The Elon Musk Fiction: How Myths Paralyze Progress

Damn, I love what the man has done with SpaceX. If he only put all his energies into that. Tesla runs into a brick wall and even someone more even-handed could not save it. But, lots of progress was made with lots of money burned by Musk. When it goes up in smoke and flames, results will remain and others will thrive on the ashes. It’s almost sad to look at.

If only the worship of Elon Musk were an energy source. If it were, we would have finally addressed our fast approaching energy deficits, albeit with an extremely toxic fuel. Hyperbolic tales of genius, ingenuity, and exploit run right through the American landscape like public transportation never did. As Kurt Andersen writes in Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire: A 500-Year History, “Mix epic individualism with extreme religion; mix show business with…

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