‘Tax his a–‘: Elon Musk could be the first trillionaire while millions of Americans are left to struggle
As I sat down just now and typed “Elon Musk” into Google, the top search was “Elon Musk satellite exploded.” Without even knowing more context, that snippet alone feels like an apt summation of Musk’s actual contributions to humanity.
This is the same guy who’s behind the supposedly self-driving cars that crash into normal roadside fair, or the take-over of the internet’s “town square” and turning it into a toxic wasteland with decreasing advertisers and users.
And yet, that guy is the richest man in the world. Not only that, but Musk is actively getting richer. An article published by CNN in September 2024 has been making the rounds again on social media. CNN notes that Informa Connect Academy estimates that, by 2027, Musk will likely become planet Earth’s first-ever trillionaire. Musk’s current fortune is estimated at $250 billion, and Informa notes his net worth is growing 110% a year.
The article has been resurgent in relevance because, as you may remember from the whole “dark MAGA” tangent, Musk campaigned for Donald Trump. Following Trump’s reelection, Musk might even get a job in the White House. As reported by Fortune, Trump said, “He doesn’t want to be in the Cabinet, he just wants to be in charge of cost-cutting. We’ll have a new position, secretary of cost-cutting, Elon wants to do that.” Even throwing around having a “secretary of cost-cutting” at all is classic Trump: an absurdly, even comically, dumb-sounding idea that would have horrifying consequences if actually played out.
The wealth gap between Musk and everyone else is horrifying
Podcaster Kyle Kulinski brought CNN’s piece about Elon Musk’s impending trillionaire status back into the conversation with a viral tweet. “41% [of Americans] have medical debt, 650k are homeless, 60% live paycheck to paycheck and Elon Musk is on track to become a TRILLIONAIRE. Tax his ass,” he writes.
He didn’t even mention the hot-button issue of student loan debt, which affects 55% of students from public colleges and 57% of students from private ones. The wealth gap in the USA right now is no joke. USA Today reported in October, via the Congressional Budget Office, that the richest 10% of Americans control 60% of its wealth. Meanwhile, the bottom 50% of Americans hold just 6% of the country’s wealth. Combined.
And this is all before you even consider the wider environment the wealth gap is creating. For example, the Supreme Court ruled earlier this year that cities can effectively ban homeless camps, making homelessness itself potentially a crime. So yes: tax his ass, please. And yet, the incumbent president Donald Trump has promised to do the exact opposite. Assuming Trump does what he’s said he will do, taxes on the wealthy will be cut, as will the budget for social programs like Medicaid. The already discouragingly large wealth gap will get wider. It’s a tough pill to swallow.
I’d like to offer you a positive note here that isn’t just making fun of Musk for not being able to chant “USA! USA!” right. But as with everything after this election, we’re just going to have to do the work ourselves in our communities, as best we can. And maybe don’t buy a Tesla—they can’t actually self-drive anyway.
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