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The Urgent Call for Latent Heretics

The most important thing America can do right now is inspire its latent heretics to step forward. We are in a moment akin to the late 1930s, where we have frog-boiled our way to a place where we’ve lost deterrence. The conventional thinking about how to respond is insufficient; the real solution lies in reclaiming the spirit of innovation and leadership that defined past victories. This requires a “conspiracy coalition of the willing” and leaders, both inside and outside of government, who are willing to protect and empower those with heretical, game-changing ideas.

Every founding story is equal parts heresy and heroism. The challenge is that over the past few decades, consolidation in key industries bred conformity, expunging the very heretics required for breakthrough innovation. These individuals—the John Boyds and Hyman Rickovers—are often difficult personalities who challenge the status quo, but they are essential. Leaders must create the conditions to protect them from the bureaucracy that tries to kill their ideas.

A prime modern example is Colonel Drew Cukor, the father of Project Maven. He faced immense institutional resistance, including baseless investigations, yet his incorruptible commitment to bringing AI to the Department of Defense (DoD) prevailed. This demonstrates that these figures exist today, and the nation’s future depends on their willingness to step up.

Rebuilding the American Industrial Base

The concept of a separate “Defense Industrial Base” is a historical aberration. In 1989, only 6% of spending on major weapon systems went to defense-only specialists; today, that number is 86%. Previously, the entire American industrial base contributed to national security. Chrysler built both minivans and Minuteman missiles. The R&D spending of the private sector, which dwarfs government spending, must be leveraged.

The “Last Supper,” a famous dinner where the Pentagon encouraged consolidation, is misunderstood. The primary negative outcome wasn’t a loss of competition, but the rise of conformity and financialization. Companies began prioritizing quarterly financial metrics over long-term, ambitious growth. This environment is toxic to the founder personality.

“The competition’s always been the services competing. It’s been competition inside of government that drove innovation not competition from industry. What really happened from the last supper is that consolidation bred conformity.”

This created a “Galapagos Islands” effect, where defense contractors became exquisite but uncompetitive tortoises, unable to survive on the mainland of commercial innovation. We must break down these barriers and reintegrate our industrial and defense ecosystems.

The SaaS Apocalypse: Alpha vs. Beta Software

The debate around an AI-driven “SaaS apocalypse” can be understood through a different rubric: alpha versus beta software.

• Beta Software: This is software that makes you more similar to everyone else. It’s the “standard industry solution” that will face immense pressure from AI, which can replicate its functions with ease. The value of this software was likely overstated to begin with. During COVID, no CEO praised their $5 billion ERP implementation; they praised Zoom and Teams.
• Alpha Software: This is software that allows you to express your unique competitive advantage and strategy. It’s a toolkit for differentiation. These platforms will thrive, as AI becomes a tailwind that helps users build and express their “alpha.”

The value in the AI stack will accrue in two places: the chips layer and the AI infrastructure layer (or “ontology”). The models themselves are being commoditized.

Agency, Re-industrialization, and AI

The conversation around AI is often stripped of human agency. It’s not that “AI will do X,” but that “humans will use AI to do X.” We have a choice and an obligation to steer this technology toward American prosperity. AI presents a historic opportunity to fix the 1970s breakdown between wage growth and GDP growth by giving the American worker superpowers.

“It’s David’s slingshot in a world where the Chinese Goliath has been this giant sucking sound of American prosperity.”

This empowerment is the foundation for re-industrialization. The great lie of globalization was that innovation could be separated from production. Innovation is a consequence of production; if you don’t make the thing, you can’t innovate on it. We must reject the dystopian narratives from AI’s inventors and embrace our role as the wielders of the technology who will determine its future. The goal isn’t to replace people, but to win—to dominate industries by making our people more effective.

Winning the Future: Willpower and Storytelling

America’s biggest risk is suicide, not homicide. The primary threat is not China, but our own lack of national will, focus, and belief. A sense of nihilism, bred by failing institutions and polarizing narratives, is our greatest enemy.

To combat this, we need to rebuild our cultural willpower, and that starts with storytelling. Growing up in the 1980s, movies like Hunt for Red October and Red Dawn instilled a feeling of what it meant to be an American before any civics lesson could. After a long period of cynical and dystopian films, audiences are tired of it. The success of Top Gun: Maverick shows a hunger for inspirational, American-oriented stories where heroes are genuinely heroic.

This is why investing in film is critical. We need stories that inspire us to tackle hard problems and believe in a better future. The story of Hyman Rickover—a 5'2" Polish immigrant who endured humiliation to build the nuclear Navy against the will of its own leadership—is the kind of founder-driven, heretical story that needs to be told. It is a reminder that our greatest triumphs come from the determined individuals we almost crushed.

• Tags:
• AI Strategy
• Leadership
• SaaS
• Palantir
• Defense Tech
• Shyam Sankar
• Industrial Base