On Time, Space, And Context

For too long, engineers, entrepreneurs and scientists have allowed themselves to distance themselves from politics.

The media was circulated with a quote from the White House's chief of scientific and technological progress, Kratsios, saying that the United States has technologies for managing space and time. It was useful to look at the context in which he said this - humor or a serious metaphor - and read it with rapture. The speech is truly remarkable. 1) Political will as an engine of progress “The golden era is possible only if we choose it.”

“Self-developing progress” is a myth. The future is not created by nature or chance, but by a system of decisions. First of all, political decisions.

Progress is the result of political will, institutional architecture and public priorities.

It is at this level that the “technological trajectory” is formed: it is chosen where public investments go, how the regulatory environment is formed, which technologies are supported and which are ignored or blocked. This is not a technological or scientific, but a deeply political process. It follows from this that... 2) Stagnation is also a consequence of political decisions. The visual images cited in the speech are the “forgotten” Moon, the withdrawal of Concorde and supersonic flight from civil aviation in general, stagnation in nuclear power, which “promised virtually free unlimited electricity” in the 60s and did not fulfill its promise.

What went wrong? Not “difficulties”, not “natural limits”, but regulatory strangulation. The 70s gave rise to an entire era of precautions: ecology, safety, approvals.

The result is a “self-winding mechanism” in which any complication of regulation only increases, but is never revised. It is institutional barriers, not a lack of ideas, that slow down energy, transport, construction. They slow down growth. As a result, an artificial and incorrect opposition was formed... 3) ...Technology Economy vs. Debt Economy We can increase wealth and develop, but developed humanity has decided to create a bureaucratic hell, and to “borrow from future generations” in order to live. We can either invest in what increases productivity — new materials, energy, transport — or cover stagnation with external borrowing and cheap labor. Migrants, China and the South-East Administrative District — all this is evil. Instead of doing more through innovation, developed countries solve problems through debt and a system of external dependencies. 4) Geopolitics of Technology: Protection as a Leadership Strategy A separate block on dependence on China, because leadership is not only a matter of innovation, but also a matter of protection. Technologies have become a geopolitical asset, and the government's task is not only to encourage their creation, but also to protect them. A three-part technology protection system: - intellectual property protection and scientific security, - control of infrastructure and supply chains (including that of allies), - a strict export policy. The United States itself helped China grow by investing, transferring knowledge and allowing deep integration into global supply chains. But this raises the question: how “natural” was the competitor’s technological growth, and is it now possible to reverse the situation. Yes, says Kratsios, everything is possible, but for this it is important to raise and resolve the main issue of technological dominance… 5) The Question of Political Responsibility The main emphasis of the speech is a call to action. For too long, engineers, entrepreneurs and scientists have allowed themselves to be distanced from politics. But “in a world where technology and politics are intertwined, there is no room for neutrality.” Launching a “Trumpian” Golden Age requires a new social contract. In which society not only admires technology, but also actively chooses where it should develop, how it should be used and by whom it should be controlled. Society must leave the state of passive consumption of “magic” to which digital comfort has accustomed us and move into a mode of creating conditions for real, physical progress. This is where the quote that has made the rounds in the media actually comes in, but in a completely different context. Progress is not something that happens to us. It is something we choose. And only a consciously made choice can allow people to “manage time and space” not only on the phone, but also in reality.

Gleb Kuznetsov, Telegram

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