Welcome to Starbase: Elon Musk's private Texas city

Welcome to Starbase: Elon Musk's private Texas city.⚡Support STAGE ZERO on Patreon - https://patreon.com/stagezeronews⚡

💬 Discord - https://discord.gg/kqW2RZVHcc▶️ Subscribe to the Stage Zero News Youtube - https://youtube.com/@stagezeronews?sub_confirmation=1🎧 Listen to the Full Podcast - https://link.chtbl.com/elonmuskpodcast⭐ SUPERCAST - https://clubelon.supercast.com

✔️ FOLLOW STAGE ZERO PODCASTS ON SOCIALStage Zero News on X - https://twitter.com/stagezeronews

❓ABOUT The Elon Musk PodcastThe Elon Musk Podcast takes an in-depth look into the world of the visionary entrepreneur. From SpaceX's mission to colonize Mars, to the revolutionary underground transportation network of the Boring Company, to the cutting-edge technology of Neuralink, and the game-changing innovations of Tesla, we cover it all. Stay up to date with the latest news, events and highlights from the companies led by Elon Musk.

0️⃣ ABOUT STAGE ZEROSTAGE ZERO is the YouTube home for all things Elon Musk and the STAGE ZERO Podcast Network. STAGE ZERO features over 10 years of SpaceX, Tesla, Twitter news as well as exclusive videos from podcasts like The Elon Musk Podcast.

Affiliate Links - #adSHURE SM7B Mic - https://geni.us/shure-sm7b-microphone

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Elon Musk now has his own city in Texas.
Spacex's private launch site in Boca Chica Village has
officially become a city named Starbase after residents voted
212 to 6 in favor of incorporation.
Nearly all voters were SpaceX employees or family members,
since the company owns most of the homes and employs most of

(00:22):
the people living in the area. This vote turns what was once a
sleepy coastal village into an officially recognized
municipality, LED entirely by people who work for Elon Musk.
Now this episode will cover Starbase, how Musk made it
happen, why some people are celebrating it, and why others
are protesting. We'll break down the vote, who's

(00:42):
now in charge and what it could mean for public land access,
environmental concerns, and how companies might take control of
entire communities in the future.
The creation of Starbase also raises a huge question.
What happens when a private corporation becomes the
government? Welcome to the Elon Musk
podcast. I'm your host Will Walden, your

(01:05):
ultimate authority for daily Elon Musk news.
Exploring the world's biggest ideas with your host Will
Walden. There's something new everyday
thanks to our amazing community members like you.
We've reached the top 15 of Spotify's video podcast, the top
10 audio podcasts on both Apple and Spotify for the tech

(01:28):
category, so you all make this possible.
If you want to support us more, check out our Patreon.
That's patreon.com/stage 0 News so we can keep this free and
open for you to enjoy. Something interesting happened
the other day. I was looking through our stats
on Spotify and Apple Podcasts and I noticed that about 55% of

(01:51):
you are not subscribed to the show.
That means 45% of you are subscribed and I really do
appreciate your support. Now the other 55% of you are
awesome, but I'm going to ask you for a favor.
Could you please hit the subscribe button?
It'll take you one second. I'm going to promise you 10
years of this podcast for free, no paywalls.

(02:12):
I'm not going to charge you anything ever, but I'm going to
give you 10 years of this show for free.
I've already been doing it for five years and I plan on doing
it for 10 more. And the only way that we can
continue doing this is with yoursupport.
So one second of your time to hit the subscribe button right
now would help the show tremendously.
Thank you so much. Elon Musk now has his own city

(02:36):
in Texas. Spacex's private launch site in
Boca Chica Village has officially become a city called
Starbase after residents voted 212 to 6 in favor of
incorporation. Nearly all voters were SpaceX
employees or family members, since the company owns most of
the homes and employs most of the people living in the area.

(02:56):
This vote turns what was once a sleepy coastal village with a
few people living there into an officially recognized
municipality led by people who work for Elon Musk.
Now, in this episode, we're going to cover what Starbase is,
how Musk made it happen, and whysome people are celebrating it
while others are also protesting.

(03:17):
We'll break down the vote, who is now in charge and what it
could mean for public land access, environmental concerns,
and how companies might take control of entire communities in
the future. The creation of Starbase has a
big question attached to it. What happens when a private
corporation becomes the government?
Welcome to the Elon Musk podcast.

