Yes, and this shouldn’t be controversial. He intentionally cut aid to the world’s poorest people. 1.6 million have already died and 14 million will die by 2030. (1,000 words)
Very well said. I agree with you completely. When the fascist Trump regime is finally defeated accountability of everyone with blood on their hands will be a demand of every American with any semblance of morality. We demand justice for every victim against every member of Trump's government, especially the richest and most influential among them. The billionaires and the trillionaire think they are immune but they woefully underestimate the level of hatred they have unleashed against them. Nuremberg II is coming.
You neglected to mention he’s a racist too, as the majority of these deaths were in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and the Middle East.
Anyway, thanks for this insight, or should I say this logical extension. I hadn’t thought about Musk’s actions quite like this before. If I’m not mistaken, I believe there were credible allegations of waste and fraud at USAID and reforms were needed. But there’s a big difference between reform and abolition. It’s like a doctor diagnosing you with an infection and instead of prescribing antibiotics she prescribes you arsenic.
Yes, totally agree re: his racism. I wanted this article to be laser-focused on the numbers — but you’re 100% right, of course, that a broader critique of Musk would highlight the fact that he’s a f*cking white supremacist. I mean, while writing this just now, I got a notification from The New Republic for an article titled, "Elon Musk’s Race War Just Took Darker Turn.” The guy is a world-class moral monster in so many different ways. Also, agree re: USAID waste and fraud. I have no doubts that it had problems that needed to be addressed — competently!
I agree with this broadly, but the question that inevitably comes up is that of intent. This is important to consider vis-a-vis the uncomfortable fact that organizations like the USAID could be considered mere Band-Aids to offset some of the worst effects of past colonialism and present resource extractions. What Musk has done is to remove even the pretense of trying to put salve on the wounds inflicted by post-colonial imperialism (not that this exculpates him)--he's taken rapacious neoliberal capitalism (capitalism devoid of any moral compass) to its final conclusion.
A closer look at these political and economic structures and organizations reveals an enormous moral debt that (materially) rich countries owe to those nations and regions that have been historically exploited at enormous human and environmental costs. Knowing what we know now, can we still claim not to act with intent whenever we buy or use many goods or services via economic mechanisms that hold billions in very precarious living conditions, subject to the whims of a single individual? No easy answers here.
He's also funding and amplifying extreme right wing thugs all over earth. He's interfering in domestic politics in the UK etc to create division and fuel right wing anger leading to violence and disorder. Such a nice man.
Elon Musk was gleeful about destroying USAID and condemning people to death. Even if that moral abomination was insufficient, he has also damaged American power and security at a stroke.
Capitalists don't care where you get your money - wages, ownership, investment, inheritance, exploitation, corruption, theft, murder are all the same to them - they just admire you for accumulating it and highly value those who hoard it the most.
PEPFAR (President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief ) was created in 2003 by Bush. It has helped save over 25 million lives and prevented millions of babies from being born with HIV. Your asinine inclusion of W in an otherwise excellent article subverts its message.
I just heard an NPR report on people suffering from the withdrawal of U.S. aid money in Somalia. Somalia is very close to the Gulf oil states, probably the most cash-rich nations in the world. Why is Somalia our responsibility in perpetuity? Maybe it’s time for the Saudis, etc. to take a turn.
I’m not sure that comparing DOGE cutting foreign aid to the Nazis committing the Holocaust is really the most effective argument for you to make against Musk.
Ordering that foreign aid be cut is not at all comparable to rounding up people, tattooing them, torturing them, starving them, loading them up into camps, and then exterminating them. Most people can see that.
And Hitler clearly was a murderer. Ordering someone to commit murder on your behalf makes you a murderer. Musk hasn’t murdered anyone yet that we know of.
Withdrawing aid funding which results in people dying is not at all the same thing as murder. Refusing to pay for someone’s medical treatment is not the same thing as smothering them to death with a pillow and then burning their body to ash.
Families make the decision to unplug life support all the time, Emile. That doesn’t make them murderers.
What counts as murder and the morality around it is a well-tread tropic. I come from a very Jewish perspective in understanding it. There are centuries of moral philosophy about this topic. Are you really so eager to argue against it?
I thought your Substack was mostly about AI, not you wanting to advocate for your own unique definitions of murder.
Elon Musk is one of the most evil men on the planet, but he isn’t a murderer. You can still make very strong critiques of him without accusing him of being worse than Hitler.
Musk is not worse than Hitler. Ending USAID is not comparable to the Holocaust and you only undercut everything else you say critiquing TESCREALism by arguing this absurdity with a straight face.
Very well said. I agree with you completely. When the fascist Trump regime is finally defeated accountability of everyone with blood on their hands will be a demand of every American with any semblance of morality. We demand justice for every victim against every member of Trump's government, especially the richest and most influential among them. The billionaires and the trillionaire think they are immune but they woefully underestimate the level of hatred they have unleashed against them. Nuremberg II is coming.
Yup.
Totally agree. We've completely normalized social murder, because most people don't even recognize it for what it is.
You neglected to mention he’s a racist too, as the majority of these deaths were in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and the Middle East.
Anyway, thanks for this insight, or should I say this logical extension. I hadn’t thought about Musk’s actions quite like this before. If I’m not mistaken, I believe there were credible allegations of waste and fraud at USAID and reforms were needed. But there’s a big difference between reform and abolition. It’s like a doctor diagnosing you with an infection and instead of prescribing antibiotics she prescribes you arsenic.
