The New York Times describes the federal government's efforts to both exploit and control Elon Musk. His genius is simultaneously a principal source of America's greatness -- and by extension the U.S. bureaucracy's -- and locus of rebellion against the venality, dysfunction and stupidity of the status quo.
Mr. Musk’s rocket company, SpaceX, effectively dictates NASA’s rocket launch schedule. The Defense Department relies on him to get most of its satellites to orbit. His companies were promised $3 billion across nearly 100 different contracts last year with 17 federal agencies.
As Mario Nawfal brutally put it: "SpaceX will do 80% of all mass to orbit this year. China will do 12%. The rest of the world will do 8%. That includes Boeing, Lockheed, and everyone else." On the other hand, the New York Times hastens to add, "he has thrown his fortune and power behind former President Donald J. Trump and, in return, Mr. Trump has vowed to make Mr. Musk head of a new 'government efficiency commission' with the power to recommend wide-ranging cuts at federal agencies and changes to federal rules."
Since the current Democrat party line is that Donald Trump represents the threat of Hitler, Stalin and Mussolini all rolled into one, that makes Musk arguably the second most dangerous man alive. Elon not only stands in the way of a Kamala presidency, he constitutes a threat to the bureaucracy as well.
Musk is both friend and enemy to the establishment. Can't live with him, can't live without him.
The problem of controlling Elon is an example of the dilemma of mediocrity controlling talent. How can Kamala Harris, who, according to Senator Ted Budd, has not connected a single person to the internet "using the $42.45 billion allocated for the BEAD program," meaningfully supervise a man whose Starlink satellite constellation had 4 million users worldwide? It would be like putting the Detroit Public Schools in charge of Albert Einstein.
There have always been problems of donkeys leading lions throughout history, but the difference has typically been a single order of magnitude. This time it's worse. The government's problem with Musk foreshadows the coming struggle to control AI. In the near future AI may exceed Elon to a greater degree than Elon outsmarts the clerks. Can you really put bureaucracy in charge of superintelligence? Can the blinkered Wokes retain control of minds that run rings around them?
The record is not encouraging. Bureaucracies have historically proved unable to resist regulatory capture by ordinary corporations led by people no smarter than themselves.Bureaucracy itself proved able to escape the limits of laws enacted to contain them. As David Rostcheck put it, "superintelligent and super-capable entities can easily manipulate their less intelligent human counterparts to escape containment without the latter understanding what is taking place."
Containment appears to be a temporary measure. Even if it is successful for an extended period, superintelligent entities seem to eventually escape from control. The game theory is unfavorable — the defender must continually thwart escape attempts, whereas the escapee only needs to succeed once.
The only hope for ordinary humanity to retain freedom of action is to encourage multiple superintelligences; in human terms by fostering more not fewer Elon Musks. "Given that the best counter to a superintelligent entity is a more powerful superintelligent entity, we should anticipate an intelligence arms race. Intelligent entities form their own alliances, which may not necessarily align with their creators’ intentions."
The road to survival lies in a race to the top, not a stampede to the bottom. That is why DEI and Wokery is so dangerous. There is no safety there.
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