(03:38):
I'm your host Will Walden. Elon Musk has talked about
building a city in South Texas for years, and now he's done it.
On Saturday, voters, mostly SpaceX employees, approved
turning Boca Chica into the cityof Starbase.
The town covers just 1.5 square miles, but includes the SpaceX
launch site for Starship. And that's the massive 400 plus

(04:02):
foot tall rocket that Elon Musk hopes will take humans to Mars.
I want to go back a few years. Right after the pandemic.
I went to Starbase and I lived there for around a year.
I was covering star base and everything happening there.
When they were building the initial Starship I was on the

(04:22):
side of Hwy. 4 every single day in the 110° heat filming,
videoing, live streaming them completing the first ship and
booster and putting it on the pad.
Now let me tell you this, they are far away from everything.
The closest city is Brownsville,TX, and it's about 30 minutes

(04:47):
away, and you have to go way down a desolate road and there's
nothing there. So building Spacex's star base
into an official city, you mighthave thought, well, maybe they
were encroaching on a lot of people, but they really weren't.
There are only a few people living there when they're making

(05:09):
this into a city. So take that into consideration
when you learn a little bit more.
But the city elected its first mayor, who's Bobby Peden, who
has worked at SpaceX since 2013.Two city commissioners were also
elected, both with close ties tothe company, and all three ran
unopposed. There were no public debates, no

(05:30):
local forums and no traditional campaigning.
The move gives Musk more controlover roads, zoning and local
services. SpaceX says this will help them
build housing and infrastructurefor employees, something county
officials have previously blocked.
Now, with their own city, they can improve what they want
faster and with fewer outsider restrictions.

(05:51):
But not everyone supports this. Protesters have gathered at
nearby Boca Chica Beach the day of the vote.
Local activists, environmentalists and members of
the Carrizo Tribe of Texas say the beach and surrounding land
are being destroyed. Each rocket launch requires
evacuating the whole area, and residents say they're losing
access to places they've used for generations.

(06:14):
And Musk has not commented on these concerns, though.
But the new city is already pushing for more authority.
A bill moving through the Texas Legislature would let Starbase
officials, who are actually Musk's own employees, decide
when to shut down a public beachduring the weekdays.
If it passes, SpaceX won't need county approval anymore to close

(06:35):
the beach for rocket tests. They can do it whenever they
want to, and this sets a dangerous precedent.
The city is entirely populated by people who depend on SpaceX
for their jobs and housing. That means the local government
serves the company, not the people.
Starbase now operates like a private company town with real
political power. And Musk is not the only tech

(06:57):
figure with these ideas, though.Mark Anderson and Reid Hoffman
are funding a similar project inCalifornia, and Peter Thiel once
backed plans for floating cities.
But Elon Musk is the first to actually figure this out.
He got a city recognized, staffed by employees, and
designed to serve a private company's needs.

(07:19):
Now this blurs the lines betweenprivate business and our
government. Starbase now controls roads,
utilities, and soon, possibly the beach.
That means SpaceX can shape the laws any way that they want.
There are transparency laws, though, in Texas, so the city
has to follow public records rules, but oversight is minimal

(07:40):
if there are no independent voices in power.
The big risk is that other companies could do the same
thing. If this works for Elon Musk,
it's likely others will follow. A tech billionaire could build a
workforce town, gain control of local rules, and shape the
community that exists solely to serve one business.

(08:02):
And now Starbase is a real city.It's run and owned and built by
the world's richest man. Let me know what you think in
the comments. If you have comments on your
podcast app. What do you think of this?
Do you think it's a good thing? Do you think incorporating the
city will help Elon Musk and SpaceX get to Mars faster?

(08:24):
Will they have less red tape to go through in order to test
Starship, which could push them faster and faster to building
hundreds of these rockets to getto Mars?
Let me know in the comments. Hey, thank you so much for
listening today. I really do appreciate your
support. If you could take a second and

(08:44):
hit the subscribe or the follow button on whatever podcast
platform that you're listening on right now, I greatly
appreciate it. Helps out the show tremendously
and you'll never miss an episode.
And each episode is about 10 minutes or less to get you
caught up quickly. And please, if you want to
support the show even more, go to patreon.com/stage Zero.

(09:07):
And please take care of yourselves and each other.
And I'll see you tomorrow.