You know what: I would rather he realize he has gone too far down that road and take steps to correct things. We see so many unredeemable people theses days but I would not put him in that camp yet.
Thing is, as billionaires go, I am a Musk fan. Nothing wrong with trying big things. And I’m a huge fan of Iain M Banks myself. But programmers should probably keep away from production engineering. Or at least take it seriously and actually study it.
I don’t think SpaceX will go public till its ex-growth. It doesn’t need the money - which is another absurdly clear signal. In a sense its only risk is that Musk gets tarnished by Tesla.
1 Like
Brilliant 
Though for me, this is the first thing to comes to mind:
8 Likes
That’s dealerships. Automakers make money from selling cars (and, to a lesser extent, from financing auto sales). I mean, duh.
There is a common type of fallacy where people put too much trust in counterintuitive-sounding explanations (not sure if this has a name). I think you are falling victim to it.
7 Likes
I don’t think anyone disagrees with that, but it’s not like Tesla was either first to market or the only player in the market or doing a particularly successful job at producing electric cars for a large number of people. It needs to be an industry wide shift, not just one company.
8 Likes
No, he has to be born here. The constitution is abundantly clear there.
4 Likes
1 Like
Actually, they have to be born American. John McCain was born in Panama and was nominated for President by the GOP.
3 Likes
Sure, but that most certainly doesn’t apply to Musk, who was born a South African.
8 Likes
I have an issue with people or movements that say that want to build a better future, but try to do it through a worse present. A lot of Musk’s success and fortune have been achieved at the expense of underpaid and overworked, while enthusiastic, minions. While I agree with most of his goals, I certainly disagree with his means. It would be exiciting to help him achieve those goals, but not at the expense of my health, my wealth, and my family life. I am too old to fall for that.
3 Likes
Sure. I’ve got no beef with Musk myself, and I’ve even considered buying a Tesla. I just found the statement “he’s done more to resolve the problem [of climate change] than anyone else in my lifetime” rather hyperbolic.
Full credit to Musk for taking a car company that someone else founded in response to GM dragging their feet on plug-ins, and turning it into a viable niche player in an industry that contributes a fraction of the greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming.
6 Likes
Triple “hmmm”…
Followed by a triple demonic “EEEEEEEEEEEE”
1 Like
He was born in the Panama Canal zone, a U.S. territory (at the time).
3 Likes
Do we have any particular reason to suspect that the cause of vehicular electrification would be much damaged by Tesla bleeding out and the relevant assets being purchased by someone who knows how to assemble cars?
3 Likes
People born in US Territories are not always considered US citizens, sometimes they are just US nationals and, actually, the Canal Zone was not even considered a US Territory at that time:
The former unincorporated territory of the Panama Canal Zone and its related military facilities were not regarded as United States territory at the time [of John McCain’s birth], but 8 U.S.C. § 1403, which became law in 1937, retroactively conferred citizenship on individuals born within the Canal Zone on or after February 26, 1904, and on individuals born in the Republic of Panama on or after that date who had at least one U.S. citizen parent employed by the U.S.
Another interesting case is Ted Cruz: he was born in Calgary, Canada. His fitness to run for the GOP nomination was challenged multiple times, but he was never excluded from the ballot. For example:
in February 2016, the Illinois Board of Elections ruled in Cruz’s favor, stating, “The candidate is a natural born citizen by virtue of being born in Canada to his mother who was a U.S. citizen at the time of his birth.”
5 Likes
John McCain was born in Panama, and Ted Cruz in Canada, and their campaigns got pretty far.
Musk could retroactively claim to have been American this whole time. I’m not saying he’d win, but it seems like something he might do, and he could argue anything he wants in a courtroom.
1 Like
I know there’s already a list.
6 Likes
6 Likes
Specifically they have to be born a citizen per Article 2, Clause 5 (or have already been a citizen at the time the Constitution became law, in which case unless they’re a vampire or a Vulcan, they’ll be long dead).
“No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President”
In order to be a US citizen by birth - as opposed to naturalized, which Musk is and which makes him inegliable to run for the presidency of the United States (not that I think he would want to) - at least one parent, biological or adoptive, must be a citizen. Grandparents simply do not count.
But look at the bright side, Musk can still be president of Mars. 
9 Likes
I agree 100%. That’s why I phrased it this way about replacing gas cars as the important goal, not Tesla succeeding. As you said, lots of companies are in this space and those other companies are not wasting everyone’s time calling search and rescue members Pedo’s and shouting “Come at me bro, with your lawyers”. If Tesla can decrease pollution that’s great, but they are not owed success. They need to earn it by their actions, ethics and products.
6 Likes
