In 2019, I wrote abut @AOC's official-no-fake-no-just-a-draft-Republican-conspiracy-theory-why-are-you-all-being-mean? Green New Deal FAQ that wanted a rail system so good that air travel would become "unnecessary."
There are lots of reasons the green magic choo-choos won't work, and I certainly encourage you to re-read the linked article, but what followed was a little narrative about what life in a Green New Deal world would really be like. (Hint: the title included "nasty, brutish, and short.") I followed that with a counterpoint, a world that we might have if AOC and her ilk would get out of the way.
It's been five years, and I think a lot of things have changed, especially in the recent We Robot announcement and the recent successful test of Starship/Superheavy.
SpaceX is making sci-fi real. ✨ pic.twitter.com/XfzIDQ4XVc
— DogeDesigner (@cb_doge) October 14, 2024
Elon says he wants —
"A fun exciting future that if you could look in a crystal ball and see the future you'd be like 'yeah! I want to be there now!'"
So let's lay out part three of the two-part series I started in 2019. What is this "fun exciting future" — this Elontopia — that Musk environs?
We start the same way:
The phone rings with its piercing "I don't care if you set do-not-disturb" ring. You wake, heart pounding. It's Mom.
"Mom? What happened? What's wrong?"
"It's your grandmother, honey."
Grandmother has fallen and broken her hip. In AOC's future —
"She's in the National Health — she fell and broke her hip."
"Oh my God! What are they doing?"
"Right now, they're keeping her comfortable. The Surgery Board meets today at 10, but she's 86, and, well..." her voice trails off.
You understand what she means without either of you saying it out loud. Grandma is a retired teacher, no priority points for that, and Polish-Americans don't get extra social credit.
"Honey, you might want to come out. Grandma hasn't seen you in years."
In short, in the rest of the story, in a timeline where air travel is only for what the government deems necessary, our point-of-view character — whom I didn't name in the original piece, call her "Emily" — struggles with getting transportation from her home in Elko, Nevada, to her family in Portsmouth, Maine.
It takes three long, unpleasant days, and before Emily arrives home, Grandma passes away. Emily is just in time for the funeral. But add Zeke Emanuel, who is in charge of National Health, and Grandma, at 86, was on borrowed time anyway. She "goes to sleep" peacefully the night of the accident with an appropriately large dose of fentanyl, making room for the productive or politically connected.
Go ahead, tell me it's not possible.
Now, on an alternate timeline in Elon Musk's imagined future —
The phone rings with its piercing "I don't care if you set do-not-disturb" ring. You wake, heart pounding. It's Mom.
"Mom? What happened? What's wrong?"
"It's your grandmother, honey. She's fallen and broken her hip."
"Oh my God, how is she?"
"She's in a lot of pain, but she's going to be okay. She's in the hospital. Em, she hasn't seen you all year — can you make it out?"
"Of course, Mom, I'll be there as soon as I can."
Emily bustles. Her Autobert, a direct descendent of Musk's original Optimus, packs a week's worth of clothes while she calls a robocab. She calls him Jeeves, after the valet in an old 2D British comedy, a joke that almost no one gets.
She makes sure there's enough cat food, kisses her ginger cat and promises to be back soon. She is ready to go 15 minutes later when her phone lets her know the taxi is waiting.
In half an hour, she's at the nearest train station, annoyed that she has to wait another half-hour for a train. But the train arrives—a 12-person capsule that's empty at the moment. Emily climbs aboard, puts her bag on the rack, and stretches out her seat. Her train is sucked into the tube and accelerates to almost 1,000 km/hour — her dad was old-fashioned enough to say 600 miles per hour.
Emily tries to relax, but she can't. A broken hip is still dangerous. She opens her tablet and tunes in her favorite reality show, "Project Marsport." Zoey, the 12-year-old, has been skipping her centrifuge sessions, risking her developing bones. "But honey, if you're not careful, your legs won't be strong enough, and you won't be able to go home to Kansas!"
"Mom, I don't want to go to Kansas. It's heavy, and it's all open — there aren't any domes or tunnels!"
Before Emily sees the end of that argument, she falls asleep. Two hours later, her mother calls again. Her brother Eric caught an Air Singapore point-to-point Starship and has already arrived in Portsmouth. Emily is vaguely annoyed that Eric was able to go 15,000 kilometers from Singapore to Portsmouth. N.H., in less time than she needed to go barely 4,000. Still, it's hardly sunrise by the time the train arrives in Boston, and another taxi has her home by breakfast time.
This is really the choice at this point. We can have an Elon Musk future or an AOC future. H.G. Wells put it this way:
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