5 ms·

Side note: Proud to see more and more South African techies and their work becoming regularly visible on HN (other recent notable example includes Fynbos). Kee

• eastbound 4y ago
  Elon Musk has been pretty visible up until now.
  • orangesite 4y ago
    Elon Musk hasn't been a South African in a very very long time.
    • vt85 4y ago
    • blueflow 4y ago
      Why not? He was born there. What else would make him South African?
      • TheCapeGreek 4y ago
        While he'd definitely make a list of influential South Africans, he has not been part of the culture for a long time, let alone the local tech scene. He's known to not be the biggest fan of his origins. https://www.thesouthafrican.com/lifestyle/why-did-elon-musk-leave-south-africa/ https://www.thesouthafrican.com/lifestyle/why-did-elon-musk-...
        • deleted 4y ago
          [deleted]
      • stonogo 4y ago
        Fleeing your birth country to avoid national service, applying for citizenship in your new host country, and then never returning to your country of origin is a pretty strong signal. Naturalizing in yet another country is a fairly decent emphasis. Not sure what you're looking for. There is more to citizenship than holding passport you haven't used in thirty years.
        • blueflow 4y ago
          > There is more to citizenship than holding passport you haven't used in thirty years. Apply that line of thinking the other way around ("There is more to US citizenship than holding a passport"). Its horrible by implication. I'd prefer if nationality was being seen as bureaucratic artifact and not having more meanings attributed to it.
          • Chris2048 4y ago
            We'd all prefer a world without war too, but if nationality was just a bureaucratic artefact, who'd be left to defend Ukraine?
            • blueflow 4y ago
              Is your country worth fighting and dying for? I doubt it. Neither is Ukraine nor Russia.
              • Chris2048 4y ago
                Depends for who it's "worth". Was fighting the Nazis not worth it either?
                • blueflow 4y ago
                  Dunno but Ukraine isn't.
        • dagw 4y ago
          There is more to citizenship than holding passport you haven't used in thirty years. Unless you're the IRS.
      • BirAdam 4y ago
        Well, not living there, having other citizenships, and generally putting most of his eggs in the American basket would do it. Generally speaking, I would also note that outside of the Americas jus soli isn’t the norm. In South Africa, jus soli is restricted to partial sanguinis laws where the parents of the individual concerned must be South African citizens or permanent residents. Further, Elon has openly stated the aim to make humans multi-planet, holds multiple citizenships, and views government as a territorial monopoly on the initiation of violence. Based on these three things, I’d say he has little allegiance to any given country, and that he’s more of a nerd who just wants to do stuff without worrying about anything else.
  • TheCapeGreek 4y ago
    Yeah, but he's not really part of the local tech community.
• robertlagrant 4y ago
  Other notable examples include AWS :)