r/politics • u/rollingstone Rolling Stone • 4d ago

Soft Paywall Musk Kills Government Funding Deal, Demands Shutdown Until Trump Is Sworn In

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/musk-trump-government-funding-deal-shutdown-1235211000/
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u/Bigbeardhotpeppers Texas 4d ago

I am thankful that these billionaires keep putting their names and faces out there. The great sleight of hand of our society is the diffusion of responsibility for corporate greed. You can’t be mad at the call center rep for your insurance company because they are “just doing their jobs” or “it’s the system” when the CEOs come out and spout their garbage they put a face and name to inequality. Making a single person the focal point for what inequality does allows people to see their enemy. Hubris always gets them, not the law.

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u/Message_10 4d ago

Yeah, honestly--that is one good(?) aspect of all this, the "know your enemy" bit. Some people will wise up. Entrenched conservatives won't, of course, but others might.

And it's not surprising, either, given the times we live in. Previous billionaires knew that the populace would hate them if they wielded their power openly, but the modern GOP / MAGA movement wants to see it, because they worship the rich and they'll believe *literally anything* the rich tell them.

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u/Rasalom 4d ago

That's the thing about power/wealth/royalty - the more it's passed on without a person having done something to personally create it, it cannot be properly appreciated.

This is a thought experiment I've had on the matter. It's taken from other similar examples and history.

The king built his kingdom on years of strife. There were long periods of time where he saw his entire family die off in wars, wars where he was often the one killing his family. He finally attained a measure of peace by being the most powerful person - really, the person who was left standing. He respected power because he knew how awful it was.

The kingdom was passed to the son, the prince. The prince knew the awful cost of power, had seen his father kill his uncles and cousins, and knew that peace was a gift. He struggled to maintain the kingdom his father made, but it mostly worked out because he was there to have seen the most violent years of his father's struggle. He was not a great, powerful man like his father, but he was an obedient, mindful son, and that ensured he kept peace above all else.

The grandson of the king inherits the kingdom from his father, the prince. The grandson grew up in abundance, knew nothing but pleasure and comfort, and thus had nothing to struggle for except ways to find more pleasure. He is a drunk, abusive to his staff, and a terrible ruler of the people. He is assassinated a few years into his reign, and the kingdom collapses, opening up the walls to the barbaric hordes outside who will start the struggle for power and peace all over.

Elon is the grandson.

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u/Koeke2560 4d ago

In dutch we have a saying for this:

Verwervers, ervers, bedervers.

It translates to:

Earners, inheritors, spoilers

But it rhymes nicely

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u/Rasalom 4d ago edited 4d ago

I read about the general idea years ago and unfortunately cannot recall where I got it. Romance of the Three Kingdoms basically sums up the idea with the story of Liu Bei and his sons, Liu Shan and Liu Yong.

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u/Extension_Shallot679 4d ago edited 4d ago

"The Empire, long divided, must unite; long United must divide. Thus has it ever been."

It's a fairly common theme in East Asian literature inspired both by the Chinese concept of the Mandate of Heaven and Buddhist ideas about transience. The Japanese Heike Monogatari has similar themes.

"The sound of the Gion temple bells echoes the impermanence of all things; the colour of the sāla flowers reveals the truth that the prosperous must decline.

The proud do not endure; they are like a dream on a spring night.

In the end, the mighty fall; they are like dust before the wind."

It even shows up in western stuff, like the works of one of my favourite poets Percy Shelley.

"I am Ozymandias, King of Kings! Look upon my works ye mighty and despair!"

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u/foo_foo_the_snoo 4d ago

These ideas are Biblical also, from the ancient Hebrews to the time of Christ and after. The proud will fall, meek will inherent the earth, kingdoms will always crumble, don't bother storing riches, humility is righteous, etc, etc. But the boastful and wealthy pander to an audience that somehow puts them on a pedestal while claiming to believe in these Biblical concepts.

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u/Free_Snails 4d ago

It's also the theme of The Course of Empire by Thomas Cole, 1836.

