Elon Musk is no John Galt

[Brian Howell]

http://www.technologyreview.com/review/539861/techs-enduring-great-man-myth/

[Scott Hotes]

On Thu, Sep 10, 2015 at 2:34 PM, Brian Howell <bdho...@gmail.com> wrote:

http://www.technologyreview.com/review/539861/techs-enduring-great-man-myth/

Who is John Galt?

Wow, Brian, you must be baiting with this article...  I am surprised and saddened to see this kind of crap coming out of Technology Review of all places.  They must be concerned about readership and upping the hype. 

Brian, you are right on that the subtitle alone:  "The idea that individuals drive history has long been discredited" could be a line right from Ellsworth Toohey....

I particularly can't understand the charge that his success is largely a result of "support from the government."  That is a terrible joke.  Businesses like Tesla and Paypal succeed in spite of overreach from the government.  The author would have done well to study up on the early days of Paypal and the hoops they needed to jump through to innovate around the regulatory juggernaut that is the credit card industry.  Yes, there are subsidies for solar energy, these are a part of the ground rules Musk (and his partners) were presented with.  If you dig deeply enough into his past it is clear that he didn't sit down to ask himself:  what industry can I go after where government subsidies give me the greatest advantage?  Do we know that without subsidies Musk would have failed in going after alternative energies?  At best that question is difficult to answer.  One thing I do know, the author does not know the answer to that.

Brian knows I am a fan or Ayn Rand, so I will gratify that in closing:  it is just these kinds of dangerous ideas that it is necessary for individuals to "subordinate" their desires and their accomplishments to the majority that leads directly to collectivism and ultimately tyranny.  Worse that that, it takes away the inherent driving force within us to move the world forward.

"Thousands of years ago, the first man discovered how to make fire. He was probably burned at the stake he had taught his brothers to light.  He was considered an evildoer who had dealt with a demon mankind dreaded. But thereafter men had fire to keep them warm, to cook their food, to light their caves. He had left them a gift they had not conceived and he had lifted darkness off the earth. Centuries later, the first man invented the wheel. He was probably torn on the rack he had taught his brothers to build. He was considered a transgressor who ventured into forbidden territory. But thereafter, men could travel past any horizon. He had left them a gift they had not conceived and he had opened the roads of the world."

  - Ayn Rand, The Fountainhead

Ellsworth Toohey: Mr. Roark, we're alone here. Why don't you tell me what you think of me in any words you wish. 
Howard Roark: But I don't think of you! 

Scott

[Jack Saunders]

Scott is right on the thicket of government regulation.  My ex-wife who served 8 years in the state legislature told me that two out of every three visits by corporate lobbyists were about their ideas for new and updated regulations-- for their competitor.  

Meanwhile, in a parallel mechanism -- the legal system -- the same points arise again...as anti-trust theory in its endless evolution.

The cost is staggering, but nothing will halt it because it provides good employment to too many articulate, well paid people.

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