An 'open letter to Elon Musk' is a clever device to get the message out into the wider world. 100,000+ views is highly significant. However:
My take is that far-Right politicians (such as the recently self-reinvented Musk) & Atlas junk-tanks like Heritage and IEA are more focussed on shrinking government (at least the social welfare aspects of it- not the police and military) and disciplining the working class to lower pay and harsher conditions. https://substack.com/@graceblakeley/note/c-84775973
The damage caused to the economy of real goods and services- the pond which the 99% swim in, including the owners of small-to-medium businesses- is likely considered mere 'collateral damage'- a price worth paying for the ideological outcomes sought. The resulting fall in consumption by the 99% could even be considered as a 'rational' response to climate change- instead of replacing the needs of a buoyant economy with renewables, relying on a much reduced demand for conventionals in a dystopian future where most people will consume little more than that required to keep them alive.
Even deflation has a silver-lining for the Billionaire. Those caught on the negative side of the deflationary debt trap will be forced into debt-peonage. Those on the positive side will see the purchasing power of their assets increase.
Comparisons have been made to the 'Gilded Age' of the late C19th. The key difference is that those were expansive times with escape-routes to less developed lands (coloniser opportunities if you like), and small-to-medium business opportunities simple enough to be established with achievable capital. No such opportunities are apparent today.
Agreed Steve. I think Musk knows the accounting, at least intuitively, and will squeeze government spending to squeeze labor.
An 'open letter to Elon Musk' is a clever device to get the message out into the wider world. 100,000+ views is highly significant. However:
My take is that far-Right politicians (such as the recently self-reinvented Musk) & Atlas junk-tanks like Heritage and IEA are more focussed on shrinking government (at least the social welfare aspects of it- not the police and military) and disciplining the working class to lower pay and harsher conditions. https://substack.com/@graceblakeley/note/c-84775973
The damage caused to the economy of real goods and services- the pond which the 99% swim in, including the owners of small-to-medium businesses- is likely considered mere 'collateral damage'- a price worth paying for the ideological outcomes sought. The resulting fall in consumption by the 99% could even be considered as a 'rational' response to climate change- instead of replacing the needs of a buoyant economy with renewables, relying on a much reduced demand for conventionals in a dystopian future where most people will consume little more than that required to keep them alive.
Even deflation has a silver-lining for the Billionaire. Those caught on the negative side of the deflationary debt trap will be forced into debt-peonage. Those on the positive side will see the purchasing power of their assets increase.
Comparisons have been made to the 'Gilded Age' of the late C19th. The key difference is that those were expansive times with escape-routes to less developed lands (coloniser opportunities if you like), and small-to-medium business opportunities simple enough to be established with achievable capital. No such opportunities are apparent today.