Introduction 9
we are running out of, and we may begin to run out of it
as soon as 2020. Unless we want to start using horses, we
need to design technology that doesn’t rely on oil.
The question is why we are focusing on the smaller
problems and forget the larger ones. One of the reasons
might be that it’s complicated and more expensive to build
an electric car, while it’s less expensive to build yet another
Facebook clone. Another reason might be that we are
satisfied with what we have. We don’t have to replace
the world’s oil dependency today. But what happens when
we need to? What if we need to leave the planet because
something has happened or will happen to it. Then we
have to trust that someone has the answers to these larger
problems no one cares about today.
But someone who cares about these larger problems is
Elon. He knows how we can replace our dependency on oil.
He knows how we can colonize Mars and escape to the red
planet if something happens to Earth. To yet again make
the world a smaller place, he has designed an aircraft that’s
faster than the Concorde.
The difference between Elon and other pundits is that
he realizes his ideas. To save the world from its oil depen-
dency, he’s creating companies with exactly that purpose.
To be able to escape to Mars, he has already begun building
the rockets needed. To make the world a smaller place, he
will release the technology for free. The rest of the world
needs to just sit back and enjoy the ride.