Elon Musk’s financial interests put him in a position of having his own personal foreign policy, but new reporting shows that whether it’s manufacturing in China or the Starlink network being used in Ukraine, Musk’s decisions can run counter to stated US policy.
This is why billionaires shouldn’t exist they are treasonous
They should exist, but we are not utilizing them correctly. Once someone has reached a billion dollar networth then they are thrown a big party and then sacrificed to a valcono. I believe this would curb emissions and fix climate change.
Maybe we just seize all their assets, nationalize them and make them start over with nothing. Call it new game +.
They just need to make a point system. The incredibly wealthy don’t care about money itself, those are already just points to them. So once you get to say 100 M, you get a trophy saying you won capitalism. After that amount 99% is taxed, you get a penny on the dollar. But all of that taxed money gets you Capitalism points. Capitalism points have no real value and can only be exchanged/traded/gambled with other winners of capitalism. Those with most points will be published each month in the top 100. And the top 10 each year get the prestigous title if honorary economic leader. They can get a medal and a pat on the back by the president.
You can also donate extra money for more capitalism points at a 10:1 exchange rate to get people to play the game even harder and further drive down wealth.
(I believe there are slightly less than 10,000 people in the US who would currently get their capitalism trophy. There are >140,000 people worth more than $50M, is 100 to high?)
Oh and the 100M amount is pegged to minimum wage. Any increase to the capitalism cap has to be matched to the same percent increase to minimum wage.
Polluting a volcano with a bag of shit isn’t really green. I say we just bury them so they can at least be used as fertilizer.
Just too much power for one person. Even if they’re not in charge of a global internet provider, your average billionaire can singlehandedly affect the lives of millions of people (employees, customers, bystanders) with no democratic oversight at all. It’s just not something that should exist.
You: Want to abolish billionaires because they do not support the war enough.
Me: Want to abolish billionaires because they exploit and oppress the working class.
We are not the same.
Well you’ve jumped to conclusions there, I’m not talking about the war but Billionaires in general and their respective countries in general.
Billionaires have too much power, live outside the existing system of government and laws, gained their money and power through exploitation and in general are undemocratic.
So I agree with your second statement, but not the first
Meanwhile, until he was supporting USA and Ukraine, he was the good white hero for your ilk.
Yeah, because of that. This isn’t the gotcha you think it is, you aren’t uncovering a double standard. People deem helping Ukraine righteous, and helping Russia treasonous, this is no secret.
My ilk?
You’re jumping to conclusions.
Billionaires are treasonous because they live outside the laws of their country, hold power over the government there and gain their money through exploitation
What the hell? Look, man, I hate the guy but he’s remarkably consistent: he works for his interests. Even when he does dumbshit things like buy Twitter, the thinks he’s operating in his interests.
He’s not complicated. He’s a self absorbed piece of shit. That’s really all you ever need to know about the fucker.
“Elon desperately wants the world to be saved. But only if he can be the one to save it,” Altman added.
From an interview with Sam Altman. It’s grandoise narcissism, plain and simple.
It really is the case. There is no accountability for the 1% in the world. Yet they are consuming more than the poorest 50% according to latest report.
He posted the other day about being proud American etc. and yet he’s actively giving comfort to hostile adversaries like Russia and screwing US allies. I think if I were the US federal government I wouldn’t touch SpaceX or Starlink with a shitty stick given the mercurial, manchild in charge of them with his own agenda.
A proud American who takes money from the US military to provide Starlink service to the military in Ukraine and then deliberately defeats US military interests there when it comes to the pinch. There’s a word for that - a couple actually. Traitor. Treasonous.
Did Musk take direct US military funding prior to those incidents in Ukraine?
People seem to want state control in a capitalist economy. That’s just not really how capitalism works.
There’s an interesting thought.
While there’s no doubt the US government could withstand any difficulty inflicted on it by Musk’s corporate empire, would the foot shot to their own efforts be worth it to sever ties with Musk?
How is it a shot to the foot? Just install a new CEO or privatize SpaceX. Ford is going to eat Teslas lunch in a few years (maybe GM too if they stop being idiotic about car play) so I am not all too worried about Teslas value to the consumer.
Slightly OT but I think Ford’s chance to beat Tesla has flown out the window. Ford is partially withdrawing from Europe - it might linger on selling commercial vans & tractors but as a consumer brand they’re nearly gone. GM has pulled out of Europe (and China). GM sold it’s European Opel operation to Stellantis. There is talk of GM trying to enter Europe with EVs but we’ll see.
Anyway the point is they both kind of blew it and are retreating to their domestic market, probably hoping they can cling on there, weather the storm and come back later. I think Tesla has taken over as the dominant auto maker and it’s unlikely to change unless Elon does something spectacularly dumb or drops dead.
Giving comfort is preventing nuclear war? Comfort me up then!
He’s juggling fire. His money can only do so much to protect him if he makes enough mistakes fucking with these dangerous governments.
I disagree. Every other billionaire out there also has a shared interest in governments leaving the super-rich alone and not punishing them. That is a powerful lobby.
One of the reasons billionaires managed to gather so much power and influence in our current system is because they are more coordinated and way better at class warfare than us workers.
I’d say that and the obvious mind-boggling amounts of hoarded wealth are the two main ones. And never forget those billions are, for the most part, stolen from workers through wage theft, which circles back to billionaires waging class war on us.
