Choice is the answer. Choice gets us better TVs, better lunches, better mates. Choice rewards those who adapt and change, and punishes those who can’t or won’t.
We do not have the choice to opt-out of government. Try not paying your taxes and see what happens. But we can choose another government.
More and more people are choosing government in Texas or Tennessee over the government in California.
Elon Musk is the latest.
From Outkick:
Following in the steps of Joe Rogan, Elon Musk is moving from California to Texas. Rumors about the move have circulated for a little while, and Musk confirmed them at the Wall Street Journal CEO Summit on Tuesday (video above).
Musk said that Tesla is the last car company still manufacturing cars in California and that SpaceX is the last aerospace company doing significant business in the state. “There used to be a dozen car plants in California, and California used to be the center of aerospace manufacturing.”
SpaceX’s Starship development is in Texas, and there is a big Tesla factory outside of Austin.
“There are a lot of things about California that are great,” Musk said. “Obviously, it’s the biggest economy in the country, the most number of people. I do think that there is something that happens when — to use a sports team analogy — if a team has been winning for too long, they do tend to get a little complacent, a little entitled. And then they don’t win the championship anymore. California’s been winning for a long time. I think they’re taking it for granted a little bit.”
Another thing that is notable here is that, as Tesla stock has skyrocketed — it’s multiplied over 8x in the past year — Musk has become the second richest person in the world behind Jeff Bezos. He is worth $157 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. California has a state income tax of 13.3 percent, and Texas does not have one. That would be considerable capital gains savings if he is able to successfully avoid them in the move. (Fox Business notes that the California Franchise Tax Board is known for their “relentless pursuit” across state lines.)
Musk is not alone. A lot of people who can afford to move from California are. Companies have been heading for the border for a while.
Adam Corolla had a stand-up bit about California a month or so ago. He joked that California’s governor is proposing new laws to fix problems that are anything but the problems the state is facing.
California’s governor is making a choice. He is choosing who is most important. (The homeless and the poor). And now, unsurprisingly, people are making their choices.
Photo Credit: Getty Images