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Highlights
id594346241
Every billionaire, as the saying goes, is a policy failure. Musk’s rise has to be set against the failure of governments that have been emaciated during the neoliberal era, rendering them incapable of undertaking the fundamental research and development we need in the age of climate change.
id594346528
There’s no reason why the rockets and electric cars that Musk builds should not be manufactured by government agencies. In the case of rockets, NASA itself once did the job that has now been privatized. As Farrow notes, “In the past twenty years, against a backdrop of crumbling infrastructure and declining trust in institutions, Musk has sought out business opportunities in crucial areas where, after decades of privatization, the state has receded.” In the field of electric cars, China is leap-frogging ahead of the United States, producing 6.8 million cars a year as against 800,000. One reason is that China is not relying on individual geniuses like Musk but crafting government subsidies to hasten the transition away from fossil fuels.
✏️ Private vs Public investment 🔗 View Highlight
id594346537
The problems we face require collective action, not a return to archaic myths of lone geniuses as saviors.
✏️ The myth of the lone genius as savior 🔗 View Highlight