Elon Musk - can't he fix his countries water problem - but can send people 2 live on mars?

originally posted by: Blaine91555
a reply to: DigginFoTroof

Our street could use some repairs and the local government won't pay for it, would you please pay for it for me? Come on you know you want to pay for it, even though it's not your responsibility and I have no right to tell you what to do with your money. Cough it up. Lead by example. $50,000 should do it and if you don't have it right now, take out a loan.

Being responsible for the infrastructure is not the governments responsibility and something no government should ever use taxes to pay for.

Do you really think I'm saying that Musk should PAY for the desalinisation (or whatever is chosen) plant with his own money? Have you read why they haven't built a plant? There are basically 3 options with which they have been presented and I think 2 of them were by Israeli companies and IDK what the third is, possibly a Middle eastern (arab) company, and they are arguing about who is going to be making the profit from the plant. The issue is not that they don't have the money, it's that they don't want to spend $1 billion for a plant and then another $2 billion (or however much it would be) per year for the water (which is all profit to the operating company in this model). So none of the political parties can agree on which provider to go with. Is this stupid? Maybe, I don't know the intimate details.

Now if there is so much money to be made in this one project alone, and there are MANY other cities and countries facing the same problem, then it seems that it would be perfect for a humanitarian such as Musk to offer a solution and prove his technology (work out kinks, perfect the technology for when it is needed in the most hostile enviornment yet visited by man). On top of that, he could sell it to other countries as well and make billions and take stress off already taxed natural aquifers, that is the humanitarian and capitalist thing to do. Are you telling me that Musk is too dumb to see this? He doesn't seem to discriminate between where he makes his money, if it is profitable it seems he is all for it, especially if it involves subsidies!.

a reply to: Kkintekk

Well some people want people like him to pay more taxes so they can tackle those problems, oddly enough we added trillions in dept and did not fix those problem when they were higher. Why do we pay taxes? Great question.

a reply to: DigginFoTroof

I have similar questions for all the billion airs and scientist in america.

They could use their money and talents to make things beautiful.

I ask why myself?

It's sad but I only come up with three answers.

1. Some of them try and the world would be way worse off if not for them.

2. Wealth truly does corrupt and those with money don't want to do anything unless it makes them more.

3. Capitalism never ending pull toward making profit is to blame. People are generally good and would help but the system makes it almost impossible to do anything unless it makes a profit.

I think elon falls into the 2 or 3rd choice.

originally posted by: DigginFoTroof


Do you really think I'm saying that Musk should PAY for the desalinisation (or whatever is chosen) plant with his own money? Have you read why they haven't built a plant? There are basically 3 options with which they have been presented and I think 2 of them were by Israeli companies and IDK what the third is, possibly a Middle eastern (arab) company, and they are arguing about who is going to be making the profit from the plant. The issue is not that they don't have the money, it's that they don't want to spend $1 billion for a plant and then another $2 billion (or however much it would be) per year for the water (which is all profit to the operating company in this model). So none of the political parties can agree on which provider to go with. Is this stupid? Maybe, I don't know the intimate details.

Again why should a person that doesn't live there be forced into thorwing his money at a problem that the SA Government should be working on? I gave a list of Billionairs that live in SA and also don't want to put money into this issue.

It really sounds to me like you have something against Musk, but that's your issue not mine. I don't think Musk should be villianized just tpo make a point, as I pointed out in my first posting here, shouldn't the focus be on the Gates Foundation? The Gates Foundation does work in Africa and also wants to change the world. They even have funded groups in Arfica to source clean drinking water for some of the people that live there. I find it odd that you want to single out Musk who, like it or not, is changing the world with his ideas. Bill and Melinda Gates have more money then Musk does, and has also been funding solutions to issues like water in Africa, so why not go after them for not doing anything?


Personally, it seems like you just don't like the idea of colonizing Mars. Maybe it's because you see no value in it, maybe it's because you don't understand how advances in space exploration can make possitive changes here on Earth, or maybe you have some other gripe. I just don't know, but trying to push this whole thing off as an "Elon Problem" when you yourself have even stated the SA political terrain as the issue for not building a solution is just a failed point on your part.

a reply to: DigginFoTroof

There does seem to be a problem.

Unfortunately. Good peoples mortgages/rents are paid by the system too.

