I can’t imagine how inefficient a country would be if they tamped down all their magical thinking. FFCS, SMILE, and EUVL are all magical thinking if you ask me. Some of the craziest things humans have ever conceived of.
Yes, it brings effects, and it's a cool technology. But saying that at least idea - or results - are fundamentally changing rocket engines... I think that's a stretch.
Literal rocket scientists spent decades and careers saying it was a waste of time, and random people with zero expertise try to downplay it. I’ll never understand being THIS cocky is a subject one has clearly never touched.