian settlement."

I also wonder how much he has personally changed over the past few years and whether that’s affected his vision for it: like it started as a deeply held conviction but simply drifted with his celebrity and more temporal concerns? I mean, even if he went off the deepend tomorrow and went full toxic internet guy (instead of partial), those core companies he’s created are seemingly a net good human process wise.

It's the bait to keep us subdued until he expires.