We don’t think that it will come as any surprise to you that we love innovators who try to look at the world in a different way. After all, Postconsumerism essentially asks you to look at the world in a different way than what society as a whole tells you. Today, we thought we’d take a little time to talk about how much we love Elon Musk. Yes, we’re prone to loving nerds anyway, but he’s truly putting his nerdiness to amazing use by creating ideas that can actually change (and help save) society and the planet. Yes, we’ll all need to adjust how we think about addictive consumerism in the end, but Elon Musk and these four super innovations will be working hand-in-hand with societal changes to keep our planet (and us) healthy and alive. Here are our favorite four Elon Musk innovations.
SpaceX: The Fully Reusable Orbital Rocket
As you know, we like to shy away from the idea that humanity needs a second planet. After all, we’d like for us to learn to take better care of this one, first. But the reality is that some experts think that we’ll need to start leveraging resources from beyond our own planet to sustain our population. We’d rather see that as an option than see us die off into extinction, wouldn’t you? One of the real issues with space exploration (and colonization) is that our current rocket technology can only be used once before it is “retired” (by which we hope that we mean recycled, but who knows). Elon Musk is developing SpaceX, a reusable rocket that can be fueled for about the same cost as a large airplane and reused. We love anything that includes the word reused. Maybe you don’t think that our future has to be off-planet, but let’s concede that the direction we’re heading is outer space exploration. Wouldn’t you rather that be done in as eco-friendly a way as possible?
Obviously, the Tesla
No doubt you’re wondering why we didn’t lead off with this one! The Tesla electric car is, after all, Musk’s most famous and accessible invention. We know that many Postconsumers advocate and wish for a society where we all traveled primarily on our bikes or by using public transportation. Most of us in the Postconsumers office believe that those are the better options, too. But shifting society to those models isn’t just prohibitive, it’s something that will take decades if not centuries. Suburban culture wasn’t built up over night, you know. While that’s happening, an affordable, accessible car option that doesn’t suck up fossil fuels and has low emissions can be a difference maker. So far, the main person to put one of those on the road is Musk with his popular Tesla model. Rumors about a $35,000 version that would be in the price range of many American car consumers who can’t afford the current pricier version prove that Musk is devoted to the idea of making real change – not just profiting from change.
Viable Fusion: Or Forever Energy
The real independence from fossil fuels and, for that matter, finite fuels (after all, even the sun won’t last forever, which makes SpaceX pretty important) is fusion. And while many think that viable fusion isn’t even possible (or at least possible on a commercial scale), Elon Musk isn’t among them. While he hasn’t admitted to working on a viable fusion solution, he’s talked repeatedly in interviews about how he thinks this may be the most essential invention of the next century. This makes us think (strongly think) that in his spare time he’s brainstorming a solution. We’re putting a lot of faith in him to save the world, which makes us hope sincerely that this is what he’s working on when his brain is “resting!”
The Hyperloop: Friendly Mass Transit
As we mentioned earlier, suburban culture and commuting isn’t going away any time soon. That leads to lots and lots of cars on the road – and lots of people who don’t want to use anything but their car because it’s more efficient (at least they believe so). Elon Musk invented the Hyperloop, a mass transit solution that would get individuals from San Francisco to LA (or the reverse) in just thirty-five minutes using eco-friendly pressurized tubes. While Musk isn’t backing development of the project, the plans are open for anybody who will. And this type of eco-friendly, low cost, highly efficient transportation could revolutionize how we live, work and travel in a planet-friendly way.
Not every innovation has to be about giving things up. Elon Musk is looking for ways to solve problems and think outside of the box while understanding that people will only bend so far to change habits. We have to say that we think that’s a great way to think!
Did we miss an Elon Musk invention that you love and would like to share? Tell us about it on the social media channels below.
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