Imagine the good that could be done by an actual nice person with this kind of wealth. Scratch that- it will never be possible for an actual, nice person to accumulate this kind of wealth.
He is the person who gleefully cut USAID - a cut that is projected by 2030 to kill about as many civilians as were killed in the First World War. It takes a certain type, I suppose.
I often think and write about the corruption and hoarding of the wealthy, in my lifetime it has reached obscene levels with no signs of stopping. My only hope for my daughter and that people will force what is less than 3k people to stop this madness and theft. Your article was well put and spot on, thanks for sharing it.
While it is easy to point fingers at billionaires (and now a trillionaire), the much harder process is to examine how and why so many exist, and why they are held in such high esteem by so many. Most Americans are complicit simply by participating in the “dream,” internalizing shared expectations, including handing down the increasingly false one that children should and will do better than parents if they plan well and work hard. With an expanding frontier and then an extraordinary 20th century post war economy this view measured as valid and reliable for a long time.
In 2026, the absurdity of these assumptions becomes more apparent. Each day America moves more toward a culture of hyperreality (Baudrillard). Our digital lives allow this to happen more easily and quickly. The struggles of the average or below average American (the vast majority) become far less compelling or real than the constant news stream from celebrities and the wealthy. Even if we belong to the group that bemoans enormous wealth inequality we unintentionally strengthen it in an “all news is good news” way.
Poor and rich Americans are ever more disconnected from reality, and they currently both quite prefer it that way. For Americans looking to change the 50-year trend line, online outrage, digital protest, and memes are demonstrably ineffective. Even real life corrective action is watered down by refusal to acknowledge the unique American culture structural causes.
If America wants real change it must face reality, get real, and do it in real life. Digital simulacra only strengthens and accelerates inequalities.
I agree, but you cant build infrastructure with this wealt. This wealth is artificial.
The conversion to infrastructure is difficult.
To build infrastructure you need plastics for pipes, you need concrete, diesel for digging, land, food for the workers, nature to take care of the waste products etc…
If musk were a Bond villain, he would be too ridiculous. How utterly insane is an economic system that hands a psychopath fabulist this kind of resource?
You know, if I had a trillion dollars, if world go to school lunch programs, clean water systems, college and trade degrees for free, more public libraries, parks, and transportation, making sure kids could go to summer camp and join their school or local town/county/neighborhood sports teams... This is why I could never be a trillionaire.
It's too much money (power) in the hands of one individual, especially when he's a citizen of the world's most powerful (still) country that has been taken over by... arguably one of the most unsuitable leaders...in modern history. That money could be put to good works by the right individual...but Elon is not the one.
Substack has birthed generation of people who think that their penchant for wit is so incredibly poignant that they have to share it with the world.
This article, and your writing, are evidence to the contrary.
It's ok to keep your thoughts to yourself.
"Something to do with ingenuity. Definitely nothing to do with a car that traps its passengers while burning or 14 confused children with multiple women."
You are such a bore, this is beyond lazy writing. Elon Musk revolutionized the auto industry and drove the adoption of clean energy vehicles 20 years ahead of where it would have been. Pulling out a single data point around a manufacturing defect so you can play coy about why Elon Musk is respected by people is lazy and proves nothing but your bitter, biased ignorance.
Then we have the child comment (which has zero bearing on the circumstances you discussed)... again, lazy. The left loves non-monogamy and the breakdown of the traditional family structure, but weaponizes the same thing when they want to smear the moral character of their opponents. Nice!
For the record I think being a trillionaire is obscene, and elon musk is a jackass. But this, is just drivel.
Today marks the death (1231) of St. Anthony of Padua. According to the 'Tale of the Usurer's Heart,' Anthony declared of a recently deceased skinflint in Tuscany that he did not deserve to be entombed in the lavish mausoleum he had prepared for himself because he had devoted his energies to oppressing the poor all of his life. Further, he declared, "His heart is in his money box!"
This remark must have upset someone important because a surgeon was called to open the deceased man's chest and put the matter to rest but, lo and behold, no heart! And, when his relatives opened his treasure box, there it lay. The miser's corpse didn't make it into his tomb; his remains were disposed of in a cave near the river.
The loansharks have achieved their Nirvana; we are at a point where most people cannot imagine being free of debt; their parents and grandparents weren't free of debt and spending one's lifetime servicing debt instead of paying it off has become a tradition in millions of families. This has wrecked our nation; we are not a free people. Our churches, to their eternal shame have remained silent on this subject even as the pastors tell the congregations to tithe 10% (!!) of their income and to get ready for the Rapture which is coming any day now and will solve all their problems.
Imagine the good that could be done by an actual nice person with this kind of wealth. Scratch that- it will never be possible for an actual, nice person to accumulate this kind of wealth.
I wonder this all the time. Can you imagine having all that and not wanting to help people on a daily basis. Instead he’s the opposite. Ugh 😣
He is the person who gleefully cut USAID - a cut that is projected by 2030 to kill about as many civilians as were killed in the First World War. It takes a certain type, I suppose.
