People sometimes ask me why I don’t go into politics. Why on earth would I do that? No, if you want to exercise power and imagination, the only remaining role which appeals is to be some kind of Bond villain. To anyone familiar with modern bureaucracy, there’s something hugely attractive about an organisation where the HR department is replaced by a pool full of sharks. I think this fantasy largely explains why electorates are now drawn to candidates who seem a tiny bit sinister or weird. ‘Who knows?’ they think. ‘They might actually do something different.’ Never mind Trump: my guess is that if Elon Musk were eligible to run for president, he’d get 60 per cent of the vote.
All Elon needs to do is create a solar-charged Tesla motorhome with Starlink internet access
As he is an avowed Bond fan, and born in South Africa before TV broadcasting was allowed, when wealthy families projected their own feature films at home, I suspect the influence of Bond villains on the young Elon may explain more than just his love of rocketry. Let’s consider the film Goldfinger. From what I remember of the story, Auric Goldfinger, the villain, had a plan not to steal the gold from Fort Knox, but instead to explode a Chinese-supplied nuclear dirty bomb within the facility, thereby rendering the gold worthless, and hugely increasing the value of his own holdings.
I’m not entirely sure that Goldfinger’s plan would have been economically feasible, to be honest, and besides, anyone owning a Lockheed JetStar with Honor Blackman as his personal pilot would probably have given up on any further life-goals. Nevertheless, the plot might help us understand the overall grand strategy behind Musk’s business dealings through the lens of Bondology.
To date, Musk has created battery-powered vehicles, extensive charging networks, a vast network of satellites providing internet access to the surface of the planet, solar panels, batteries for electrical storage and a $50,000 tiny house which can be erected in about one hour.
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