The article draws parallels between Elon Musk and the historical technocracy movement in the U.S., led by figures like his grandfather amidst the instability of the Great Depression. Analysts suggest Musk's proposals echo these earlier ideas, stressing technical solutions to social problems. Akin's book highlights technocracy's brief prominence in America, which outshone socialism and communism for a time. Jill Lepore critiques Musk's unoriginality echoing this past in her BBC podcast, astounded by the public's potential for belief in a technocratic future, citing the extensive media coverage of the movement in the early 1930s.
"For a moment in time, it was possible for thoughtful people to believe that America would consciously choose to become a technocracy," writes Akin.
"Musk does not represent anything new, but rather brings back a movement that existed between the Great Depression of the 1930s and the successful arrival of Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal."
"Akin recalls in his book that technocracy had a brief but brilliant moment of glory, advocating that the manufacturing and distribution of products was a technical problem that needed technical solutions."
"Between November 1932 and March 1933, The New York Times published 100 articles on this movement, as Lepore points out."
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