White House Announces It Can Now "Manipulate Time and Space"
During an address about the so-called "golden age of American innovation," White House Office of Science and Technology director Michael Kratsios made an absolutely bonkers claim: "Our technologies permit us to manipulate time and space."
The bizarre and nonsensical statement, which appears to have been part of a breathless rallying cry to end regulation of the tech industry, suggests that Kratsios believes that tech companies can defy the basic laws of physics.
Needless to say, it remains unclear which "technologies" Kratsios was referring to; though you might make a bong-rip-style argument that certain innovations can manipulate space, the world's greatest minds have yet to develop anything even approaching a time machine.
"At a time defined by the desire to build in America again, we have to throw off the burden of bad regulations that weigh down our innovators, and use federal resources to test, to deploy, and to mature emerging technologies," Kratsios said, according to a transcript of the April 14 speech posted to the White House's official website.
But considering the massive cuts the Trump administration has overseen, there's a good chance the tech sector in the US could soon have an even harder time finding ways to "manipulate time and space" — with or without bureaucracy and regulations standing in the way.
Trump's anti-science agenda has already proven devastating. A recently revealed proposed budget could cut NASA's science budget nearly in half, an "extinction-level event for NASA science," according to Planetary Society chief of space policy Casey Dreier.
Kratsios claimed that the "greatest obstacle to limitless energy in this country has been a regulatory regime opposed to innovation and development."
Given the Trump administration's regressive approach to the topic, though, the energy industry could instead be taking a major step back. Just this week, Trump granted nearly 70 coal-fired power plants a two-year exemption from federal requirements to reduce harmful emissions.
In other words, Trump's fossil fuels-first approach could stand in the way of innovation in the sector, rather than promoting it, putting a dent in the clean energy industry's otherwise considerable momentum.
Kratsios hammered the point home by repeating the phrase: the state stands in the way, he alleged, of "scientific discoveries that will bend time and space, make more with less, and drive us further into the endless frontier."
Sure, the notion that we can bend time and space is complete and utter nonsense. But Kratsios' pompous remarks seem to further a far more insidious narrative as well — that Trump's administration is somehow looking out for the individual American, who, according to the director, could usher in a new "Golden Age."
Trump's chaotic rule has thrown the entire tech sector into chaos and raised concerns of an imminent recession. Massive budget cuts to healthcare and social security could undercut the ability of individuals to innovate. Companies faced with an extremely volatile market and crumbling trade relations may soon have to start from scratch, with executives begging Trump for a scrap of stability.
In short, Kratsios' "Golden Age," ushered in by technologies that can defeat the basic laws of physics, is nothing short of a pipe dream — in what feels like a made-up narrative to make White House officials feel good about their dubious real-world accomplishments.
More on tech innovation: Flailing OpenAI Calls for Ban on Chinese AI
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