DiscussMormonism.com

Elon Musk has not openly declared his love of Adolf Hitler, although he has sent plenty of dog whistles out there to suggest his affinity for fascism and its toxic fruits. Nevertheless, he has aptly been described by fellow billionaire Bill Gates as, "the richest man in the world killing the world's poorest children." Elon Musk accomplished almost nothing positive in his time as the head of DOGE, but he did dismantle USAID, and he thereby stopped medicine and food from reaching the poorest, most vulnerable people in the world. The deaths resulting from his casual cruelness are estimated to reach as high as 300,000 thus far. That makes Musk a mass murderer on a scale that starts to rival the great tyrants of history.

Imagine it: we routinely and without a second thought execute serial killers who may be responsible for deaths numbering in the double digits at most. Elon Musk lives comfortably in his impunity after murdering hundreds of thousands of human beings. Not one of us seriously questions his right to continue living his comfortable existence of wealth and ease after having murdered so many people. He could be the most murderous fascist since Adolf Hitler or perhaps Franco,* whether he set out specifically to emulate them in that regard. I can't exclude the possibility that this was among his intentions.

Musk was a MAGA hero, until he crossed the true sacred cow of MAGA: Donald Trump. Now, as Lawrence O'Donnell points out, he is apologizing for upsetting Donald Trump, but he apparently has no regrets for his mass murder. We can all rest that much less easily knowing that our authoritarian Constitution-violating president is making up with his mass-murdering, fascist henchman.

If you want to see Lawrence's commentary about this, see https://youtu.be/H7vmtBeh5AM?si=YUqwAyacnZOE7QGs

*Franco's White Terror took as many as 400,000 lives and ended several years after the fall of Nazi Berlin.

I can’t call Musk a mass murderer, but I can say that he is aiding and abetting the demise of those who would have received assistance had we not abruptly and without warning pulled the rug out from under them.

He certainly elevated our worst and most selfish behavior, and reveled in doing so.

canpakes wrote: ↑

Thu Jun 12, 2025 3:09 pm

I can’t call Musk a mass murderer, but I can say that he is aiding and abetting the demise of those 300,000 who would have received assistance had we not abruptly and without warning pulled the rug out from under them.

He certainly elevated our worst and most selfish behavior, and reveled in doing so.

I don't see how deliberately denying the poor their medicine and food is any less murder.

If you had an incapacitated grandparent, and you locked them in a room without access to their medicine and food, you could be charged with their murder when they died from your active denial of their access to those things.

If DOGE had said, "we are phasing out USAID support to the poor, and we will assist in the transition to other resources to cover that lack," I would not use the word murder at all. It is the fact that the food and medicine was there, and it was taken away without warning, on purpose, with no provision for any substitute resources that prompts me to use that language.

Negligent homicide?

I am comfortable with the words I have chosen. Musk's actions do, after all, originate in the same ideology that killed millions of people in the twentieth century.

For a fraction of the cost of Trump's trip to watch part of the Super Bowl before leaving to rage tweet, just the three EGPAF grants through PEPFAR would have prevented at least 10,000 babies from being born with HIV, and the 10,000 children being treated for HIV now having AIDS and on the downward slope to a painful and cruel death.

This little light of mine...

Kishkumen wrote: ↑

Thu Jun 12, 2025 3:15 pm

canpakes wrote: ↑

Thu Jun 12, 2025 3:09 pm

I can’t call Musk a mass murderer, but I can say that he is aiding and abetting the demise of those 300,000 who would have received assistance had we not abruptly and without warning pulled the rug out from under them.

He certainly elevated our worst and most selfish behavior, and reveled in doing so.

I don't see how deliberately denying the poor their medicine and food is any less murder.

If you had an incapacitated grandparent, and you locked them in a room without access to their medicine and food, you could be charged with their murder when they died from your active denial of their access to those things.

This much is true. The difference is that the grandparent in your situation is likely completely under your control, and access to her/him must occur through you. In the example of USAID, there are theoretically other avenues for assistance, and we do not singlehandedly control the fate of aid recipients.

