You don't know history! For an example, I suggest you read about the Big Four railroad barons of the West - Stanford, Crocker, Huntington and Hopkins. They scammed the government into giving them huge subsidies in order to complete the transcontinental railroad across America. They were paid different rates according to the terrain, the most for mountainous terrain. According to their charges, mountain land would be almost to San Francisco - much land which is flat or easy foothills. They did depend on the government subsidies to build their palaces and finance their businesses, and never paid the government back. These four built much of California for the hordes of people who came on trains. Ever hear of Stanford University, Crocker Bank, etc.? Crooked money built empires out West. Read your history, son.
That’s not how railroads got to the Mississippi at first. And again, the end result of land grants (not limited to railroads) was not a fascistic public-private arrangement but full privatization, something that Woodrow Wilson simply could not stand for (hence the creation of his USRA for example).
I will say in Musk’s favor that he is all for an end to subsidies.