
Elon Musk Wins. Tesla Can Reopen Its Factory - toomuchtodo
https://www.barrons.com/articles/elon-musk-wins-alameda-county-will-let-tesla-reopen-factory-51589373290
======
topkai22
I appreciate Musk being upset at Alameda county being more conservative in
reopening then the state of California, the way he approached it really upset
me. The "we'll open in defiance to authorities" approach was wrong and
supports a dangerous narrative in the United States (and presumably elsewhere)
regarding the response to the pandemic.

More generally, I find the "we'll just ignore laws we find inconvenient and
disagree with" approach a lot of SV (Uber springs to mind) or SV derived
companies have taken discomforting. Rule of law is important and defiance
should be reserved for true injustice, not self-enrichment.

~~~
Reedx
Government overreach is dangerous too. His pushing back on this is
appropriate.

Also worth noting that he got support from government officials, including the
state governor.

~~~
clouddrover
> _Government overreach is dangerous too._

SpaceX is currently asking for government handouts:

[https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2020-05-12/spacex-
mus...](https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2020-05-12/spacex-musk-
california)

There's no honest fight for truth, justice, and the American way in anything
Elon is doing. It's just a company trying to get what it can and give as
little as possible back.

Socialize the costs, privatize the profits.

~~~
toomuchtodo
How is SpaceX asking for economic support, _minimal economic support_ (only
$600k!?), not reasonable because Tesla pushed back against unreasonable county
regulation by Alameda County?

Did we forget the Federal Reserve is dumping hundreds of billions of dollars
into the bond markets to prop up Boeing [1], Ford [2], and other exceptionally
poorly run entrenched businesses who were lucky enough to have large amounts
of debt issued?

[1] [https://www.bloombergquint.com/business/the-non-bailout-
how-...](https://www.bloombergquint.com/business/the-non-bailout-how-the-fed-
saved-boeing-without-paying-a-dime)

[2] [https://finance.yahoo.com/news/surging-ford-bonds-lead-
credi...](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/surging-ford-bonds-lead-
credit-143711446.html)

~~~
clouddrover
How much twitter drama has Ford indulged in lately?

Elon whining about public health measures being "fascist", threatening to
leave California, and then going cap in hand for more public money from the
state he claims is limiting his "freedoms" is not just a bad joke, it's
farcical.

~~~
toomuchtodo
The benchmark is results, not your public image. Where is Boeing's Crew
Dragon/Falcon Heavy/Reusable Falcon 9/StarLink constellation? Where is Ford's
EV manufacturing capacity and charger network?

When you are an innovator, you get some latitude to shit post. The public may
not look fondly upon your antics, but shareholders have stood behind Musk (and
if results continue, will likely continue to do so). California needs Tesla
and SpaceX more than they need California. The rest of the world (China,
Germany for Gigafactories, several countries have begged for one), and other
states (Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, and Colorado all have incentives to Tesla
on offer), have shown they're willing to accommodate. No one is rushing to do
the same for failing behemoths such as Boeing and Ford (both of whom are
performing substantial layoffs, [1] [2]).

There is a balance to be struck between operational flexibility and public
safety. IMHO, Alameda County overreached.

[1]
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23021873](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23021873)

[2]
[https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/02/11/ford-f11.html](https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/02/11/ford-f11.html)

~~~
clouddrover
Elon has no loyalty to you. You're wasting your time being so slavishly loyal
to him. You need not be his spaniel.

~~~
toomuchtodo
I have no loyalty to Elon. It just so happens our interests align (mitigating
climate change, electrification of transportation, rapid deployment of utility
scale energy storage, the commodification of heavy lift to orbit).

If you were doing these things, I'd support you. But you're not. Most aren't.
I support those that are doing this work, necessary work. Elon would not be my
first pick, but unfortunately, he’s the only pick at this scale. "The Devil
You Know."

~~~
clouddrover
> _It just so happens our interests align_

They don't and never will align. He is a narcissistic attention-seeker. You
don't figure into that.

The excuses you're making for him are embarrassing.

~~~
toomuchtodo
Appreciate the feedback.

~~~
clouddrover
Elon's really not worth the effort you put in to edit and re-edit your
defenses of him. You're emotional about and are making excuses for someone
whose primary interest is himself. It's weird. It really is like you're stuck
in an abusive relationship.

~~~
vxNsr
As an outside observer to this conversation, you come off as more emotional
than the OP. Just an FYI.

~~~
clouddrover
It's because you didn't see all the edits as they happened.

------
romwell
Elon Musk didn't "win", and the Alameda County didn't "give in".

The County has been in negotiations with Tesla to reopen on May 18th, provided
Tesla follows the guidelines, and working with Tesla on a re-opening plan to
ensure the safety of its workers.

The Tesla factory will be allowed to reopen on May 18th, as planned.

Musk's tantrum was entirely unnecessary in the first place, but _also_ it was
ineffective. Don't give in to the narrative that glorifies the hissy fit
theatrics of this particular narcissist.

A better title: Alameda county doesn't fall into Musk's martyr trap[2].

Sources: [1][2]

>Scott Haggerty, the county supervisor for the district in Alameda County
where Tesla’s Fremont plant is located, said on Saturday that he had been
confident that county health officials and Tesla executives were close to an
agreement on reopening the plant on May 18[1]

[1][https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/09/business/coronavirus-
elon...](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/09/business/coronavirus-elon-musk-
tesla-california.html)

[2][https://electrek.co/2020/05/12/tesla-fremont-factory-
alameda...](https://electrek.co/2020/05/12/tesla-fremont-factory-alameda-
deescalates-issue-elon-musk-martyr-trap/)

