Honestly it's batshit that anyone can read The Culture and NOT understand the entire point is that The Culture persists and succeeds where others fail because of it's values and diversity. Very much including those constant sex changes and anarcho-communism/socialism.

Hell, the Idiran war (for those not familiar, a horrible war that takes place in the first book and the rest of the books in various ways deal with the fallout and trauma from it) is entirely about fighting a jingoistic, imperialist force before they gather enough strength to inevitably destroy the culture.

This tells me that either Elon has never actually read them, or that he's a moron.

Probably both.

I guess i got to read them more. I only read Player of Games and Consider Phlebas and my take away was that they have what's almost a paradise but it's still fucked up.