Elon Musk is a billionaire that many people admire because of his vision and drive to execute. But did you know that his electric car company succeeded because of government subsidy, not because of inherent financial viability? Musk received millions of dollars from the US government to manufacture eco-friendly Tesla cars. Moreover, he has received billions of government subsidies when the aid doled out to him for Tesla is combined with the state funding for SolarCity and SpaceX. Yet he protested COVID-19 stimulus packages for Americans --- as his company was getting resuscitated by the government’s coronavirus cash. So while taxes were enabling Musk to become one of the richest techpreneurs in the world, ordinary citizens were getting laid off, losing their money, and dying of COVID-19.
Tesla cars are costlier than regular automobiles because of their excellent performance, luxurious designs, and high consumer demand. But they are also pricier because of their electric battery packs and the expensive infrastructure needed to produce green technologies. This means that only the wealthiest people can afford them. We, the unwashed masses, can only buy fossil fuel cars. That is, until our overlords promulgate that we can no longer do so. Some experts say that renewable energy has and will become cheaper than fossil fuel in a few years. On the other hand, some say that renewables’ costs will remain staggeringly high while being unreliable for the mass production of different products.
“But there must be something that we can learn from Elon Musk!”
Yes, there are three things that therapists can learn from his partnership with the state.
#1 Environmental justice is big business.
# 2 The great majority of standalone therapy centers will most likely be unable to purchase ONLY “green” therapy tools and equipment. First, the chances are that they will remain too expensive for the average clinic. Second, very few companies produce them. For therapy clinics to become 100% green, we therapists must...
# 3 Become the wealthiest people in the world. Hey, it’s not impossible for one of us to become the next Jeff Bezos! If you want to take a shot at it, an option will be to profit off environmental justice. You can do so by creating affordable, in-demand, and high-quality products that don’t harm the environment. Should you decide to go into some public-private partnership for the business, make sure that ordinary folks will have a high return for the taxes they’ve invested.
For the record, I love Papa Elon. His inventions are cool and he stood up for Gamestop.
Elon Musk, Crony Capitalist by Veronique de Rugy, contributor at Reason and senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center of George Mason University
Elon Musk is a Government Subsidy Critic But Tesla’s Q2 Results Were Helped by COVID-19 Aid by Alan Ohnsman, contributor at Forbes
Elon Musk’s growing empire is fueled by $4.9 billion in government subsidies by Jerry Hirsch, contributor at Los Angeles Times
Why are Tesla Cars So Expensive? by Adam Hayes, contributor at Investopedia
Renewable Energy Will Be Consistently Cheaper than Fossil Fuels by 2020, Report Claims by Dominic Dudley, contributor at Forbes
The Trouble with Renewable Energy by Benjamin Zycher, resident scholar at American Enterprise Institute
Buying “green” is too pricey for the average consumer by Irina Ivanova, contributor at CBS News
(Photo by David von Diemar)
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