The disheartening thing these days is it seems the entire world or at least the first world, has been pervaded by these leaders that have grabbed onto the Peter Principal with both hands and said, "Yes, that is for me".
Do you blame the company/people that spun the tale or solar roadways, airways, railways, seaways, footpathways, spaceways? Or windfarms or green hydrogen or lets run an electrical extension cord from Australia to Singapore or whatever fantasy feel good enterprise they think they can use an an engine to suck off that sweet free taxpayer money.
Well I don't in that we should be smart enough to see through these grifters and villians that cloak themselves in good deeds. There are con artists everywhere all looking to take your wealth and at the moment they can see the weakness as the educated* champagne socialist wanker typical inner city/leafy suburb types with government protected careers and influence using that power and influence to get government to get lots of money taken off the middle and lower classes that do real work and give it to these grifters so the almond latte sipping champagne socialists can all touch each over over about much they are saving the world and stopping climate change as they board the jet for the annual overseas luxury holiday.
After all, it was SFA of their money getting pissed up against the wall, and they can afford it.
Ok I will go back to the padded room now.
*educated in some bullshit social arena that relies on language skills like law, arts, mental health etc rather than mathematics, engineering or physical sciences.
The huge solar array in Oz with the "power cord" to Singapore was at least something that could have been done, if the very long underwater cable route didn't turn out to be impractical.
If they forgot Singapore & ran the cable down to the Eastern States who are always whingeing about running out of power, after being so dumb as to export all their LNG, it could have worked.
"Law, & Mental Health" are hardly "soft options".
If "Arts" is just sort of "art appreciation" where they talk about it or criticise it , I would agree, but real Artists learn real stuff.
Before "Engineers" were a recognised profession, artists pioneered many of the mainstays of engineering, such as Casting very large objects (in their case, out of bronze), the use of pigments, working with stone, & a host of other things.
Artists also learn Perspective, Anatomy, the properties of light, & so on.
Many of these "airy fairy" things don't emerge from people with "govt protected careers", but from the much vaunted "Entrepeneurs" who can always find suckers to invest.