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This is pretty much the worst case so far of what I expected from this quite literally criminal administration. The conflicts of interest here are simply stagge

This is pretty much the worst case so far of what I expected from this quite literally criminal administration. The conflicts of interest here are simply staggering. I can’t imagine why any American would accept that Elon Musk should be allowed to award federal contracts to himself. Government efficiency is a laudable goal but this team… this team isn’t it. These actions have severe implications for the future of science and industry in this country. And the cronyism is a blatant distortion of the free market – how is anyone supposed to compete to provide good service to the government, when the person issuing contracts is also selling services to the government. Just look at Verizon versus SpaceX and the FAA system. I can understand why people don’t want to see this discussion here, especially users who aren’t American and thus aren’t directly affected. And I can understand not wanting to engage for ideological reasons, a feeling of helplessness, or simply an attitude that they don’t want to engage in politics. Unfortunately, politics sometimes chooses to engage with us - regardless of what we want. A world where government contracts are not given to whoever can provide the best service, but rather to whoever will provide the largest kickback is a recipe for a future where the basic infrastructure we rely on doesn’t work. We do have a voice here – we don’t need to simply accept that this is the state of affairs. If you’re concerned about this like I am, I encourage you to pick up a phone and call your representatives. It only takes 5 minutes. Congress has all the power to stop these conflicts of interests and demand that cuts are done in an accountable and responsible way. I called mine and asked a few simple questions – what is Elon Musk doing in the government, why is he talking over the president in interviews, and why is he allowed to give contracts to companies he owns?

thefz 2y ago
> I can understand why people don’t want to see this discussion here, especially users who aren’t American and thus aren’t directly affected TBH from Europe I can sense already some news fatigue. US defaultism is palpable, especially considering that the US is perceived not as the biggest or most important - we are talking about 300mil people - but rather as the loudest, noisiest kid in the back of the room, which honestly isn't even that funny, interesting or brilliant.
- rsynnott 2y ago
  I mean, honestly, if this was happening where I live, I might well respond by withdrawing from the news, too. It's really fairly stunning. I live in Ireland, and when I was a kid, the Taoiseach (PM), Charlie Haughey, who at the time was paid what would now be worth maybe 100k per year, mysteriously had his own island (turned out he was taking millions in corrupt payments, because of course). Over the next couple of decades, Ireland largely cleaned up the corruption, though Haughey himself largely escaped justice while he was alive (he spent much of his last decade in front of tribunals but kicked the bucket before they ended), suffering a sort of damnatio memoriae instead. I'd always kind of thought of Haughey as the absolute epitome of modern developed world corruption, just comically blatant. Anyway, looks like this lot very much have him beat.

thefz 2y ago

> I can understand why people don’t want to see this discussion here, especially users who aren’t American and thus aren’t directly affected TBH from Europe I can sense already some news fatigue. US defaultism is palpable, especially considering that the US is perceived not as the biggest or most important - we are talking about 300mil people - but rather as the loudest, noisiest kid in the back of the room, which honestly isn't even that funny, interesting or brilliant.

rsynnott 2y ago
I mean, honestly, if this was happening where I live, I might well respond by withdrawing from the news, too. It's really fairly stunning. I live in Ireland, and when I was a kid, the Taoiseach (PM), Charlie Haughey, who at the time was paid what would now be worth maybe 100k per year, mysteriously had his own island (turned out he was taking millions in corrupt payments, because of course). Over the next couple of decades, Ireland largely cleaned up the corruption, though Haughey himself largely escaped justice while he was alive (he spent much of his last decade in front of tribunals but kicked the bucket before they ended), suffering a sort of damnatio memoriae instead. I'd always kind of thought of Haughey as the absolute epitome of modern developed world corruption, just comically blatant. Anyway, looks like this lot very much have him beat.