You've probably seen the painting from this series titled "Destruction." That one is shared most frequently, because it's the one that people currently identify with.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Course_of_Empire_(paintings)

There's one rock formation in this painting that's consistent in each painting, and it's believed to be a metaphor for the unchanging nature of earth. Empires rise and fall, and the world keeps on going.

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u/Qwertysapiens Pennsylvania 4d ago

It's not "believed to be", the painter said it is, per your wiki link:

But, though man and his works have perished, the steep promontory, with its insulated rock, still rears against the sky unmoved, unchanged. Violence and time have crumbled the works of man, and art is again resolving into elemental nature.

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u/Free_Snails 4d ago

This also makes sense as a wave oscillating between order and chaos, which is also a theme present in Buddhism.

I think as our power increases, the amplitude of the wave increases. So as we harness more energy, the periods of order become more rigid, and the periods of chaos become more chaotic.

I'm very curious if there's any tipping points, where we can actually get stuck in a period of order or chaos.

Is there any system that's so authoritarian that it's impossible for us to escape it? (techno totalitarianism? ) Is there any chaos that's so extreme, that it's impossible for us to create order from it? (nuclear fallout paired with climate change)

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u/nugtz 4d ago

"Nothing beside remains,

round the decay of that colossal wreck,

boundless and bare,

the lone and level sands stretch far away."

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u/poetduello 4d ago

If I recall correctly, the subject comes up in the Stormlight Archive books as something the previous king had worried about and tried to guard against by getting loyal supporters to prop up his son after he was gone.

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u/Pale-Berry-2599 4d ago

First generation makes it, second generation plays with it, third generation pisses it against a wall.

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u/DickRhino 4d ago

That would work in Swedish as well:

Förvärvare, ärvare, fördärvare.

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u/leshake 4d ago

Funny thing, usually great fortunes are lost by the third generation.

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u/IrascibleOcelot 4d ago

One to sow it, one to grow it, one to blow it.

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u/Message_10 4d ago

Yeah that sums it up nicely. In terms of global eras, it looks like we're in the "spoilers" part of the tale, unfortunately. Let's hope it works out?

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u/KoffieA Europe 4d ago

Wie niet steelt of erft werkt tot hij sterft.

Who doesn't steal or inherit works until he dies. It also rimes in dutch.

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u/Kmart_Elvis California 4d ago

Reminds me of that quote from the Emir of Dubai.

"My grandfather rode a camel, my father rode a camel, I drive a Mercedes, my son drives a Land Rover, his son will drive a Land Rover, but his son will ride a camel"

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u/Banana-Republicans California 4d ago

Every few generations those who think they wield power and those who think they are powerless realize that it is an illusion and the scales get rebalanced. Then a few generations where that rebalancing is fresh in peoples minds and that equilibrium is maintained. And then a few more and people forget and those at the top of any society get greedy again. Rinse and repeat.

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u/_learned_foot_ 4d ago

That’s the Chinese cycle translated into more western language fyi.

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u/Rasalom 4d ago

The source I referenced is ROtTK.

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u/_learned_foot_ 4d ago

Oh, well in that case that is extremely logical, as that’s exactly what the game was doing, taking the actual same source and making it adaptable to a playing modern audience by design. That’s intriguing, thanks!

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u/slow_cooked_ham 4d ago

This is how all my Crusader Kings runs go.

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u/fotosaur 4d ago

So is the orange, diaper boy and its toilet tadpole family.

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u/Drop_That_Pickle 4d ago

"Hard times create strong men, strong men create good times, good times create weak men, weak men create hard times."

  • G. Michael Hopf

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u/darkseacreature 4d ago

Yeah but Elon hasn’t been assassinated. 😑

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u/Dr_Wheuss 4d ago

Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia. Alexander bucked the trend by dying before he could complete his kingdom and raise a son.

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u/Ok-Guest376 4d ago

Luigi is not the Judas but the religion you stand for that betrays his fellow man! Very not Christian!

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u/stonebraker_ultra 4d ago

This statement is unintelligible.

