Alonealastalovedalongthe@dirtycommo @LinuxSocist this all heavily reminds me of the themes of the book "Against The Day" by Thomas Pynchon. It deals with the continual liberating promise of new technology being corrupted by the status quo before it can take off. It is set in the early 1900s when airships were thought to be the future, and since the airship is passed over for the airplane the airship becomes this mythical technology that escapes this process of corruption.
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