Genesis Mission

America's next big project.

The United States has two famous large scale government efforts.

The Manhattan Project produced the atomic bomb, ending World War II years early, interdicting the invasion of Imperial Japan, with its anticipated 300,000 U.S. casualties, and untold millions of Japanese civilians.

The U.S. lost the first lap of the space race, when Yuri Gagarin was the first human to clear Earth’s atmosphere. Mercury and Gemini caught us up, then finally the Apollo Program put six two man crews on the Moon in a period of just twenty two months.

Now we have an attempt by the Trump administration to make its mark, with the Genesis Mission.

In a less aspirational tone, this is how I learned of Genesis.

Assessment:

I don’t think the Trump administration can get piss out of one boot without ending up with two damp socks. We’ll see if the industry can manage to drag the government forward. This will also provide cover for the inevitable bailout when the circular dealing among the top few players finally runs out of steam.

Given that America is abandoning its role since World War II, namely as the facilitator of globalization … it’s not clear if we’re even going to HAVE the supply chain required to make electronics in the volume that we do now. There are efforts at “data sovereignty” by every country that can make chips. The U.S. and China are well known to be at odds, while the big news this month has been Japan’s move to rebuild their chip industry, specifically due to the geopolitical hazard represented by AI.

Peter has much to say about this.

Conclusion:

Despite the chaos in the world today, and the clear signs its going to get much worse, I am beginning to see little glimmers of hope. Part of the reason we’re fighting like cats in a sack is that there might be a way through the existential threat of climate change. The fighting is, at least in part, due to the fact that there’s no role for the Persian Gulf monarchies in such a world, nor does Russia have a place.

I am going to keep my head down, keep doing my commercial thing, and keep my fingers crossed. I hate the condition of the world I’m leaving for my children, but it’s nice to see that despite having failed to change things directly, I might now be riding a wave that will make a difference.

What a mad, mad, MAD world …