Earlier quoted context omitted.
> "Musk has a history of not complying with legal obligations unless forced to..." In that case, Musk sounds very much like every government, business, politician, friend, family member and neighbor I've ever known. In other words, that's how the world generally works.
"Everybody else commits these crimes, or would if they could" is a common coping belief expressed by criminals. But it isn't true.
I wish I had learned earlier that when somebody makes an accusatory statement, it is wise to consider that they may be inadvertently projecting their self and their intentions onto the people around them.
It is very human to believe that most people think and feel in more or less the same way. So when we hear generalized statements about what people are like, or how they would likely react to a course of action, the sentiment will often be biased by how the speaker thinks, or would react.