Voters Head to the Polls to Decide If Elon Musk Should Get a Company Town in Texas

The “company town” is mostly an artifact of a bygone era—a vestige of an unhappy clip successful American past erstwhile affluent onshore barons controlled society, and labour rights, astatine slightest arsenic we cognize them today, did not yet exist. Today, you’d beryllium hard pressed to find galore of these firm slums progressive successful the U.S., but that hasn’t stopped Elon Musk from trying to bring them backmost successful style.

The Wall Street Journal has a caller story retired connected SpaceX’s ongoing effort to incorporated its ain municipality successful a portion of the Texas Gulf Coast, wherever the company’s Starbase, which it uses to trial and motorboat rockets, is located. Currently, implicit 3,400 SpaceX employees and contractors are progressive astir the base, and the institution has progressively sought to physique up infrastructure and amenities to supply for that increasing workforce.

Musk’s institution filed paperwork to crook Starbase into a institution municipality successful December. In February, the Texas region wherever Starbase is located approved a section predetermination to fto its residents determine whether the municipality could beryllium incorporated oregon not. That predetermination is acceptable to beryllium held connected Saturday. According to the Journal, the municipality would “spread implicit aggregate properties adjacent a authorities road and see astir 247 tons with lodging connected them.”

Starbase General Manager Kathryn Lueders has said that turning Starbase into a existent municipality would let the institution to efficaciously supply “civic functions.” Those functions would see the “management of the roads, utilities, and the proviso of schooling and aesculapian attraction for the residents.” The institution claims it annually spends immoderate $1.5 cardinal connected the operations surrounding Starbase.

Several imaginable authorities officials—all SpaceX employees—have been named arsenic well. The Journal writes that Bobby Peden, a existent SpaceX vice president of the company’s Texas trial and motorboat operations, would beryllium the politician of the town. Meanwhile, 2 different SpaceX employees, Jordan Buss and Jenna Petrzelka, would beryllium 2 of its commissioners.

Texas residents don’t look peculiarly excited astir the planned community. Politico recently spoke to assemblage activists surviving adjacent Starbase, each of whom predictably pilloried the effort: “It’s the richest antheral connected the satellite utilizing america arsenic a investigating ground,” 1 organizer said. “Elon Musk is connected his mode to colonizing Mars. First, he’s trying to colonize this community.”

Musk is ever gathering thing and, lately, helium seems astir funny successful his ain municipality projects. In 2023, the Wall Street Journal reported that Musk was plotting a “utopian” municipality extracurricular of Austin, Texas, that had a hilariously atrocious name: “Snailbrook.” Since then, the municipality has been nether operation but, arsenic of September, only consisted of a tiny fig of buildings, including 15 modular homes, a gym, playground, and swimming pool. Other tech industrialists with ties to Musk person repeatedly pushed for what they telephone “Freedom Cities“—billionaire-backed libertarian enclaves that volition beryllium governed by corporations alternatively than accepted governments.

In short: The nostalgia for 19th-century-style capitalism is seemingly beardown successful America’s caller gilded class, and they’re doing their champion to bring america backmost to the “good aged days” erstwhile workers lived wherever they worked and worked wherever they lived and answered (mostly) to the boss.