I often think and write about the corruption and hoarding of the wealthy, in my lifetime it has reached obscene levels with no signs of stopping. My only hope for my daughter and that people will force what is less than 3k people to stop this madness and theft. Your article was well put and spot on, thanks for sharing it.
While it is easy to point fingers at billionaires (and now a trillionaire), the much harder process is to examine how and why so many exist, and why they are held in such high esteem by so many. Most Americans are complicit simply by participating in the “dream,” internalizing shared expectations, including handing down the increasingly false one that children should and will do better than parents if they plan well and work hard. With an expanding frontier and then an extraordinary 20th century post war economy this view measured as valid and reliable for a long time.
In 2026, the absurdity of these assumptions becomes more apparent. Each day America moves more toward a culture of hyperreality (Baudrillard). Our digital lives allow this to happen more easily and quickly. The struggles of the average or below average American (the vast majority) become far less compelling or real than the constant news stream from celebrities and the wealthy. Even if we belong to the group that bemoans enormous wealth inequality we unintentionally strengthen it in an “all news is good news” way.
Poor and rich Americans are ever more disconnected from reality, and they currently both quite prefer it that way. For Americans looking to change the 50-year trend line, online outrage, digital protest, and memes are demonstrably ineffective. Even real life corrective action is watered down by refusal to acknowledge the unique American culture structural causes.
If America wants real change it must face reality, get real, and do it in real life. Digital simulacra only strengthens and accelerates inequalities.
I agree, but you cant build infrastructure with this wealt. This wealth is artificial.
The conversion to infrastructure is difficult.
To build infrastructure you need plastics for pipes, you need concrete, diesel for digging, land, food for the workers, nature to take care of the waste products etc…
Infrastructure is real resources.
I get what you mean. This is paper wealth in the form of stock certificates. But set a 4% wealth tax and he can figure out how to pay.
Many people replace the pursuit of love with the pursuit of money.
Elon must have very little love in his life.
And no way to gain heaven in my opinion, lucky for him I’m not the one who decides.
If musk were a Bond villain, he would be too ridiculous. How utterly insane is an economic system that hands a psychopath fabulist this kind of resource?
You know, if I had a trillion dollars, if world go to school lunch programs, clean water systems, college and trade degrees for free, more public libraries, parks, and transportation, making sure kids could go to summer camp and join their school or local town/county/neighborhood sports teams... This is why I could never be a trillionaire.
Thank you for writing this.
Thank you for reading it.
It's too much money (power) in the hands of one individual, especially when he's a citizen of the world's most powerful (still) country that has been taken over by... arguably one of the most unsuitable leaders...in modern history. That money could be put to good works by the right individual...but Elon is not the one.
Agreed. It’s also why it should have been taxed and worker shared out of existence.
I’m not sure any individual would not be corrupted by that amount of wealth and power.
Its numbers on paper… digits..
It is but it’s also more than that.
Substack has birthed generation of people who think that their penchant for wit is so incredibly poignant that they have to share it with the world.
This article, and your writing, are evidence to the contrary.
It's ok to keep your thoughts to yourself.
"Something to do with ingenuity. Definitely nothing to do with a car that traps its passengers while burning or 14 confused children with multiple women."
You are such a bore, this is beyond lazy writing. Elon Musk revolutionized the auto industry and drove the adoption of clean energy vehicles 20 years ahead of where it would have been. Pulling out a single data point around a manufacturing defect so you can play coy about why Elon Musk is respected by people is lazy and proves nothing but your bitter, biased ignorance.
Then we have the child comment (which has zero bearing on the circumstances you discussed)... again, lazy. The left loves non-monogamy and the breakdown of the traditional family structure, but weaponizes the same thing when they want to smear the moral character of their opponents. Nice!
For the record I think being a trillionaire is obscene, and elon musk is a jackass. But this, is just drivel.
SpaceX Xposed
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=R7ehk3hS2xc
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=R7ehk3hS2xc
Today marks the death (1231) of St. Anthony of Padua. According to the 'Tale of the Usurer's Heart,' Anthony declared of a recently deceased skinflint in Tuscany that he did not deserve to be entombed in the lavish mausoleum he had prepared for himself because he had devoted his energies to oppressing the poor all of his life. Further, he declared, "His heart is in his money box!"
This remark must have upset someone important because a surgeon was called to open the deceased man's chest and put the matter to rest but, lo and behold, no heart! And, when his relatives opened his treasure box, there it lay. The miser's corpse didn't make it into his tomb; his remains were disposed of in a cave near the river.
The loansharks have achieved their Nirvana; we are at a point where most people cannot imagine being free of debt; their parents and grandparents weren't free of debt and spending one's lifetime servicing debt instead of paying it off has become a tradition in millions of families. This has wrecked our nation; we are not a free people. Our churches, to their eternal shame have remained silent on this subject even as the pastors tell the congregations to tithe 10% (!!) of their income and to get ready for the Rapture which is coming any day now and will solve all their problems.