Summary

The White House confirmed that Elon Musk is working as a “special government employee” under Trump, granting him significant authority to cut federal spending.

Musk has a government email, office space, and access to sensitive Treasury systems. His team abruptly shut down USAID headquarters on Monday.

Musk is consolidating unchecked power, raising legal and ethical concerns, particularly given his federal contracts.

Musk is unpaid and may not be required to disclose financial interests.

  • @[email protected]
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    05 hours ago

    Violence is the last recourse of the failure to properly manage a situation.

    Violence has never been the only answer. Human civilization works only because of this fact, if violence was the only answer we would never have risen beyond a baboon troop size.

    Literally billions of low level conflicts are solved daily without violence.

    In saying the above, “violence is never the answer” is categorically wrong. It has in fact been used throughout history to great effect, but also to terrible effect. We have to be very careful where we apply violence, it tends to make things much worse before they get better (if they do at all).

    • @[email protected]
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      14 hours ago

      You’re naive. Where do you think the authority to negotiate comes from? It’s violence. The threat of force.

      When you don’t have that. You get the US. Where tens of millions protesting nation wide is flatly ignored if not actively stomped out by the government like so often happens here by police forces.

      • @[email protected]
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        3 hours ago

        This is a cultural difference. American culture is steeped in violence, you venerate it in almost all of your stories.

        Violence is like fire, properly harnessed, it is a tool for progress. Otherwise it is wildfire and destroys everything around it.

        If those same millions of people who can organize to protest, had instead just decided to strike. I would predict that more would happen, but that requires a collectivist culture, America has been pushing itself along the individualistic line for so long, I’m not sure you have it in you to work together enough.

    • @Glitterbomb
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      04 hours ago

      I was about to ask what kind of fantasy land you live in, but it appears to be right there in your username. Cheers, must be nice over there

      • @[email protected]
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        03 hours ago

        We have our own issues, but the culture of violence is not one of them. Sure we have violent people, but our culture is not the same.