The U.S. military general asked Musk
"How can the United States defeat China?"
The person who asked this question was a U.S. military general, and the person he questioned in public was a rich man, Elon Musk.
Subsequently, the answer given by Musk actually made the whole scene quiet, and the AMERICAN general also fell into meditation.
So why did the U.S. military general ask Musk this question?
What kind of answer did Musk give that would silence the scene?
1. "How can the United States defeat China?" ”
The previous scene took place on February 28, 2020, at a symposium in San Francisco, California, on the prospect of "integrating civilian technology into military space."
The U.S. military general who asked the question was named John Thompson, from the U.S. Air Force, and when he asked the question, the entire room was filled with Air Force pilots.
But even so, Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, remained calm and calm, not nervous because of the deep room full of soldiers.
At first, musk and Admiral Thompson's discussion focused on the discussion of space launches.
Then the topic changed, and when Thompson began to mention the relationship between space launches and the development of future space fighters in the United States, he suddenly asked Musk: "In your opinion, what does the United States have to do now to defeat China?" ”
Musk obviously did not expect Thompson to ask such a question, and could not help but be stunned, feeling that the soldiers in the audience would all look eagerly at him, expecting his answer.
It's not surprising that Thompson would ask such questions.
Since the end of World War II in the last century, the United States has done a lot, bent on limiting China, which is on a different side from its own.
It's just that no matter what attempts the United States makes, it has not succeeded in restricting China in the end, and sometimes it seems to be implicitly favorable to China.
Especially from the beginning of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, to the subsequent War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Vietnam, and china's restoration of its legitimate seat at the United Nations Congress, whenever the United States confronted China, it always ended up "not being able to eat good fruit."
Even after the beginning of the 1970s, Sino-US relations eased and gradually resumed exchanges, and nixon, who was then the president of the United States, took the lead in coming to China as a guest.
Even though the United States is besieging it at the outer level, China has broken through the blockade and become stronger and stronger, and now, it has even begun to threaten the "world hegemony" status of the United States, not to mention the top level of the United States, but also the vast number of American people have begun to feel worried about this.
When Musk heard Admiral Thompson ask this question, it wasn't clear what kind of answer he wanted from him.
After a moment of silence and careful consideration of the answer, he gave the following answer:
"If the United States wants to defeat China militarily, there is no other way to go, and it must choose 'radical innovation.'"
After listening to Musk's answer, the audience was instantly quiet, and all the soldiers fell silent.
These soldiers have become accustomed to looking at the problem from a military and war perspective, and the answers they hope to get are naturally related to it. But they didn't expect that Musk, who was not from the military, gave an answer that sounded more like a technology perspective.
Musk knew that the soldiers at the scene had not fully digested his answer, but his "amazing words" were not finished: "I think that China's economy will eventually reach at least two or even three times that of the U.S. economy." ”
And the basis of war is the economy.
His words caused the scene to fall into a long silence and aroused everyone's deep thinking.
What is the origin of this Musk, and why is he so optimistic about China?
2. Radical innovation
"How can the United States defeat China?"
The American general who asked this question did not expect that Musk, who was questioned by him, actually replied: "Only by choosing 'radical innovation' can we do it." ”
Max can answer this way, of course, not without evidence.
As a genius businessman, Musk has always been concerned about the field of space exploration, and at a young age, he can write his own software to make money, and his status has climbed all the way, and he has successively founded SpaceX Space Exploration Technology Company, Tesla and other well-known companies.
Not long ago, on April 5, 2022, elon Musk's name hung at the top of the list of the world's billionaires published by the American fortune magazine Forbes.
The companies he founded have made significant contributions to human development, especially SpaceX Space Exploration Technologies.
The company's main direction has always been how to reduce the cost of rocket launch, Musk is with a big dream, hoping to let the people of the world have the opportunity to feel the "space trip".
In a way, musk and his company's efforts may be able to change humanity to some extent.
A figure like him naturally does not have a vision limited to the military field for a long time. But Max also clearly understood that since World War II in the last century, the overall power of the United States has grown dramatically, leaving other countries behind early.
The rise in national strength has also inflated the ambitions of the United States, and they wanted to establish a new international order that was absolutely beneficial to themselves through various overt and covert means after the war, and they once successfully achieved this goal and began to think of themselves as "hegemons".
With the disappearance of its old rival, the Soviet Union, it seems that there is no one in the world who can stand in the way of absolute hegemony of the United States, and americans originally thought so.
But in reality, the multipolar trend of the world has accelerated, and the influence of the United States has taken the opposite path.
The rise of China, in particular, has exacerbated the uneasiness in the hearts of Americans. They are accustomed to living in the belly of a gentleman with the heart of a villain, and in their eyes, every country has the ambition to dominate the world, and so is China.
Nowadays, China's economy has leapt to the second place in the world, and the rapid development of the economy has also led to other fields in China, such as military, science and technology, etc., among which the achievements in high-tech fields and military industry have shocked the world, and have also made Americans more restless and increasingly vigilant.
U.S. executives see China directly as another major threat besides Russia, so it's no surprise that their air force will seize the opportunity to bluntly ask a tech giant how to beat China.
What is competed in modern warfare is no longer a simple manpower or firepower, but the comprehensive strength of both sides participating in the war, and the future development direction is bound to replace manpower with material resources.
The Gulf War of 1991 taught the people of the world a lesson. In this war, the Americans felt particularly deeply, and in the course of the operation, the US military invested a large number of high-tech weapons, which brought about an overwhelming superiority in air superiority and electromagnetic superiority, and achieved success at a very small cost.
Next, if a country wants to move in this direction, it must see the role that drones play in it.
And when it comes to drones, it will come to the field where Musk is good at.
3, "Originally born from the same root, frying He is too anxious"
"How can the United States defeat China?"
The American general who asked this question did not expect that Musk, who was questioned by him, actually replied: "Only by choosing 'radical innovation' can we do it." ”
Another important reason Max can answer this way is that he, like China, sees the importance of science and technology.
The next direction of military and technological development will inevitably revolve around drones. With drones, the military can penetrate deep into dangerous areas without paying a human price. With drones, military strikes and automatic identification will be more accurate, so that the success rate of the army's attack can be greatly improved.
In today's world, China has always been at the top of the list in the field of UAV development, and even has the ability to lead the world. So Musk took this example from this perspective, hoping to let the soldiers present understand his ideas.
In his speech, he has repeatedly moved drone technology and artificial intelligence to the most important position, hoping to attract everyone's attention. After Musk's remarks spread, it immediately triggered a profound analysis in the Western world.