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Starbase, LA

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Re: Starbase, LA

#441

Post by woah »

boplicity wrote: post #149
bko wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know, government waste and most policy sucks. But there's no reason we can't do stuff or even try. For instance, take Tesla. It wasn't anything revolutionary. Any auto manufacturer could have invested in battery technology and building a compelling EV, but they didn't. Same with manufacturing in America. Every manufacturer took as given that they have to outsource manufacturing to oversees and components to t…

It's easy to forget that Tesla was made possible almost exclusively through government incentives. This is something that most people seem to have forgotten: Tesla exists because the government created incentive programs that paid in cold hard cash. Musk took advantage of those programs, and Tesla absolutely would not have been nearly as successful (and likely not existed) without it.

The biggest miracle of Tesla is that they somehow got liberals to argue against government incentives for electric cars

Re: Starbase, LA

#442

Post by WalterBright »

wyre wrote: post #430
WalterBright wrote: post #271

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> We first need a healthy, educated, engaged, and safe population. All else follows. The requirement is economic freedom, from which everything follows.

In what way? There is nothing inherent about economic freedom that leads to a healthy, educated, engaged, and safe population, in the same way there is nothing inherent about a healthy, smart, and safe population that leads to economic freedom. The US is one of the most economically free places in the world, and always has been, yet obesity is at all time highs, gen Z is the first generation to score less on standard…

Free markets mean the only way to make money legally is to provide a product or service that other people want to buy. And people want to be healthy, educated, engaged and safe. In other words, it takes advantage of the inherently selfish nature of people to make others better off.

> obesity is at all time highs

Obesity is a choice. I know people won't like me writing that. I know it is very hard to lose weight. It's still a choice, though. I don't see how making people less free would change that.

> gen Z is the first generation to score less on standardized tests than the generation before them

The government is the primary institution that provides education, not the free market.

> civilians killed by law enforcement is at an all time high

I don't see how that is a result of economic freedom.

> Economic freedom at it's extreme will only lead to a weakening of the middle class

The US was much more economically free in the 1800s than now, and the middle class became the dominant class, by far.

> consolidation of wealth among those holding the most wealth.

Wealthy people get that way in a free market by creating products and services that other people want. In other words, they do not "consolidate" wealth, they create it.

Re: Starbase, LA

#443

Post by jayGlow »

Noaidi wrote: post #286
aksss wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Incremental domestic capital investment, good. The level of cynicism, shit-talking, and schadenfreude wish-casting in response to this is crazy. Start cheering on successes. Resist the deconstructionist mindset.

Elon Musk is mostly a bad person. I do not want mostly bad people to succeed. Why is that hard to understand? You either do no think he is a bad person, or ignore the fact he is.

I'm capable of understanding people are multidimensional and capable of both good and bad things. it's possible think someone is a bad person while understanding that not literally everything they do is evil. this project being successful will improve the lives of thousands of others would you rather the project fail and have things stay the same?

Re: Starbase, LA

#444

Post by [deleted] »

consensus1 wrote: post #313
rurp wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Few Americans have done more than musk to destroy state capacity and to enable corruption on a massive scale, all while enriching himself to an unprecedented degree. That's great for him and his cronies that he has gotten so wealthy doing it, but he's been a huge net-negative to most humans. I get that rockets are cool and a lot of people in the tech bubble think that starlink is the greatest thing ever, but most peo…

So where is the guy who is respectful to the government and compliant with regulations that is out there building millions of EVs, rockets, and massive satellite constellations? If he existed I could respect your argument. But in reality the only guy who seems to be able to build a modern mass manufacturing company in the US is the trillionaire who runs roughshod over all forms of government oversight that gets in hi…

[deleted]

Re: Starbase, LA

#445

Post by [deleted] »

adamtaylor_13 wrote: post #48
ianm218 wrote: post #34

It’s easy to be pessimistic about Musk timelines/ big tech but I am thrilled that ambitious, real world, hard projects are happening in the US again.

You're being down-voted (and so shall I) but I think you're right. Despite all the animosity towards him, Musk is doing things that are economically meaningful for our nation. We'll need a few more of "him" to dig us out of this situation I reckon, but overall I still hope it's possible. (Anyone asking antagonistic questions can go ahead and save their fingers, I won't respond to the petty comments.)

[deleted]

Re: Starbase, LA

#446

Post by dnautics »

manytimesaway wrote: post #288
decimalenough wrote: post #248

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As of March 2026, the Model Y is the best selling car in China . https://teslamagz.com/tesla/model-y/tesla-model-y-becomes-ch... Also South Korea, Australia, the EU, etc.

No it's not. It was the most sold during March, but that's it. Local sources ( https://www.autohome.com.cn/hangye/showroom/ ) tend to show that it's Xiaomi / Geely that's leading the race in 2026. Additionally, sales numbers doesn't correlate with the brand image of Tesla : it is a luxury brand, no matter how you put it.

So you're technically correct, but IIUC Tesla is still the most delivered (customers taking delivery) EV brand in China. Draw what conclusions you will from that fun fact

Re: Starbase, LA

#447

Post by stackghost »

adamtaylor_13 wrote: post #48
ianm218 wrote: post #34

It’s easy to be pessimistic about Musk timelines/ big tech but I am thrilled that ambitious, real world, hard projects are happening in the US again.

You're being down-voted (and so shall I) but I think you're right. Despite all the animosity towards him, Musk is doing things that are economically meaningful for our nation. We'll need a few more of "him" to dig us out of this situation I reckon, but overall I still hope it's possible. (Anyone asking antagonistic questions can go ahead and save their fingers, I won't respond to the petty comments.)

[flagged]

Re: Starbase, LA

#448

Post by thrance »

mrtnmcc wrote: post #33

A way to get back at Texas for datacenter restrictions? Ten pads and thousands of flights per year sure will accelerate Golden Dome, err... I mean "going to Mars"

It's just a ploy anyway, to get billions from the government through no-bid contracts. Doesn't matter what they build. Or if it even gets built, which I doubt it ever will.

Re: Starbase, LA

#449

Post by iknowstuff »

micromacrofoot wrote: post #360
consensus1 wrote: post #313

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So where is the guy who is respectful to the government and compliant with regulations that is out there building millions of EVs, rockets, and massive satellite constellations? If he existed I could respect your argument. But in reality the only guy who seems to be able to build a modern mass manufacturing company in the US is the trillionaire who runs roughshod over all forms of government oversight that gets in hi…

he's in china working on trains and renewable energy rockets and wifi satellites are only solving problems because corporations have sucked public infrastructure dry for generations

ah yes the "wifi" satellites

Re: Starbase, LA

#450

Post by cesarvarela »

adamtaylor_13 wrote: post #48
ianm218 wrote: post #34

It’s easy to be pessimistic about Musk timelines/ big tech but I am thrilled that ambitious, real world, hard projects are happening in the US again.

You're being down-voted (and so shall I) but I think you're right. Despite all the animosity towards him, Musk is doing things that are economically meaningful for our nation. We'll need a few more of "him" to dig us out of this situation I reckon, but overall I still hope it's possible. (Anyone asking antagonistic questions can go ahead and save their fingers, I won't respond to the petty comments.)

I wish he kept a lower profile. His public behavior risks overshadowing the work SpaceX is doing, work that could benefit humanity in ways we can’t yet fully anticipate. I wish we had more Elons pushing us toward a "future that looks like the future," as he said.
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