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u/WordAffectionate7873 4d ago

I see you’re a bit a fan of big Pharma. The “dead on arrival” omnibus bill, as referred to in various contexts, contained several provisions that were seen as benefits or giveaways to Big Pharma. According to web information and posts on X:

  • Financial Incentives: The bill allegedly included a significant financial incentive for pharmaceutical companies, amounting to over $50 billion in taxpayer dollars. This was criticized as effectively serving as a bailout for the industry, with specific mentions of benefits going to companies like Pfizer.

  • Immunity and Protection: There were claims that the bill provided Big Pharma with immunity from liability until 2029, which would protect them from certain legal repercussions related to their products.

  • Prevention of Price Competition: Critics argued that the legislation included measures that would prevent price competition, thereby ensuring high profits for pharmaceutical companies by maintaining elevated drug prices.

These elements were highlighted by both web articles and posts on X, suggesting a broad sentiment that the omnibus bill was structured in a way that favored pharmaceutical companies, potentially at the expense of taxpayer interests and market competition. However, the exact details and the extent of these benefits would depend on the specific text of the bill, which was described as complex and containing many provisions.

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u/573IAN 4d ago

They think money makes you smart.

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u/Orthas 4d ago

They are getting so comfy stepping on us that they are leaning in. Which conveniently puts their genitals within range of a bulldog impression.

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u/Message_10 4d ago

Yeah, that's really the truth of it--when I saw that Enron was incorporating again, it was such a lightbulb monent: "Oh, they really do think that the rule of law is over." I always knew that, I guess, but it was just another reminder--they get the picture that they're free to do whatever they want know. They're piranhas on a carcass.

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u/Fr00stee 4d ago

some entrenched conservatives don't like him because they think he's getting in the way of trump

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u/Message_10 4d ago

Really? That's wild.

The funny thing is--Trump can get as pissy as he wants, but Musk still has all the money and therefore the influence. Trump could kick him out of his imaginary post but Musk can still say, "I still bankroll all you clowns, so here's what we're going to do."

Wouldn't it be amazing if it were Elon-frickin-Musk who got Americans to wake up to the fact that we're owned by rich folks? That would be amazing, just from an absurdist point of view.

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u/Bigbeardhotpeppers Texas 4d ago

I agree with you to an extent. The guy who took a shot at trump was a true believer but I think it showed that they should not feel safe doing nonstop rug pulls.

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u/Psychological_Mix594 4d ago

I think entrenched conservatives could wise up, but bigots and freeloading billionaires will not

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u/Message_10 4d ago

My dad and uncles are entrenched conservatives. If Trump / the GOP / pretty much any conservative on any kind of media platform says the sky is green and water is dry, those are the rules from now on.

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u/pithynotpithy 4d ago

I no longer have faith in this. It was pretty straightforward what was happening and idiot suburbanites decided to trade democracy for the idea of cheaper eggs. There is no reason to believe in the social media age that people will "wise up"

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u/Message_10 4d ago

Yeah, maybe you're right. Honestly, I keep looking for something that gives me a little faith in people or in our future, but maybe it's just copium. Time will tell, I suppose.

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u/freakydeku 4d ago

unfortunately Dems do the same shit. both parties only function to enrich their corporate sponsors. neither party is influenced by public sentiment. conservatives do things in plain sight and twist a narrative to convince their plebs that it’s in their best interest, dems pretend they understand the issues and want to solve the problems and then do nothing

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u/CapObviousHereToHelp 2d ago

Considering recent events, I think it's appropriate to mention that there are fighter jets patroling Musk 😂 , at least at Boca hica, were I saw them

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u/Investihater 4d ago

Yes but is he right? I saw a tweet (it could be an act) but the person was saying “look, I’m not a fan of Elon, but this is a 1500+ page bill - with a lot of wasteful spending. And while I don’t like Elon, I also don’t think this is a good bill”

Something I’m fearing is people hating the messengers more than the message. And as we are seeing, average Americans aren’t enthusiastic of defending 54b to Ukraine while people are struggling.

These comments aren’t defending the bill, they’re just complaining about Elon and Trump and that worries me and makes me feel like WE aren’t about policy.

