Welcome to Muskville: Where the workers never leave

Remember Elon Musk's "extremely hardcore" edict for staff who hoped to stay on at Twitter after his takeover? To some, this extended to sleeping on the office floor – and even then it didn't save their jobs. Now imagine a town or city built exclusively for the employees of other Musk-owned companies – Boring, SpaceX, Tesla – …

[Citizen of Nowhere]

Complete control of their employees has been the wet dream of a certain kind of "industrialist" since the 19th century. No doubt as well as living in company-owned towns, Musk's employees will end up being paid in "Twitcoin" which can only be spent in Boring Stores or converted to real money with a 50% charge. That way he can build up a stock of serfs obliged to work for him when he sets up his Muskovy on Mars. Guy's a horrible POS.

[Tron]

Not entirely fair to lambast industrial new towns.

Many of the new towns built in the industrial revolution were very good, lifting people out of filthy slums, providing sanitation, schools and low cost food. They were rolled out with good intentions by well-meaning dissenters who had largely been excluded from public life because of their religion. The pro-temperance stance of many prevented working men from drinking all they earned at the expense of their families. They were years ahead of their time in terms of social welfare, often supporting co-operative ventures. Working conditions weren't great in factories because mass production was new. It would take time to understand the consequences. Many of those behind the new towns were instrumental in fighting for a better deal for working people. Set against the (many) horrors of the industrial cities, the new towns were as utopian as you could get for the working classes.

Company housing is more common than you might think, even today. We think of 'mining towns' with the houses being built around the pit, but in Japan and China, employees often live in low-cost company-provided housing today.

[Jason Bloomberg]

Re: Not entirely fair to lambast industrial new towns.

They were rolled out with good intentions by well-meaning dissenters

And then there's Musk.

The issue is of course whether those providing for workers are doing it in the worker's interests or their own, interests less worthy than having done a good deed, or just doing the right thing.

Genuine philanthropy seems to me to require empathy and I have seen precious few signs of that from Musk.

[Citizen of Nowhere]

Re: Not entirely fair to lambast industrial new towns.

>the new towns were as utopian as you could get for the working classes

Patronising bullshit then; patronising bullshit now. Like I said, a question of control. Everything you said is about controlling people who are considered unable to run their own lives. And if you think industrial conditions in the early factories were due to the "novelty" of the system, you probably think the moon's made of green cheese as well.

[Ian Johnston]

Re: Not entirely fair to lambast industrial new towns.

Nobody was forced to move to, or stay in, Saltaire, New Lanark or Bourneville.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Not entirely fair to lambast industrial new towns.

No, they weren't. They were a dystopian nightmare. There's a reason this song exists:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tXJokkWQjY

"You load 16 tons, what do you get?

Another day older and deeper in debt

St. Peter, don't you call me 'cause I can't go

I owe my soul to the company store"

[J. Cook]

Re: Not entirely fair to lambast industrial new towns.

Well at least it looks good for a little while, until someone in the company decides that the company town needs to generate revenue instead of being a cost item on the books.

And then there's the company store, which is usually the only store in the company town, and the only place that'll accept company scrip, which they pay instead of actual currency.

The US has seen this story a couple times in it's history, and it usually ends in bloodshed. Hell, there was even a song made about it.

[elsergiovolador]

Complete control of their employees has been the wet dream of a certain kind of "industrialist" since the 19th century.

Since government took their slaves away, they can't get over it.

[Michael Wojcik]

As Eric Williams¹ famously explained at some length, capitalism is far more efficient than slavery at extracting profit from workers.

¹Though CLR James said he gave Williams the idea. Then Williams put James under house arrest, so maybe James had a point.

[An_Old_Dog]

Company Towns

"You load sixteen tons, what do you get?

Another day older and deeper in debt.

Saint Peter don't you call me, 'cause I can't go;

I owe my soul to the company store."

--Merle Travis

[Neil Barnes]

Re: Company Towns

Beat me to it: the second and last lines in particular.

That faint vibration? Titus Salt spinning in his grave.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Company Towns

Similar seismic disturbance coming from York, where Joseph Rowntree created not just the eponymous chocolate and sweet factory, but also the garden village New Earswick, never just for factory workers. Full disclosure: I spent my early years living there. Anyone who chooses to work for Musk should get a CT scan, stat.

[chivo243]

Re: Company Towns

Getting paid in company scrip too! Would that be Dogecoin?

