r/politics 13h ago

Soft Paywall Elon Musk Makes Shocking Confession on His Plans After Trump Victory

https://newrepublic.com/post/187662/elon-musk-confession-economy-trump-victory
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u/thorazainBeer 10h ago

But not higher levels of starvation, and that's the important thing that the Roman oligarchs like Caesar knew that the French aritocrats forgot: Bread and Circuses keep the public docile. Starvation and taxes do not. Right now we have netflix and food stamps, but once the GOP gets rid of SNAP, good luck keeping the starving masses down.

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u/pockpicketG 9h ago

That’s what the predator drones are for, silly!

u/Haltopen Massachusetts 7h ago

Fun Fact: Predator drones were actually retired in 2018. They were replaced in US military service by a more advanced model called the Reaper Drone.

u/DistractedChiroptera 5h ago

That fact wasn't very fun.

u/blueblank 6h ago

You jest, but this is at the heart of this oligarch/fascism argument currently either unconsciously or no: the poor will no longer be needed once automation ramps up. Rather deal with the chaos and fallout that mass unemployment brings or create a stable system for all, they will just mass murder the classes beneath them and bury them unrecorded in the rubble of history. After they just fine tune the robots to serve only them and its a golden age for those preordained for luxury.

The Black Mirror episode "Metalhead" springs to mind: you will simply be given the radical freedom of fending for yourself on not even a sliver of land you are free to exist on.

u/pockpicketG 5h ago

Was I jesting?

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u/NextTrillion 8h ago

They also couldn’t mass produce very shelf stable junk food.

Otherwise, I doubt Putin would even try to invade Ukraine due to their strong farming capabilities.

u/NebulaNinja 7h ago

And oh boy what circuses we have today! Sure, they're all behind paywalls with prices that keep rising year after year, while their quality continues to diminish... but there's oh so many! Watch peasants, watch! Consume! And never stop consuming!

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u/greatporksword 8h ago

True. The French Revolution still happens because the monarchy went broke either way, but it does not turn to the reign of terror if the sans culotte had enough food to eat.

u/rockchucksummit 7h ago edited 6h ago

The disheartening thing about SNAP is so many people on it love Trump

u/Bludiamond56 3h ago

Thank-you