A bunch of men had a hard time handling middle age in a culture that centers young people are bright young things. So they lost their minds to a movement making it easier to blame anyone but themselves. It is bad. But we can figure out how to out organize them.
I left a cult in my early twenties and I STILL get a swooping sense of dissociation when I try to fathom being so “close” to people who I didn’t truly know/understand at all. It’s so strange and I’m sorry you’re going through that too.
But many ideologies and lifestyle choices completely color the content of your character, or at least heavily influence it. For there to be such a wide gap between the person you meet and the person they truly are is a horrifying realization.
There are specific ideologies and lifestyle choices that lionise human bonding and empathy. This tendency to “depoliticise” social affairs can be harmful.
Fascism became necessary to save European capitalism when rising socialism threatened it. So what is Dork MAGA protecting? Is there a risk that AI will bring abundance to the world and they just don’t want to share?
People think @auschwitzmemorial.bsky.social is an abhorrence that can be resisted passively. Truth is the potential is always there for scum to organise and look for their cannibalistic zero-sum feast.
It’s not enough that they *don’t*, they have to live in an existence where they *can’t*.
In your experience, what is the incentive from those on the opposite side? I imagine that they likely have capital interests driving their decision-making. Or, perhaps there are genuine ideological differences?
Well what do you think of USAID shutting down? It could be anything from a means to juicing a “money saved” graph for Elon to believing conspiracy theories about fraud to perhaps something darker and malevolent. Or even careless and indifferent, like it was a trial balloon for the ensuing coup.
I believe what happened to USAID is terrible; it's shameful, reckless, and short-sighted.
You make a good point—the reasoning and incentives behind these decisions are not mutually exclusive and are difficult to discern. It's likely an "all the above" scenario.
Even if a proper coup doesn't come to fruition (i.e., Trump et al. consolidating power such that opposition is impossible), which I sincerely hope, the destruction and privatization of so many federal agencies will result in a "capitalist coup" from which our country will need decades to recover.
To add a splash of optimism, IF Trump and Elon fail the coup and a Democrat actually united the country in 2028, they'd probably have a real mandate to rebuild some of these institutions to actually work for Americans. USAID still exists, it's hollow. That's a blank canvas.
Considering the Russia-centric positions Elon's circle have taken in the last 2~ years I'd say it's a lot more likely in the darker and malevolent category.
They want to destroy soft power and replace it with hard power.
They went after USAID first because :
1. there was “International “ in the title
2. Musk being investigated for using starlink against Ukraine
3. The Russians hate USAID because it gave the US soft power around the world - they couldn’t compete
It's not surprising to encounter opposition when imposing one's own vision on global health issues, as local contexts and needs can be complex and varied.
Truly what do you make of it? I’m shocked, too, having covered a lot of these people for a long time. My main hypothesis is Twitter poisoning them with insane high voltage feedback loops.
I can't say I am surprised. Just learning about what I am suffering with made me see how badly "big pharma" has fucked up. Also, the lengths at which they go to cover it up. This world is insane... Keep on keeping on!
I feel like of all the things Gates has done in his life, good and bad, the one that he has to have imagined he would have faced the *least* opposition on was "keep the poorest people in the world from suffering a slow, painful death", and yet...
looked more into it and i guess you can read his loyalty to unconditional pharmaceutical ip (in the face of the industry's abuses of it) as some weird liberal brainworm and i'm no longer convinced greed played a part so yeah i'm retracting my second statement
I think that the crazy tech dudes seriously think there are too many people and want to see half the global population vanish. They are, of course, confident they should be in the half remaining.
And, in a particularly insidious, Orwellian turn, those extremely wealthy former friends on the opposing team claim to be protecting poor people's health by denying them healthcare 🫠
While I recognise you have signed "The Pledge", how much tax have you paid on your $24 billion? You have given away around $150 million with your wife. Helping anti-malarial research. I am discounting that. And the $51 million to Biden in 2020. As a %, how much tax do you pay each year?
Not sure on taxes over time - a lot, not 0. But when I didn’t pay taxes it’s because money was donated - much more of my capital is in the foundation than available for spending.
That's certainly more than most billionaires and you have helped a lot of causes. I admire the fact that you give away so much but do you think that such donations should preclude you from paying income tax? If not, what % should you pay?
No, I agree. If you give it away, the money itself should not be taxed. However, there are multiple loopholes that allow for a reduction in overall tax paid to be financially beneficial. However, as of this year, gains exceeding $492,300 will be taxed at 20%. That's 3% less than a nurse pays.
On income earned. Personally, I would like to see a far more progressive tax rate, on both income and capital gains. But that is for Americans to decide.