[TooOldForThisSh*t]

Re: Company Towns

So, lose your job and lose your home? Sounds like just another way to keep employees in line.

[Michael Wojcik]

Re: Company Towns

This being Musk, there will probably be a droit du seigneur clause in the contract as well.

[disgruntled yank]

Re: Company Towns

Came here to say that. Link for those who don't know the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3I15_KUsOzs

[Lars]

Re: Company Towns

@disgruntled yank

I think this is the best version still.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfp2O9ADwGk

Johnny Cash - Sixteen Tons

[M.V. Lipvig]

That was tried in the 1800s

Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, not even.

[tecolote42]

HiTech Pottersville

Not even, not ever. Don't want to be his employee, his renter, his neighbor, or his customer. I feel sorry for his neighbors and for Bastrop County.

Hope they make him do tertiary treatment as a condition of any permit to release his wastewater into the Colorado. FYI: Tertiary treatment of effluent involves a series of additional steps after secondary treatment to further reduce organics, turbidity, nitrogen, phosphorus, metals, and pathogens. Most processes involve some type of physicochemical treatment such as coagulation, filtration, activated carbon adsorption of organics, reverse osmosis, and additional disinfection. Tertiary treatment of wastewater is practiced for additional protection of wildlife after discharge into rivers or lakes. Even more commonly, it is performed when the wastewater is to be reused for irrigation (e.g., food crops, golf courses), for recreational purposes (e.g., lakes, estuaries), or for drinking water.

[Timo]

Re: HiTech Pottersville

Same for Pullman, now a neighborhood in Chicago. Pullman built housing for his workers, and some reports are that he was then able to dictate their behavior and actions, and charge them exorbitant rents, so that most of the wages came back to him.

Historical riots and spurred creation of many workers rights rules.

[chivo243]

Re: HiTech Pottersville

Sorry didn't read your post before posting my Pullman facts below... +1!

[jake]

One wonders if he has a backup plan.

Perhaps a currently empty lot in Guyana, with the name on the map tentatively scribbled in in pencil: Musktown.

[Ropewash]

Re: One wonders if he has a backup plan.

I was thinking it would come down to either Jonestown or Rapture.

[Vometia has insomnia. Again.]

Re: One wonders if he has a backup plan.

Columbia was pretty unpleasant. I could see it working out a lot like that...

[ecofeco]

Re: One wonders if he has a backup plan.

There's a strange one in the jungle...

Wow, can't believe I remember those lyrics and that I'd forgotten that song.

[chivo243]

Re: One wonders if he has a backup plan.

I think there's still a pitcher with some Kool-Aid.... I know there's a compound in Waco he can get for cheap too.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: One wonders if he has a backup plan.

I worked with a guy who owned a huge chunk of land that backed onto that bit of Waco, wonder if he's been chatting to Musk

[Claverhouse]

Re: One wonders if he has a backup plan.

The Kingdom of the Mosquito Coast currently lacks a ruler. Although Mr. Musk is a devout republican, so was Napoleon and those people are always willing to sacrifice themselves for the Peeple by grabbing a kingdom or two; with the faintest change in spelling in this case.

[Blackjack]

Welcome to Muskville, is such a lovely place

Welcome to Muskville, is such a lovely place.

Such a lovely place.

Plenty of houses at Muskville, just remember to smile.

Remember to smile.

Is such a lovely town, they all work in the same place, all have the same face.

All have the same face.

No one here is mean, no one here lacks a job, no one can be hostile.

No one can be hostile.

Oh such a lovely place, everyone works, everyone smiles, everyone has to believe.

Everyone has to believe.

Any time of year you can find me here, because you can move in any time you like, but you can never leave!

You can never leave.

You can never leave.

You can never leave.

[nautica]

creepy...

"Welcome to Muskville: Where the workers never leave..."

Anyone remember the prescient last line of the Eagles' song, "Hotel California"?--

"...You can check out any time you like

But you can never leave"

[chivo243]

Re: creepy...

I was thinking of a Pleasant Muskville Sunday, here in status symbol land...

[CowHorseFrog]

Why would anyone ask Kanye West to help with anything ?

HIs shoes were a big success for Adidas...

Can Kanye even tie his own shoelaces ?

[veti]

Like Trump - just because he's evil, that doesn't mean he's stupid. I'm sure Kanye has interesting ideas sometimes.

[that one in the corner]

> I'm sure Kanye has interesting ideas sometimes

Interesting, even fascinating (he did WHAT now?), no argument there.