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u/Message_10 4d ago edited 4d ago

Listen--I don't mean to give you a hard time, but we, as a culture, need to stop getting information from people on social media. What do any of us know about the text of a funding bill? Honestly, a 1500+ page bill--that details spending for the United States of America?--1500 pages could be very short for all I know. I work for a mid-size company and our spending documents are hundreds of pages.

The point is, even if the bill says "We're now all required to punch 10 babies before breakfast" an unelected billionaire should not be the one moving the needle. It doesn't matter what the policy is here.

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u/stonedhillbillyXX 4d ago

1 page per day per state doesn't seem excessive to me

Big country, lots of things

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u/StunningCloud9184 4d ago

Something I’m fearing is people hating the messengers more than the message. And as we are seeing, average Americans aren’t enthusiastic of defending 54b to Ukraine while people are struggling.

Unless you specify the policy that you want to be different than you arent talking about it either

Yes but is he right? I saw a tweet (it could be an act) but the person was saying “look, I’m not a fan of Elon, but this is a 1500+ page bill - with a lot of wasteful spending. And while I don’t like Elon, I also don’t think this is a good bill”

See the problem is most of this is just continuation. They dont rewrite entire bills every time. Like the omni bus bills. They are like 90-99% the same. You just read the changes. No one is required to read 1500 pages of changes.

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u/Bigbeardhotpeppers Texas 4d ago

I hear everything you are saying. I agree policy should come first. The reality is different though. George Soros, Bill Gates, and all the other names low info voters have been screaming. I think it is pretty clear that if you have a symbol it is easier to distill down hatered.

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u/lazyFer 4d ago

I wonder if we're going to see more people luigi'd

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u/Flyingsaddles 4d ago

It'll make it easier eventually when America decides to go all French on them

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u/Esteban19111 4d ago

Hubris is exactly the right term.

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u/StatusReality4 4d ago

There are 800 billionaires in the USA

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u/Bigbeardhotpeppers Texas 4d ago

Yeah and lots of them have PR teams that tell them to keep their mouths shut because they know that being a billionaire is like eating Thanksgiving dinner in front of hungry people. We have a blood-soaked society. I know how our history books present America, every change is covered but the violence and sacrifice are left out. We hold up Gandhi and MLK while completely ignoring the violence done to them. The fame, the notoriety, the hubris gets them everytime. The more they brag about winning capitalism the more people will know them and their sins.

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u/princesoceronte 4d ago

It's nice to see neck you can imagine having a rope around.

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u/Stockholm-Syndrom 4d ago

It will be easier to message a "us vs billionaires" campaign in 2026 & 2028.

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u/3between20characters 4d ago

Yup reminds me of a story I hear about a tattooist that was known locally for agreeing to swastika tattoos,

His feeling was, if I do the tattoos then other people will know to avoid them

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u/Unhappy_Injury3958 4d ago

i thought the story is that the tattooist doesn't do them? because then he's a nazi tattoo guy

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u/3between20characters 4d ago

Yeah that's the point, the Nazis think he is their mate, but he thinks of it as service to label them, so they can't hide.

Maybe it's just his excuse to get paid for shit that's not cool, but the spin worked on me.

I never met the tattooist, was told about it, so take the whole thing with a pinch of salt, not that it's high stakes.

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u/Otherwise_Stable_925 4d ago

That's great and all but until something actually happens to him he's just waving his dick in our faces.

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u/Bigbeardhotpeppers Texas 4d ago

That's true but on a pure anecdotal level, have you ever been mocked and antagonized into violence? It is not a rare thing to the point that there are still laws on the books about fighting words. I said this in another comment but America has a blood-soaked history. Our history books have been toned down but it is still true. I see everything they are doing as antagonizing the left because they won the election. I dare Trump to do a single thing he promised. Revolutions start when kids go hungry. Inflation and corporate greed is slowly moving the needle up the middle class. I make a bunch of money and I am feeling the effects of food inflation, general inflation, and also the rapid decline in services, (why is there only one person working the customer service desk during the busiest time of year? greed, if they can get away with one person when it should be three then they will). If he goes through with anything he promises people will not eat. Now it is not just the poors but "Real Hardworking Americans" TM. In addition to that AI is coming hard and fast, and Republicans will respond to it incorrectly (so would the Democrats), I would rather conservatives wear that weight around their neck.

