He’s Exhibit A on why billionaire wealth should be taxed, why we must get big money out of politics, why billionaires shouldn’t be allowed to buy up major media, and why our government shouldn’t give them huge military contracts.
asserted
government → ’ → contracts
I’m talking about Elon Musk, of course.
asserted
I → talk → course
According to the Wall Street Journal, Musk “ordered the slowdown of a military-grade version of Starlink relied on by Ukraine”.
uncertain
Musk → accord → Ukraine
The decision “sparked panic in Kyiv and confusion inside the Trump administration, U.S. officials and people familiar with the matter said”.
asserted
officials → spark → matter
Musk and Trump, the Journal noted, have both “expressed anger at Ukraine for attacking Russian diesel refineries in recent weeks, which the president blames for high energy prices” – although the high prices are really due to Trump’s war in Iran.
asserted
prices → note → Iran
This month, Musk slowed “the speeds at which Ukrainian hardware could stay connected to the satellite-based network … rendering some offensive drones and interceptor drones virtually useless”.
uncertain
hardware → slow → drones
According to the Journal, “Musk and Trump discussed the Starlink decision in a call soon after the slowdown became public.”
uncertain
slowdown → accord → call
Who gave Musk authority to slow his satellite service in the first place?
asserted
Who → give → place
Musk finally admitted this weekend that he had pulled the plug because, he wrote on Twitter/X: “Ukraine military violated Starlink terms of service and used it for offensive drone strikes to kill people.”
asserted
military → admit → people
So Musk can decide on his own when a foreign country working alongside the United States against a brutal dictator can have access to vital US intelligence?
asserted
country → decide → intelligence
Every time I list another of Musk’s outrages, someone says: “Yes, but he’s an innovator!”
asserted
he → list → outrages
He’s not.
asserted
He → ’ → ?
As is made clear in Alex Gibney’s smart new documentary, Musk, Elon didn’t invent Tesla.
asserted
Elon → make → Tesla
He didn’t invent X.
asserted
He → invent → ?
He got plenty of help founding SpaceX.
Musk is to innovation what Trump is to governing.
Both are conmen.
asserted
Both → get → governing
Both love authoritarians and detest democracy.
asserted
Both → love → democracy
Neither believes in (or harbors an ounce of) empathy toward anyone.
asserted
Neither → believe → anyone
Both think nothing of corrupting governments for personal gain.
asserted
Both → think → gain
Both spout bigoted filth all hours of the day and night to hundreds of millions of people.
asserted
Both → spout → people
OK, let me just say it out loud: both Musk and Trump are loathsome human beings.
asserted
Musk → let → it
Someday historians will come up with an explanation of how two such awful people could have become the two most powerful people in the US, if not the world (what was it about the US in the early 21st century?).
uncertain
it → come → century
But for now, the goal of all sane people must be to defund both and get them as far away from politics as possible.
asserted
them → defund → politics
Musk has so far sunk roughly $445m into the 2026 midterm election cycle – all to help Republicans retain control of Congress.
asserted
Republicans → sink → Congress
That makes him the largest single known donor in the entire midterm elections.
asserted
him → make → elections
Will he expect a return on his investment?
asserted
he → expect → investment
Hell, he spent a quarter of a billion dollars in 2024 to help Trump win re-election and ended up with access to vast troves of government data, along with billions of dollars’ worth of no-bid contracts with the Pentagon.
asserted
Trump → spend → Pentagon
He was also rewarded with a chainsaw inaptly named “department of government efficiency”, which he used to destroy USAID and slash other government agencies he doesn’t like.
asserted
he → reward → agencies
Musk has given at least $168m to Texas Super Pacs seeking to elect Republican Ken Paxton to the Senate, despite (or is it because of?) Paxton’s long record of ethical lapses and legal controversies.
asserted
it → give → lapses
Musk’s businesses are headquartered in Texas, so he needs friends there.
asserted
he → headquarter → friends
Musk recently pushed the false story to his 242 million followers on X that James Talarico, Paxton’s Democratic opponent, was absent from the campaign trail because he had suffered a mental breakdown and was receiving counseling at the Lindner Center of Hope, a mental health center in Ohio.
asserted
he → push → Ohio
That story has been thoroughly debunked.
asserted
story → debunk → ?
Security camera footage shows Talarico at home, not at an Ohio mental health facility.
asserted
footage → show → facility
(Meanwhile, according to the Wall Street Journal, on New Year’s Eve 2024, Paxton partied in Dubai with his extramarital girlfriend and two fugitives from charges of about $300m in healthcare fraud in the US.
uncertain
Paxton → accord → US
One of the men donated $190,000 to Paxton, $25,000 of it after he was indicted.
asserted
he → donate → it
The project of defunding Musk will probably have to wait until after 20 January 2029, when, let’s pray, we have a sane administration in Washington that will end all government contracts with him (his support for rightwing extremists around the world makes him a security risk), bust up his monopolies (a reinvigorated Federal Trade Commission and Federal Communications Commission will see to it), and impose a significant wealth tax on him.
asserted
Commission → defunde → him
No private individual should have the power to determine US foreign policy, as Musk has attempted to do in Ukraine.
asserted
Musk → have → Ukraine
If Musk’s Starlink system has become so central to military strategy that its Pentagon contracts can’t be cancelled, it should be nationalized.
asserted
it → become → strategy
(After I suggested this on my podcast last Saturday, Musk posted: “Stealing companies is a serious crime.
uncertain
Stealing → suggest → companies
But you don’t have to wait until Musk is officially defunded.
asserted
Musk → have → ?
And support politicians who promise to defund him.
asserted
who → support → him
…and 1 more, not listed.
The Aporia