As for "stupid" - depends upon which side of his ego you are looking from. That "hologram" of his father-in-law, for example.

[Insert sadsack pun here]

"just because he's evil, that doesn't mean he's stupid. I'm sure Kanye has interesting ideas sometimes."

Kanye in the past has been very self-deprecating, insightful, intelligent, and creative. Unfortunately, in recent years (and since the traumatic death of his mother) he has totally gone off the deep end. He's obviously completely unbalanced. I think he is mentally ill, not evil - but he is doing evil things.

[Anonymous Coward]

Drumpf and Elmo are both profoundly stupid. They were born stupid and will die stupid.

They were also born into money, and got very lucky. Nothing they've done requires intelligence or skill, just luck. And they both have a real talent for lucking into money and losing money.

West wasn't born stupid, but his mental illness has made him stupid. It's kind of sad, really.

[chivo243]

Gotta have religion! Elmo's religion!

[John Brown (no body)]

"Can Kanye even tie his own shoelaces ?"

No one knows for sure. He has minions to do that for him.

[GruntyMcPugh]

The can use the $Bns of dollars worth of unsold sneakers are roofing shingles,.. because Solar City sure as heck won't be supplying them.

[CGBS]

Mayor Adler not only promised the Muskovite-Muscrat he would not stand in his way, he offered to sell him part of his $500million + in real estate holdings. Stand in his way...pfftt....he was kneeling the entire time.

[ecofeco]

Yes, but front or back?

[Alumoi]

Does it matter?

[cookieMonster]

Kneeling, hands behind his back, mouth open

[chivo243]

pfftt....he was kneeling the entire time.

And Frank Zappa said, "There's a big difference between kneeling down, and bending over..."

I'll let your imagination run wild with the icon!!

[Kernel]

" If an employee quits their job or is fired, they would have 30 days to vacate the premises."

Ah, so employment conditions have improved considerably - when my great-grandfather was killed in a pit disaster in the north of England in the early 1900's my great-grandmother only got two weeks notice to move out of the company house (although apparently she did get a free bible as well, which Musk doesn't seem to offering).

[Anonymous Coward]

Ok, you twisted my arm. 2 weeks and a free bible.

Elon.

[simonlb]

apparently she did get a free bible as well, which Musk doesn't seem to offering

No bible, but you do get a free copy of the fabled Hyperloop 'White Paper'.

[that one in the corner]

All Hail the White Paper

[Timop]

The feeling when you have slept at office overnight and grab your laptop and get "login failed" prompt. And then find out the web auction listing for all your belongings.

[chivo243]

It's been done, and abolished in South Chicago by a transportation magnate

Historic Pullman was built in the 1880s by George Pullman as workers' housing for employees of his eponymous railroad car company, the Pullman Palace Car Company. He established behavioral standards that workers had to meet to live in the area and charged them rent. Pullman's architect, Solon Spencer Beman, was said to be extremely proud that he had met all the workers' needs within the neighborhood he designed. The distinctive rowhouses were comfortable by standards of the day, and contained such amenities as indoor plumbing, gas, and sewers.[2]

Workers initiated the Pullman Strike in 1894, and it lasted for 2 months, eventually leading to intervention by the US government and military.[3] The Strike Commission, set up in 1894, ruled that the aesthetic features admired by visitors had little monetary value for employees.[4]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pullman,_Chicago

[trindflo]

Re: It's been done, and abolished in South Chicago by a transportation magnate

I see others were way ahead of me. Here's my historical link: Company Towns

So many icons to choose from for this. Maybe Musk has earned his own icon.

[John Brown (no body)]

Re: It's been done, and abolished in South Chicago by a transportation magnate

"The Strike Commission, set up in 1894, ruled that the aesthetic features admired by visitors had little monetary value for employees.[4]"

While true, it's not all about monetary value and anyway, aesthetics do play a part in monetary value. Why else are properties in "desirable areas" worth more than others? Beach front, lake side, etc. Same applies to "aesthetic features", whether part of the actual dwelling or just making the general area look nicer. That's not to defend bad practices on behalf of the employer and/or landlord mind.

[chivo243]

Only One city?

The Orange Wonder is proposing 10! Count'em 10 Freedom Cities. https://edition.cnn.com/2023/03/03/politics/donald-trump-freedom-cities-flying-cars Like the Jetsons!

We're doomed, DOOOMED! As I googled this string "proposed tech cities" I see that Nevada is proposing the same kind of thing...