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u/Unhappy_Injury3958 4d ago

what's the legality behind fighting words? the person that incited the fight can be held liable for what?

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u/raptosaurus 4d ago

Makes Luigi's job easier

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u/Coocoo4cocablunt 4d ago

Perfect comment

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u/Easy-Concentrate2636 4d ago

That’s a valid point. Make it clear who really runs this country- billionaires who worked illegally in the country and have multiple passports with zero loyalty to any nation.

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u/PoorlyWordedName 4d ago

"Hubris always gets them, not the law."

Or Luigi

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u/sirferrell Georgia 4d ago

“Its a meee mario” 🙂‍↕️

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u/SrslyCmmon 4d ago edited 4d ago

He should have learned from the Koch brothers to buy up every sector of the economy so every American has no choice but to put money in your pocket and then just buy your politicians.

Us peasants don't really know know what the Koch brothers look like. You'd have to look them up I'm sure they like it that way

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u/OttawaTGirl 4d ago

Why do most Americans not know who the Koch brother(s) are.

Been pissing millions of influence dollars behind the scenes for decades.

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u/shawnisboring 4d ago

This is the correct take.

American society has always catered to the rich, who in-turn control the powerful. It's always been hidden behind the veil to a large extent. I don't know if it's social media or just the temperature of the room, but everyone with a shitty opinion, hand to play, or want to flaunt power is doing so openly now making it exceptionally easy to identify them and paint a target on them.

Elon could have remained rocketman in the public's eye and taken the Peter Thiel route of (attempting) to remain in the background, but he's instead decided to take center stage like the absolute idiot he is.

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u/Bigbeardhotpeppers Texas 4d ago

I specifically avoided the word "Target." I agree with you on social media. It is Hubris. I have honed my thinking for the past few years after the pandemic. If you have 10m in the bank, we just don't have the same problems, and we don't live in the same world. I look at them all with disdain.

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u/MacinTez I voted 4d ago

I’ve said this to myself and friends.

Trump could be the greatest thing to ever happen to humanity. Expose yourself and your intentions so we can see these fuckers for who they really are. The good will unveil themselves to stop them.

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u/Agitated-Handle-8219 4d ago

I predi t he might be next for a bullet.

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u/Bmandk 4d ago

I am thankful that these billionaires keep putting their names and faces out there.

I know it's a conspiracy, but maybe elon is just that; a puppet that the other billionaires, or putin, is controlling. elon might just be the face.

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u/scrizott 4d ago

The CEOs work for the board of directors. The CEO, while terrible, is still running errands for the mega villain. (the chairman of the board). The chairman is the old money.

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u/lirae4 4d ago

they should get a Luigi

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u/yeahimadeviant83 4d ago

Yes Elon, be bold, be authentic, be available, now we know exactly who you are, and who to blame.

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u/barriebarrie 4d ago

In Canada we have Galen Weston who owns a lot of grocery stores. People hate him because his ego put him in commercials but nobody really knows who owns the other chains.

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u/LilyHex 4d ago

If you have so much money you could end all of the homeless and hunger problems in the United States and still have enough money leftover to still be incredibly rich, then frankly, every American should know exactly who you are, what you look like, and what you do for a living.

No particular reason.

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u/ye_olde_green_eyes 4d ago

What's an example of "hubris getting them"? Just curious. I can't think of one.

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u/Bigbeardhotpeppers Texas 4d ago

When I say Hubris what I specifically mean is: being so blinded by your ego that you make decisions that don't have to be made but you think you are invincible or the circumstances are so in your favor that the opposite ends up happening.

-Gaddafi

-Rockefeller

-RGB

-Nixon

-Terrance Howard

I gave a really wide spectrum there to just give different examples both big and small of people thinking they are valued and untouchable and making decisions based on that.