To put the system right might do worse than it does now (for innocents).

It does seem at times like they sell sci fi as science.

I don't think Elon is to blame though.

Would you do it different if you had been born as Elon? (We'll never really know that)

There's no chance of sustained human life for long term in space.

Without supplies being able to be delivered from earth.

This is part of a reply from another thread.

'Project Orion was a potential interstellar technology which we more or less already have but there are a lot of other barriers that would need to be solved. The super orion concept was an 8 million ton craft, 400 meters in diameter, which was envisioned like a city that could travel to another star at about 10% the speed of light, so it could reach Alpha Centauri in 45 years. '

It will make a nice neo hotel.

I don't know why people keep posting that I said Musk should spend his own money and make this a charity case. Not even the Cape Town governement is asking that. There is money offered by the governement and a lot of it to fix the problem.

As for the other billionaires in SA, they aren't proclaiming to be able to sustain life on Mars of which making water is one of the biggest factors. A proof of concept plant in SA which is paid for by the gov wouldn't need Musk's $$ but he could put his genius to use to fix a problem and make money in the process and have a perfect lab to test different tech to produce clean water on Mars. Seems like the ideal situation for someone who wants to put people on Mars. A test bed to work the kinks out of the water tech so that it doesn't break when it is a life or death situation on Mars.

Could it be that he isn't the super mega Genius that people proclaim? Maybe we are waiting for some peon to invent the technology so that some billionaire can then implement it in their plant and rake in the billions themselves. Who needs R&D when you can buy the patent from some shmuck or cash strapped university and then make their billions without ever having to do the dirty work.

originally posted by: DigginFoTroof
I don't know why people keep posting that I said Musk should spend his own money and make this a charity case. Not even the Cape Town governement is asking that. There is money offered by the governement and a lot of it to fix the problem.

Maybe it was this part of your OP:

So what I want to know is why hasn't the savior of man kind, Elon, swooped in and saved his the city in his home country? If he can't make clean water with what is available there (and what the technology that can be purchased from other countries) then how in heck does he think he is going to be able to do it on Mars. Could it possibly be that there isn't enough money in it to make it worth while? Maybe South Africa knows he is a charlaton? Maybe he can't con the SA governement out of billions like he can in the US?

The notion you are stating is the he does it with his money so that he can make money. It may not be what you meant, but it is what was implied.

As for the other billionaires in SA, they aren't proclaiming to be able to sustain life on Mars of which making water is one of the biggest factors. A proof of concept plant in SA which is paid for by the gov wouldn't need Musk's $$ but he could put his genius to use to fix a problem and make money in the process and have a perfect lab to test different tech to produce clean water on Mars. Seems like the ideal situation for someone who wants to put people on Mars. A test bed to work the kinks out of the water tech so that it doesn't break when it is a life or death situation on Mars.

You do realize that he comes up with the idea's, and his team of engineers do all the work? I mean sure he is a smart guy, but he doesn't do any of this alone.

Could it be that he isn't the super mega Genius that people proclaim? Maybe we are waiting for some peon to invent the technology so that some billionaire can then implement it in their plant and rake in the billions themselves. Who needs R&D when you can buy the patent from some shmuck or cash strapped university and then make their billions without ever having to do the dirty work.

And it's this statement that makes it seem that you have a gripe against Musk. Again it may not be you intention, but it certainly comes across that way.

Why all this Musk hatred? He's not assigned to fix South Africa's water problem. He's done more to advance humanity than all of ATS combined. Get over yourselves.

I can see how this would come off as "hating on Elon" but it isn't. It's more directed at the very cult-like following he has in many of his supporters who basically see him as the second coming. I do question some of his business practices such as his accounting methods within Tesla and his use of gov subsidies to help pay for toys for people who can already afford to buy nice things while he has problems delivering on the "economy" model which is where the "real impact" might have been made in the auto industry. I see Musk as a smart if not somewhat odd guy who has taken advantage of the MSM push for green tech and the gov subsidies which have followed. I can't really blame him for that as if he had not done it someone else would have used the $$ and we might have had another company like Solara (the solar panel company Obama supported that went bankrupt after TONS of gov subsidies). At least some people got some cool cars out of this but maybe some others have been suckered into subsidizing those toys by pre-ordering the Tesla 3 which seems to be very low in production.