[Andy 73]

I have some sympathy for the idea..

..but as with most Musk enterprises, it's the execution that causes problems.

Company towns could be quite a good deal - remember you don't *have* to work there, and rather like living in the big cities, you move there to work and will likely move on later. That confuses people who live in traditional suburbia where you lay down roots and expect to have various commutes as you change jobs.

It's worth pointing out that Bourneville, the model village built by the Cadbury family is still regarded as a huge improvement in living conditions for workers, and in some ways still exceeds the quality of modern housing estates. Similarly Billund, the town that has grown up around Lego's headquarters (which otherwise would have to be characterised as being the arse end of nowhere), is a remarkably nice place.

Given modern insanity around housing prices, clogged commuter routes, ridiculous transport costs and broken communities, there is something to be said of working in a town where much of the community shares a common interest, where commuting is reduced or eliminated and housing can be designed for the sort of family or homeowner that you are. It could be a way to break the painful hyper-focus of large cities that, particularly in America, are leaving rural areas drained of life.

But... yeah.. Musk. Must be pretty high on the list of "people I'd never want as my landlord".

[Wellyboot]

Re: I have some sympathy for the idea..

Bournville is still one of the better areas around Birmingham and a real shame it’s only a relatively small development. Rarely since have green open spaces been such a part of urban planning.

[CrazyOldCatMan]

Re: I have some sympathy for the idea..

Rarely since have green open spaces been such a part of urban planning

In that once-proud bastion of industrial housing (Swindon - where the majority of the working age men worked in the Brunel Engine Works and much of the housing stock in the centre dates from that era) you can see this effect clearly - the newer areas of the town where houses have been built on formerly-council land (like mine) are in estates with wide verges and plenty of green open spaces (there's at least 3 parks in dog-walking distance). Presumably, the conditions of sale of the land to developers was quite specific about such things. Because we are a corner plot, our garden is a reasonable size (albeit was used as a carpark ond general dumping ground by the builders so, if we are planting something, we have to dig down to make sure that we are not planting it on top of a large lump of concrete or tarmac..)

Estates build on private land are very much the opposite - the developers have crammed in as many houses as possible with tiny exterior spaces using a series of twisty, turny roads, all alike.. Visiting friends who live in those estates is really quite claustrophobic.

[trindflo]

Re: I have some sympathy for the idea..

Agreed. It sounds good in a way; sort of like a commune.

Except instead of a board of kumbaya hippies deciding what is best for everyone you have one industrialist.

And the great American dream of home ownership is baked out of the equation as "you move there to work and will likely move on later" in a way that never acquires equity.

And of course the retirement plan: "30 days to vacate the premises".

Looking at it from another perspective it sounds like living in a penitentiary.

The truth is somewhere in between, but it's not something I would recommend to anyone I like.

[Andy 73]

Re: I have some sympathy for the idea..

That's missing the point entirely.

In this modern day of internet and global banking, you are no more forced to live and work within five miles of your birth than you are forced to labour in the fields as a child.

"The great American dream of home ownership" appears to have died a death on the altar of astronomically expensive cities - and just as in anywhere else in the world, you go there to work and save your pennies to buy a house somewhere else, whether it's a retirement home in Florida or somewhere quiet on the West coast.

It's idiocy to suggest people move to a company town with the plan of owning and retiring there. If you want to do that, go work for someone else and accept that your house might cost a bit more, your commute might be a bit longer, your salary might be a bit lower and so on. People already make exactly that choice when they decide whether to work for one of the big tech firms in San Francisco, or financial firms in New York etc. Try asking your landlord there to give you 30 days to find rent...

Comparing it to a penitentiary is to fall for the usual hysteria - I know of no penitentiary that has optional attendance, pays you extra to be there and actively sets out to attract inmates with the quality of the experience. And that last bit is what every company has to compete to do - make it appealing to go work for them, whether it's through bean-bag and foosball tables, or nice housing away from a city sprawl.

And again, I'll make the point that you have a choice. Usually that would be based on the reality of what is being offered. In Musk's case, I'd have very low faith in the implementation and be reading the small print very carefully, but that doesn't mean a company town has to be a bad concept in the modern era.

[iron]

Re: I have some sympathy for the idea..

The difference being that towns like Bournville and Port Sunlight were built to provide decent living conditions for workers as an alternative to Victorian squalor.

Now I would call the state of American healthcare a similarly dispicable state of affiars but that isn't Muskie's reasoning. He's not looking to improve quality of life, he's just looking to lock in his slaves so they can serve him like those in his parent's Emerald mines served them.

