Latest / Elon Musk Podcast / Welcome to Starbase: Elon Musk's private Texas city

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Welcome to Starbase: Elon Musk's private Texas city · Elon Musk Podcast

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  Elon Musk now has his own city in Texas.
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  Spacex's private launch site in Boca Chica Village has
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  officially become a city named Starbase after residents voted
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  212 to 6 in favor of incorporation.
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  Nearly all voters were SpaceX employees or family members,
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  since the company owns most of the homes and employs most of
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  the people living in the area. This vote turns what was once a
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  sleepy coastal village into an officially recognized
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  municipality, LED entirely by people who work for Elon Musk.
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  Now this episode will cover Starbase, how Musk made it
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  happen, why some people are celebrating it, and why others
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  are protesting. We'll break down the vote, who's
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  now in charge and what it could mean for public land access,
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  environmental concerns, and how companies might take control of
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  entire communities in the future.
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  The creation of Starbase also raises a huge question.
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  What happens when a private corporation becomes the
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  government? Welcome to the Elon Musk
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  podcast. I'm your host Will Walden, your
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  ultimate authority for daily Elon Musk news.
• 1:09
  Exploring the world's biggest ideas with your host Will
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  Walden. There's something new everyday
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  That's patreon.com/stage 0 News so we can keep this free and
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  open for you to enjoy. Something interesting happened
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  now would help the show tremendously.
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  Thank you so much. Elon Musk now has his own city
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  in Texas. Spacex's private launch site in
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  Boca Chica Village has officially become a city called
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  Starbase after residents voted 212 to 6 in favor of
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  incorporation. Nearly all voters were SpaceX
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  employees or family members, since the company owns most of
• 2:53
  the homes and employs most of the people living in the area.
• 2:56
  This vote turns what was once a sleepy coastal village with a
• 2:59
  few people living there into an officially recognized
• 3:03
  municipality led by people who work for Elon Musk.
• 3:08
  Now, in this episode, we're going to cover what Starbase is,
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  how Musk made it happen, and why some people are celebrating it
• 3:14
  while others are also protesting.
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  We'll break down the vote, who is now in charge and what it
• 3:19
  could mean for public land access, environmental concerns,
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  and how companies might take control of entire communities in
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  the future. The creation of Starbase has a
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  big question attached to it. What happens when a private
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  corporation becomes the government?
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  Welcome to the Elon Musk podcast.
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  I'm your host Will Walden. Elon Musk has talked about
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  building a city in South Texas for years, and now he's done it.
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  On Saturday, voters, mostly SpaceX employees, approved
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  turning Boca Chica into the city of Starbase.
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  The town covers just 1.5 square miles, but includes the SpaceX
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  launch site for Starship. And that's the massive 400 plus
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  foot tall rocket that Elon Musk hopes will take humans to Mars.
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  I want to go back a few years. Right after the pandemic.
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  I went to Starbase and I lived there for around a year.
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  I was covering star base and everything happening there.
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  When they were building the initial Starship I was on the
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  side of Hwy. 4 every single day in the 110° heat filming,
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  videoing, live streaming them completing the first ship and
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  booster and putting it on the pad.
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  Now let me tell you this, they are far away from everything.
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  The closest city is Brownsville, TX, and it's about 30 minutes
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  away, and you have to go way down a desolate road and there's
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  nothing there. So building Spacex's star base
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  into an official city, you might have thought, well, maybe they
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  were encroaching on a lot of people, but they really weren't.
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  There are only a few people living there when they're making
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  this into a city. So take that into consideration
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  when you learn a little bit more.
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  But the city elected its first mayor, who's Bobby Peden, who
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  has worked at SpaceX since 2013. Two city commissioners were also
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  elected, both with close ties to the company, and all three ran
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  unopposed. There were no public debates, no
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  local forums and no traditional campaigning.
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  The move gives Musk more control over roads, zoning and local
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  services. SpaceX says this will help them
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  build housing and infrastructure for employees, something county
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  officials have previously blocked.
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  Now, with their own city, they can improve what they want
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  faster and with fewer outsider restrictions.
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  But not everyone supports this. Protesters have gathered at
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  nearby Boca Chica Beach the day of the vote.
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  Local activists, environmentalists and members of
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  the Carrizo Tribe of Texas say the beach and surrounding land
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  are being destroyed. Each rocket launch requires
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  evacuating the whole area, and residents say they're losing
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  access to places they've used for generations.
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  And Musk has not commented on these concerns, though.
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  But the new city is already pushing for more authority.
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  A bill moving through the Texas Legislature would let Starbase
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  officials, who are actually Musk's own employees, decide
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  when to shut down a public beach during the weekdays.
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  If it passes, SpaceX won't need county approval anymore to close
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  the beach for rocket tests. They can do it whenever they
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  want to, and this sets a dangerous precedent.
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  The city is entirely populated by people who depend on SpaceX
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  for their jobs and housing. That means the local government
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  serves the company, not the people.
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  Starbase now operates like a private company town with real
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  political power. And Musk is not the only tech
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  figure with these ideas, though. Mark Anderson and Reid Hoffman
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  are funding a similar project in California, and Peter Thiel once
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  backed plans for floating cities.
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  But Elon Musk is the first to actually figure this out.
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  He got a city recognized, staffed by employees, and
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  designed to serve a private company's needs.
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  Now this blurs the lines between private business and our
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  government. Starbase now controls roads,
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  utilities, and soon, possibly the beach.
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  That means SpaceX can shape the laws any way that they want.
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  There are transparency laws, though, in Texas, so the city
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  has to follow public records rules, but oversight is minimal
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  if there are no independent voices in power.
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  The big risk is that other companies could do the same
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  thing. If this works for Elon Musk,
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  it's likely others will follow. A tech billionaire could build a
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  workforce town, gain control of local rules, and shape the
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  community that exists solely to serve one business.
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  And now Starbase is a real city. It's run and owned and built by
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  the world's richest man. Let me know what you think in
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  the comments. If you have comments on your
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  podcast app. What do you think of this?
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  Do you think it's a good thing? Do you think incorporating the
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  city will help Elon Musk and SpaceX get to Mars faster?
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  Will they have less red tape to go through in order to test
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  Starship, which could push them faster and faster to building
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  hundreds of these rockets to get to Mars?
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  Let me know in the comments. Hey, thank you so much for
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  listening today. I really do appreciate your
• 8:43
  support. If you could take a second and
• 8:44
  hit the subscribe or the follow button on whatever podcast
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• 8:50
  appreciate it. Helps out the show tremendously
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  and you'll never miss an episode.
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  caught up quickly. And please, if you want to
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  support the show even more, go to patreon.com/stage Zero.
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  And please take care of yourselves and each other.
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  And I'll see you tomorrow.