I looked into it and was shocked that people have written books about the sin of empathy and then they go on podcasts and talk about it, etc. These Christians have lost the plot
Bad priest had audacity to ask Trump to follow Jesus actual teachings. Satan worshipers claiming to be Christian responded with vitriol. I swear these people worship the devil.
grifters and assholes who think they need a veneer of christianity for some reason that has nothing to do with the religion they're claiming to be justified by. (Not to no true christian this but like at least empathy being a sin)
There will always be opposition to everything. In fact, it seems like the universe deliberately seeks this out. It's a challenge to you and your goals. I am coming to terms with this idea slowly. I hate it. Good luck on what you're doing.
How do you engage with the 'opposition team'? Do you have discussions with them? When making decisions, do you tend to prioritize dialogue or rely more on quantitative optimization? What does 'effective' mean to you in this context ?
The most surprising think about oligarchs and oligarchs wannabees is they think philanthropy makes up for exploitation, buying governments and looting all the wealth from the working class.
Under a progressive taxation system with a strong economic foundation, these parasites wouldn't exist.
The bad guys in comics were so obvious and exaggerated I thought, “surely no one works with these ppl, they’re clearly evil” and then shit like this happens everywhere and I’m like…
“Oh…”
The carrots thing was just thrown out there as a bullshit line to explain the increased shoot-down / interception rates of German planes via radar tracking when the Germans weren't yet aware that the Brits had invented radar
Which cracks me up because of how successful it was. People around the world believed it for decades, not just WWII Germans. My US school cafeteria had a poster about how eating carrots will give you night vision!
Seems like some dickheads in the UK are also on team 'kill all the poors' as they do the ol' Republican two-step of defunding a service and then using that same defunded service to point at and argue that government is useless / incompetent
As a scientist and physician, I tell all who listen question everything but remember that one person doesn’t know everything about even how a blade of grass grows. The world is complex, we all have different talents. I trust the chef, I trust my mechanic, the self employed farmer. Trust but verify
Kids in MA took field trips to old cemeteries - family plots had multiple wives buried w the infant they died w in childbirth & sooo many small children’s stones… Ahhh, the good old days🤮 Easy to see when smallpox, cholera, flu etc swept through a town. Mayhap these field trips should be reinstated?
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i, for one, promise never to become a supervillain and *not* simply due to lack of resources!
Perhaps that is why the billionaires are supporting Trump's Fascism 2.0.
A better way to secure their wealth and personal safety.
How do you think billionaires like you might quickly and imaginatively bridge some of the p0 gaps so that more people don’t die unnecessarily?
It’s not enough that they *don’t*, they have to live in an existence where they *can’t*.
You make a good point—the reasoning and incentives behind these decisions are not mutually exclusive and are difficult to discern. It's likely an "all the above" scenario.
They want to destroy soft power and replace it with hard power.
Hollow out the gov, rule unchecked. Build techno-dystopia and have fun treating the public like ants.
1. there was “International “ in the title
2. Musk being investigated for using starlink against Ukraine
3. The Russians hate USAID because it gave the US soft power around the world - they couldn’t compete
By deciding who is worthy of help, Musk is playing God.
it turns out that philantropy can be a roundabout way of doing business
https://www.devex.com/news/gates-foundation-reverses-course-on-covid-19-vaccine-patents-99810
I highly recommend the tome, "The Bill Gates Problem," by Tim Schwab.
Essentially, nothing good is true, & he never really stopped being the villain he became in the 1980s.
And, in a particularly insidious, Orwellian turn, those extremely wealthy former friends on the opposing team claim to be protecting poor people's health by denying them healthcare 🫠
Synonyms
cutthroat
immoral
unconscionable
unethical
unprincipled
unscrupulous
🤣
I’m sorry you’ve run into obstacles
Thank you for trying.
If you paid less, what justification do you have?
Not sure on taxes over time - a lot, not 0. But when I didn’t pay taxes it’s because money was donated - much more of my capital is in the foundation than available for spending.
I more or less pay full tax rates on everything else (but mostly capital gains rates, not income - I don’t have a salary).
Under a progressive taxation system with a strong economic foundation, these parasites wouldn't exist.
I often can't tell.
“Oh…”
It's almost as though we have some Adversary trying to convince people vaccines aren't real, except it's the home team.
Surprised me every time.
Life imitating art. 🤦🏽♀️
Me: A stinker. An evil little guy. Opposes global health, because it keeps things interesting.
We are not the same.
Consolidating wealth in the hands of a few, did not turn out well?
Which part is the surprise?
nothing new to you, sorry