[Androgynous Cupboard]

Re: I have some sympathy for the idea..

Spot on. If there is globe with Victorian Paternalism on one side, Musk is on the other pole. Capitalism has fallen a long, long way.

[Stork]

Re: I have some sympathy for the idea..

I am almost certain that LEGO does not own (many) of the residential houses in Billund - I am Danish and have never heard of it. But I am sure they have paid for a lot of leisure facilities that would not be there otherwise.

[willyslick]

Re: I have some sympathy for the idea..

Seems to me the main attraction for musk is that which many of his billionaire peers strive for - to be above the law. These guys just think the law is for poor people and they just want to demonstrate to everyone that thy are in fact "above the law". What better way to do this than move to some remote area, get the local authorities to look the other way regarding any standard legal requirements for development and later for actual legality in the settlement. Some sort of prepper's utopia which musk can rule over and make his own laws in.

What a nightmare.

[Lars]

Too sides to a coin

There was of course a time too when industrialist understood the need for healthy workers and in their small tows and arranged for sound housing and schools and healthcare.

But lets hope things wont go so bad that it's needed again.

[Ace2]

"I would like to know what is actually being sprayed“

Maybe don’t set yourself up in a Republicunt paradise, then, hmm?

[that one in the corner]

The Quakers knew how to build decent company towns

As mentioned above, the Cadbury brothers and John Rowntree with Bournville, Joseph Rowntree building in and around York, as well as Port Sunlight[1] and a goodly number of smaller projects around the country.

But, as we all know, the Puritan Fathers persecuted the Quakers. Not such a clever idea now, eh?

[1] Memory going, forget if the Lever brothers were Quakers or just decent chaps.

[werdsmith]

Re: The Quakers knew how to build decent company towns

The railway companies in the 19th Century Britain also built housing, provided parks and sports/leisure facilities.

[CrazyOldCatMan]

Re: The Quakers knew how to build decent company towns

The railway companies in the 19th Century Britain also built housing

As did the GWR works (aka Brunel Engine Works) in Swindon. Which is why there are rows and rows of fairly identical houses in the town centre..

(And in one of the early bits, the houses are arranged into squares with the corner houses being much bigger - either for use as a pub or a shop or a house for a senior-grade manager.)

[graeme leggett]

Re: The Quakers knew how to build decent company towns

Levers were Congregationalist - so coming out of the non-conformist branch of christianity in Britain.

But while they intended to recruit palm oil plantation workers in the Congo by offering something similar to Port Sunlight, they ended up using forced labour.

[Ian Johnston]

Re: The Quakers knew how to build decent company towns

Wikipedia says the Lever family were congregationalists.

Street in Somerset is another Quaker town, largely built by the Clarke family.

[Anonymous Coward]

Muskrat

Damn

Who would have thought that America

Would return to servitude / serfdom

The USA Taliban are really running the show

Scary place the USA full of Karen’s & Kevin’s guns & knives and the worst of all Lawyers

USA a country in decline and I thought the UK was starting to suck

Seems like USA sucks and blows

[chivo243]

Re: Muskrat

A physicist friend of mine says that nothing sucks... So I guess that means only one thing.

A lot of my friends in the US carry guns. Not because the want to carry them. I worked professionally in kitchens for 20 years, can you guess how I protect myself? Not like that blowhard Ramsey either... I can use the F word with the best of them...

[trindflo]

Re: Muskrat

"A physicist friend of mine says that nothing sucks... So I guess that means only one thing."

That what we experience as gravity is the tidal force of subatomic particles stampeding off to a better place?

"I worked professionally in kitchens for 20 years, can you guess how I protect myself?"

Never bring a knife to a gunfight...unless you are James Coburn and are starring in a movie

[yetanotheraoc]

Utopia

Of course it will be so good that Musk himself will live there....

[Agamemnon]

Re: Utopia

Sure, he's going to give up his *two houses* (side by side) in Beverly Hills.

[CatWithChainsaw]

So many questions but no good answers

If Musk is so hardcore he wants everyone to work at the office, why bother with the charade of separate houses? Just build Kowloon - your office is your bedroom and a communal kitchen with less hygiene than a college dorm's is just down the hall.

Also, how is crime (or firing) treated in this town? Maybe you get sent to Twitter Jail (on the "bad" side of SnailbrooKowloon), and community service is measured in lines of code at $1/hour like the inmates of other prisons.