The point wasn't to bash Musk, but to point out that those people who see him as the possible savior of humanity by allowing people to get to/live on Mars (which is still very hypothetical let alone living on it) while a large city in his home country is struggling with very real and urgent water issue, an issue pretty much identical to that which would be faced on Mars. It seems that the humanitarian would work on current issues such as this especially when they parallel the same issue which is going to be faced in his long term goal of Mars. Kill 2 birds with one stone type of thing.

a reply to: DigginFoTroof

www.borgenmagazine.com...

Elon Musk left south africa when he was 17. He lives in California. He loves the United States (the US also made him rich). Why would he help south africa? Why should he owe allegiance to a piece of land he happened to be born on. He had no control over that. It makes no sense.
Especially since the country is imploding right now. It would be like flushing money down the toilet. They government wouldnt want a project by him, just his money, which they would inturn just stuff in their pockets.

originally posted by: DigginFoTroof
It seems that there are a lot of people who think Elon Musk is either a visionary and is going to help man colonize a new planet and then there are people who think he is a charlaton getting rich off of idiots and government subsidies. So for those who don't know, in Musk's home country there is a MAJOR drought going on for about 5 years and a city of about 2 million people are facing a dier situation where they are going to have to turn the water off for the whole city, that day is labeled "day zero". Now Cape town has had water issues in the past but since the new government has taken over about 20 years ago, it has gotten worse, infrastructure has crumbled and there has been almost no planning for the future (who would have thunk!)

So Cape Town is on the coast and has unlimited access to salt water. They also have a fair amount of coal in the country and little environmental controls to regulate pollution, so they could power a desalination plant with coal should they choose.


So what I want to know is why hasn't the savior of man kind, Elon, swooped in and saved his the city in his home country? If he can't make clean water with what is available there (and what the technology that can be purchased from other countries) then how in heck does he think he is going to be able to do it on Mars. Could it possibly be that there isn't enough money in it to make it worth while? Maybe South Africa knows he is a charlaton? Maybe he can't con the SA governement out of billions like he can in the US?

Really, why hasn't this man with the massive ego (I mean brain) come up with a breakthrough technology that would fix this world wide problem that is going to also be needed on mars?

Can anyone tell me one technology that Musk has developed and patented himself or has he just taken existing tech and repackaged it with the help of massive governement subsidies?

First off your “facts” are so far off that it is laughable. It is clear that you just don’t like the guy for reasons I do not know. So next time you decide to make a hit piece remember to get the actual facts and also consider that there are many hurdles to do such a thing and the corrupt government may think he would use that type of monopoly to blackmail them.

a reply to: DigginFoTroof

Just because he's rich, doesn't mean he knows everything and can do everything. He is no resident there, is he even still SouthAfrican national? I mean there's technology to make drinkabke water from the seas, but why isn't the gov or others who focus on the water issue helping?

The Earth will not last forever, if we do not move out we are doomed as a species. Putting people on Mars is a major first step to ensuring the survival of the human race. I'm not sure what is more humanitarian than that...

a reply to: Guyfriday

They spread FUD about AC electricity too... but here we are. Thanks Tesla !

a reply to: SummerRain

Nikola? Because AC power is all his fault. Right?

originally posted by: Phage
a reply to: SummerRain

Nikola? Because AC power is all his fault. Right?

Yep.

If it's a choice between finding a way to colonize other planets successfully, or solving South Africa's water shortage - I'm all for him not wasting a single second of his time and energy on South Africa.

Don't you think it's up to the corrupt and shambolic South African government to deal the parlous state of the infrastructure and water supply.

Elon Musk is a businessman and what he chooses to do with this fortune is up to him. The South African government is the South African government and they can fix the countries problems if they chose to do so, rather than this cycle of personal enrichment and corruption that effects practically all African countries.

originally posted by: Blaine91555
a reply to: DigginFoTroof

Our street could use some repairs and the local government won't pay for it, would you please pay for it for me? Come on you know you want to pay for it, even though it's not your responsibility and I have no right to tell you what to do with your money. Cough it up. Lead by example. $50,000 should do it and if you don't have it right now, take out a loan.

Being responsible for the infrastructure is not the governments responsibility and something no government should ever use taxes to pay for.

I hear Dominos Pizza is fixing potholes.