Yes, totally agree re: his racism. I wanted this article to be laser-focused on the numbers — but you’re 100% right, of course, that a broader critique of Musk would highlight the fact that he’s a f*cking white supremacist. I mean, while writing this just now, I got a notification from The New Republic for an article titled, "Elon Musk’s Race War Just Took Darker Turn.” The guy is a world-class moral monster in so many different ways. Also, agree re: USAID waste and fraud. I have no doubts that it had problems that needed to be addressed — competently!
Pretty clearly he is. He should be in prison for it.
Just to point out that Hitler was a lance-corporal at Ypres and the Somme so while not a murderer, he certainly killed people
I agree with this broadly, but the question that inevitably comes up is that of intent. This is important to consider vis-a-vis the uncomfortable fact that organizations like the USAID could be considered mere Band-Aids to offset some of the worst effects of past colonialism and present resource extractions. What Musk has done is to remove even the pretense of trying to put salve on the wounds inflicted by post-colonial imperialism (not that this exculpates him)--he's taken rapacious neoliberal capitalism (capitalism devoid of any moral compass) to its final conclusion.
A closer look at these political and economic structures and organizations reveals an enormous moral debt that (materially) rich countries owe to those nations and regions that have been historically exploited at enormous human and environmental costs. Knowing what we know now, can we still claim not to act with intent whenever we buy or use many goods or services via economic mechanisms that hold billions in very precarious living conditions, subject to the whims of a single individual? No easy answers here.
He's also funding and amplifying extreme right wing thugs all over earth. He's interfering in domestic politics in the UK etc to create division and fuel right wing anger leading to violence and disorder. Such a nice man.
Elon Musk was gleeful about destroying USAID and condemning people to death. Even if that moral abomination was insufficient, he has also damaged American power and security at a stroke.
https://olgalautman.substack.com/p/elon-musk-and-trump-shutting-down
https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/sabotaging-the-pax-americana
https://michaeldsellers.substack.com/p/agent-musk-part-2-starlink-ukraine
https://www.bylinesupplement.com/p/the-plan-to-destroy-americas-soft (preview)
https://twogrumpyoldmenonukraine.substack.com/p/to-elonskiy-musk-you-should-be-ashamed
https://robertirotberg.substack.com/p/329-the-manchurian-president-acts
https://claireberlinski.substack.com/p/the-void
https://www.theconcis.com/p/musk-didnt-just-wreck-usaidhe-sabotaged
https://nickcohen.substack.com/p/elon-musk-the-trillion-dollar-psycho (preview)
https://oligarchwatch.substack.com/p/introducing-the-musk-watch-doge-tracker
https://wendy664.substack.com/p/trumps-foreign-billionaire-cabinet
https://www.theconcis.com/p/no-one-threw-usaid-into-the-woodchipper
https://www.thebulwark.com/p/abandoned-in-a-foreign-war-zone-usaid-doge-musk-democratic-republic-of-congo-drc-kinshasa
Capitalists don't care where you get your money - wages, ownership, investment, inheritance, exploitation, corruption, theft, murder are all the same to them - they just admire you for accumulating it and highly value those who hoard it the most.
Highly recommend reading Richard D. Wolff's "Understanding Capitalism," here: https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/2614-understanding-capitalism
PEPFAR (President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief ) was created in 2003 by Bush. It has helped save over 25 million lives and prevented millions of babies from being born with HIV. Your asinine inclusion of W in an otherwise excellent article subverts its message.
I just heard an NPR report on people suffering from the withdrawal of U.S. aid money in Somalia. Somalia is very close to the Gulf oil states, probably the most cash-rich nations in the world. Why is Somalia our responsibility in perpetuity? Maybe it’s time for the Saudis, etc. to take a turn.
I’m not sure that comparing DOGE cutting foreign aid to the Nazis committing the Holocaust is really the most effective argument for you to make against Musk.
Ordering that foreign aid be cut is not at all comparable to rounding up people, tattooing them, torturing them, starving them, loading them up into camps, and then exterminating them. Most people can see that.
And Hitler clearly was a murderer. Ordering someone to commit murder on your behalf makes you a murderer. Musk hasn’t murdered anyone yet that we know of.
Withdrawing aid funding which results in people dying is not at all the same thing as murder. Refusing to pay for someone’s medical treatment is not the same thing as smothering them to death with a pillow and then burning their body to ash.
What’s the difference between smothering someone with a pillow and intentionally unplugging their life-support machine?
Maybe you think there’s a huge difference — the person who does the latter does nothing wrong. They aren’t a murderer. I disagree.
Families make the decision to unplug life support all the time, Emile. That doesn’t make them murderers.
What counts as murder and the morality around it is a well-tread tropic. I come from a very Jewish perspective in understanding it. There are centuries of moral philosophy about this topic. Are you really so eager to argue against it?
I thought your Substack was mostly about AI, not you wanting to advocate for your own unique definitions of murder.
Elon Musk is one of the most evil men on the planet, but he isn’t a murderer. You can still make very strong critiques of him without accusing him of being worse than Hitler.
Musk is not worse than Hitler. Ending USAID is not comparable to the Holocaust and you only undercut everything else you say critiquing TESCREALism by arguing this absurdity with a straight face.