[that one in the corner]

Re: So many questions but no good answers

> community service is measured in

the number of Twitter accounts you can run to retweet and like the G-K Musk's posts, including that famous one of his: "I have eliminated the problem of bot accounts, you find only certified humans in your feed now".

[that one in the corner]

Take away his cheese and late night movie marathons

So this is to be a town to house one man's employees, built above a network of tunnels. No doubt the town will be full of company product, including humanoid robots and neural implants, with easy access to flamethrowers.

Stepford World: 451

Where is Yul Brynner when you need him?

[Michael Strorm]

Re: Take away his cheese and late night movie marathons

> Where is Yul Brynner when you need him?

A show town with everything but Yul Brynner.

[elsergiovolador]

Brown shirts

Are workers required to wear brown shirts?

[david 12]

Nope

New Lanark -- Robert Owen --

[Winkypop]

Musktopia

He’s taking ideas from that other huckster Joseph Smith of Mormon infamy. Own the town, own everything, operate your own worthless scrip, buy up around you, expect total devotion, worship regularly, then run for President.

Let’s just hope he doesn’t get as far as the wife stealing and the child abuse.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Musktopia

... and the child abuse.

I think the names given to his offspring would count as abuse.

[Lars]

Re: Musktopia

"I think the names given to his offspring would count as abuse.".

Mentioning abuse brings "de Pfeffel" to my mind.

[T. F. M. Reader]

Refinement...

Will it further "refine an idea to build an off-the-grid community"?

Does this mean we will never again see a tweet or hear another word from Elon?

[John Brown (no body)]

Subsidised housing?

Here in the UK, if your employer subsidises your housing, especially by the amount alluded to in the article, that would be a taxable "benefit in kind", the value of the subsidy treated as part of your salary. Only the government benefits from that. You have to be well up the food chain to benefit, ie can afford the costs of an accountant who can save you more than his/her fees.

There are so-called "salary sacrifice" schemes whereby you can pay for or buy stuff from your gross salary through approved schemes such that you pay less tax. But of the two I've looked at, the companies involved in the approved schemes seem to be front-loaded so you don't actually end up better off. One was the cycle to work scheme, the other an EV purchase scheme. In both cases, it was cheaper to just pay the normal income tax and buy a better deal on the open market. I did neither, but looked very closely to see if it might benefit me. Neither scheme fitted my use case, but may work for others. (The EV one, on looking deeper into it, was only a lease deal anyway, something NOT mentioned in the headline marketing at all, only becoming evident after you signed up to their website and started looking for prices.)

[Groo The Wanderer]

The only reason Musk moved to Texas is it is a LOT easier to buy the Texas state government and governor than it is to buy California's...

[Hazmoid]

I expect it would be cheaper too. ;)

[Mr Dogshit]

Fordlândia

Didn't end well

[ComputerSays_noAbsolutelyNo]

Let's hope for the best

A charismatic leader

quite some skepticism towards centralized government, regulations, etc.

a cult-like following

a relatively isolated piece of land

These are all ingredients for cults being besieged by federal law enforcement, which often ends badly. Let's hope for the best.

[Fr. Ted Crilly]

No no...

You must be making it up, Steve Davis... is. the. President. of. Boring.

[haaz]

Expecting speed from local government, and other amusements

As someone who works in the field of local government in the American Midwest, I have a bemused chuckle when someone expects speed from any government. While it's true that local governments in particular can be nimbler than states or federal ones, we are still very methodical to try and ensure no one can mess our systems up. Surely, things get through sometimes. But it's this way for good reason. I would be very wary about anyone coming in and demanding speed.

[Ian Johnston]

I'm mildly surprised to learn that the Boring Company is still going. Hyperloop is over, though, right?

Can you imagine how Musk would behave if he was monopoly supplier to a colony on Mars?

[YakkingUdon]

Cyber Truck Act

Musk always looking to the future, never to history.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truck_Acts

[farfenoogan]

All these predictions....

I wonder how much of this whining and bitching about something that doesn't even exist yet is due to jealousy and envy. Somehow, rent at about 40% of the local average is a terrible thing. It's also likely some of the vitriol here is because of the changes in the "perfection" that was twitter. I have no love for Elon Musk, but I do recognize his accomplishments.

It's not likely that the plan to pay in company scrip (if that's even real) would be accepted by the people that would be most desired to work there. Last comment: I doubt that living there would be a requirement to work at the facility.