If DOGE had said, "we are phasing out USAID support to the poor, and we will assist in the transition to other resources to cover that lack," I would not use the word murder at all. It is the fact that the food and medicine was there, and it was taken away without warning, on purpose, with no provision for any substitute resources that prompts me to use that language.

I also take issue with DOGE and Musk for this same reason. We basically could not have changed our course in a worse manner. It’s shockingly petty and brutal, and it was done to entertain the worst deficiencies of the revengeful MAGA mindset, along with the added intent to brush aside any obstacles that stood in the way of Musk’s own global interests.

There is no way to keep this from becoming a dark stain on our nation’s history, with possibly terrible humanitarian consequences.

Negligent homicide?

I am comfortable with the words I have chosen. Musk's actions do, after all, originate in the same ideology that killed millions of people in the twentieth century.

I understand. I have no love or admiration for Musk, and he is emblematic of the disease of MAGA’s not-so-new ‘woke right’ mindset.

canpakes wrote: ↑

Thu Jun 12, 2025 3:43 pm

This much is true. The difference is that the grandparent in your situation is likely completely under your control, and access to her/him must occur through you. In the example of USAID, there are theoretically other avenues for assistance, and we do not singlehandedly control the fate of aid recipients.

OK. Theoretically doesn't do it for me. Effectively, it was clear there were no other practical immediate options that would save those people. Suddenly ending aid led inevitably to the deaths of human beings. There is no way Musk did not know that. Maybe he was too far gone in drug-induced insanity to realize he was killing hundreds of thousands of people. That leads us back to negligent homicide, but I can't be certain that his use of ketamine was a sufficiently mitigating factor to absolve him of the accusation that he is a mass murderer.

I think it is important to remember that the discussion was always in the realm of moral and ethical culpability, not legal jeopardy. In my view, there is a time for considering the damage that was done and to cast a comparative light on it. I feel comfortable calling Musk a fascist and a leader of the global fascist movement. That is the context in which we must make our comparison. He is not just some guy who made a mistake as he tried to cut government spending.

He went straight after USAID. He had no compunction about immediately cutting off the aid it was providing, leaving no time for anyone else to jump in to pick up the slack. I don't see how he is not a mass murderer, but this is, of course, my opinion.

Doctor Steuss wrote: ↑

Thu Jun 12, 2025 3:19 pm

For a fraction of the cost of Trump's trip to watch part of the Super Bowl before leaving to rage tweet, just the three EGPAF grants through PEPFAR would have prevented at least 10,000 babies from being born with HIV, and the 10,000 children being treated for HIV now having AIDS and on the downward slope to a painful and cruel death.

This little light of mine...

It is unconscionable. Absolutely. Musk threw these lives away. MAGA has serious blood on its hands. They whine about a driverless car on fire, a Mexican flag waved on the streets of LA. But they have callously caused the death, illness, and suffering of untold hundreds of thousands. I am compelled by the facts to take the view that no real Christian could countenance that.

Kishkumen wrote: ↑

Thu Jun 12, 2025 10:51 pm

I am compelled by the facts to take the view that no real Christian could countenance that.

Absolutely correct. Elon and Felon effectively signed the death warrants for the "least of these". Some of us are awake and aware and there is NO defense for it from a Christian standpoint.

I don't see how deliberately denying the poor their medicine and food is any less murder.

How are you any less accountable? If you still have a savings account and haven't maxed out your credit cards sending life saving food, medicine, and condomns to the 3rd world then you're a mass murderer as well.

ajax18 wrote: ↑

Fri Jun 13, 2025 12:17 am

I don't see how deliberately denying the poor their medicine and food is any less murder.

How are you any less accountable? If you still have a savings account and haven't maxed out your credit cards sending life saving food, medicine, and condomns to the 3rd world then you're a mass murderer as well.

Sure, we can all examine ourselves and do more---and should. But yours is, as usual, a bad faith polemic. But that's the kind of thing you expect of a Lost Cause creep.