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> he president Musk helped elect is actively using the power of the state to take control of corporations and threaten and coerce everyone in academia, journali

by cbeach 1y ago

> he president Musk helped elect is actively using the power of the state to take control of corporations and threaten and coerce everyone in academia, journalism, media, and even comedians. Coercing who, exactly? Do you have any examples? Seems odd that an alleged authoritarian president would massively reduce the power of the state (DOGE), doesn't it? > As for the DOGE efforts, they were most definitely NOT supporting small-state values, they actively cost the govt money, Not in the long term, they won't. Reduce the size of the state = reduce the cost of the state. Peter Thiel is a libertarian. He was misconstrued by some as "authoritarian" based on a 2009 essay which included the phrase "I no longer believe that freedom and democracy are compatible" -- the sentence is misunderstood as anti-democratic. What Thiel instead feared is "that mass democracy, driven by emotion, resentment, and short-termism, will deliberately or accidentally dismantle the freedoms that underpin innovation and growth"

toss1 1y ago
>>Coercing who, exactly? Do you have any examples? Seriously? How can you ignore or justify as not authoritarian all the newspeople and COMEDIANS who Trump has coerced the networks into cancelling? All the spurious lawsuits and threats of abusive government action against any org broadcasting non-Trump-favorable news? Check the current abuse of the DOJ to go against anyone involved in investigating his crimes, the unilaterial userpation of Congress' power of the purse with the daily tariff announcements? DOGE is massively reducing the power of the state? NO, (aside from teh data raid) it is removing career professionals who might govern competently instead of loyally to the Chief Executive. That is the opposite of reducing government power, it is concentrating it. DOGE saving money? Nope again, every week it gets worse. They are literally recalling fired workers who have been on payroll doing nothing since April because the functions cannot be performed without them. Six months of paid leave without even firing people is the opposite of efficiency with payroll money. Theil Libertarian? Are you serious? He is building Palantir, which is the largest surveillance company ever, and integrating it into every government function he can. His friend Ellison also stated 'people will be on their best behavior when they are under cameras all the time'. Those are not the statements or actions of Libertarians, and any Libertarian sentiments are cover at best. Seriously, look and reassess. You are providing a fine example of how motivated reasoning and enthusiasm can lead to deeply wrong conclusions edit: correct "unpaid leave" to "paid leave" Plus, another reminder, Elon supported ALL of this with $250 - $400 million. That is not the action of a libertarian
- toss1 1y ago
  And seriously, this [0] is something a Libertarian would do? "Musk calls Anti-Defamation League ‘hate group’ for documenting Christian extremism" [0] https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/sep/29/elon-musk-anti-defamation-league-christian-extremism https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/sep/29/elon-musk...
toss1 1y ago
>>Coercing who, exactly? Do you have any examples? Seriously? #2 We now have the President and Commander In Chief (elected with the essential help of a quarter-$$billion++ of Elon Musk's money) just addressed an unprecedented gathering of Generals declaring the most important war is in "[US cities .....That's a war too. It's a war from within" The most important potential war is not Russia, China, or even Transnational Drug Cartels, it is US citizens And the Secretary of War also addressed the same group telling them that "We untie the hands of our war fighters to intimidate, demoralize, hunt and kill the enemies of our country. No more politically correct and overbearing rules of engagement, just common sense, maximum lethality and authority for war fighters," So, the very top leadership of the country is declaring to the top militery that greatest enemy is US citizens and the military will be deployed to US cities to fight, and without rules of engagement, so they can more effectively "intimidate, demoralize, hunt and kill" everyone, including those US citizens and residents. This is the most authoritarian, and frankly straight-up fascist move I've seen in the US in my lifetime, if not ever. Please explain how these actions (again, directly supported by massive amounts of money and effort from Elon Musk) are in any way "Libertarian". Seriously. [0] https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trump-pitches-generals-admirals-using-us-cities-military-training-grou-rcna234708 https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trump-pi... [1] https://www.newindianexpress.com/world/2025/Sep/30/intimidate-hunt-and-kill-trumps-pentagon-chief-outlines-vision-for-us-military https://www.newindianexpress.com/world/2025/Sep/30/intimidat...

by cbeach 1y ago

toss1 1y ago

>>Coercing who, exactly? Do you have any examples? Seriously? How can you ignore or justify as not authoritarian all the newspeople and COMEDIANS who Trump has coerced the networks into cancelling? All the spurious lawsuits and threats of abusive government action against any org broadcasting non-Trump-favorable news? Check the current abuse of the DOJ to go against anyone involved in investigating his crimes, the unilaterial userpation of Congress' power of the purse with the daily tariff announcements? DOGE is massively reducing the power of the state? NO, (aside from teh data raid) it is removing career professionals who might govern competently instead of loyally to the Chief Executive. That is the opposite of reducing government power, it is concentrating it. DOGE saving money? Nope again, every week it gets worse. They are literally recalling fired workers who have been on payroll doing nothing since April because the functions cannot be performed without them. Six months of paid leave without even firing people is the opposite of efficiency with payroll money. Theil Libertarian? Are you serious? He is building Palantir, which is the largest surveillance company ever, and integrating it into every government function he can. His friend Ellison also stated 'people will be on their best behavior when they are under cameras all the time'. Those are not the statements or actions of Libertarians, and any Libertarian sentiments are cover at best. Seriously, look and reassess. You are providing a fine example of how motivated reasoning and enthusiasm can lead to deeply wrong conclusions edit: correct "unpaid leave" to "paid leave" Plus, another reminder, Elon supported ALL of this with $250 - $400 million. That is not the action of a libertarian

toss1 1y ago
And seriously, this [0] is something a Libertarian would do? "Musk calls Anti-Defamation League ‘hate group’ for documenting Christian extremism" [0] https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/sep/29/elon-musk-anti-defamation-league-christian-extremism https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/sep/29/elon-musk...

toss1 1y ago

>>Coercing who, exactly? Do you have any examples? Seriously? #2 We now have the President and Commander In Chief (elected with the essential help of a quarter-$$billion++ of Elon Musk's money) just addressed an unprecedented gathering of Generals declaring the most important war is in "[US cities .....That's a war too. It's a war from within" The most important potential war is not Russia, China, or even Transnational Drug Cartels, it is US citizens And the Secretary of War also addressed the same group telling them that "We untie the hands of our war fighters to intimidate, demoralize, hunt and kill the enemies of our country. No more politically correct and overbearing rules of engagement, just common sense, maximum lethality and authority for war fighters," So, the very top leadership of the country is declaring to the top militery that greatest enemy is US citizens and the military will be deployed to US cities to fight, and without rules of engagement, so they can more effectively "intimidate, demoralize, hunt and kill" everyone, including those US citizens and residents. This is the most authoritarian, and frankly straight-up fascist move I've seen in the US in my lifetime, if not ever. Please explain how these actions (again, directly supported by massive amounts of money and effort from Elon Musk) are in any way "Libertarian". Seriously. [0] https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trump-pitches-generals-admirals-using-us-cities-military-training-grou-rcna234708 https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trump-pi... [1] https://www.newindianexpress.com/world/2025/Sep/30/intimidate-hunt-and-kill-trumps-pentagon-chief-outlines-vision-for-us-military https://www.newindianexpress.com/world/2025/Sep/30/intimidat...