He's Also Boosting Fascists In Brazil, Germany & The U.K.
Sometimes a very rich person sort of just slips into something that becomes an obsession— like supporting hospitals, universities, charities in general. Or maybe buying himself a fancy art collection or a particular artist or a certain genre of art, or maybe buying race horses, or classic cars or yachts or private planes. How about sports teams? Rare coins? Stamps? Luxury watches? Restaurants? Mansions— as in acquiring historically significant properties, entire islands or unique architectural marvels around the globe. Some might focus on restoring old estates or building new, extravagant ones. A budding billionaire may start with a glass of Romanée-Conti, flip out and wind up collecting rare, expensive wines, buying vineyards, or even creating their own wine brand. Collecting first editions, manuscripts, or historically significant books can be a thing and it could lead to funding libraries. Starting with owning an exotic pet (like an emu), this obsession might grow into funding large-scale conservation projects, establishing private zoos or buying land for wildlife reserves. A nice vacation in Turkey and running across the ruins at Pergamon and Ephesus could turn some billionaire into a private collector obsessed with ancient artifacts or funding archaeological digs. Believe it or not there may even be some billionaires who get hooked on investing in space tourism companies like Virgin Galactic or Blue Origin and wind up funding private space missions and buying personal satellites. Some might even fund research into colonizing other planets.
A much bigger problem is something we’re seeing unfold right in front of our eyes in real time: billionaires becoming increasing obsessed with politics. And I think you know to whom I’m referring. Instead of getting obsessed with buying race horses or islands, Musk bought a political party— for a bargain price of just $277 million. And now he wants to buy the other one— doing the same thing AIPAC and the crypto-cartel are doing: using GOP-lite Democrats (New Dems and Blue Dogs) to rid the House Democratic caucus of progressives. Yesterday, Anthony Adragna reported that “Musk said he’ll be funding moderate [meaning right-of-center] primary challengers to incumbent Democrats in deep-blue seats around the country, as he continues to try to influence a wide swath of government. ‘Forgot to mention that I’m also going to be funding moderate candidates in heavily Democrat districts, so that the country can get rid of those who don’t represent them,’ said the South African fascist billionaire who thinks he has some idea about who represents Americans. Which Democraps do you think would be teh first ones to proudly accept Elon-cash? Jared Golden? Jared Moskowitz? Marie Gluesenkamp Perez? Josh Goldheimer? Henry Cuellar? Don Davis? John Fetterman? Jeanne Shaheen? Mark Warner? Chris Coons?
Let me reiterate something we’ve been saying all year— his properties and businesses need to be nationalized and he needs to be deported back to South Africa with the same amount of money in his pocket that he had when he got here.
Apparently he’s not happy with the new short-term funding bill that Trump gave MAGA Mike the green light on. And, after getting his ass kicked by progressives in Brazil, he’s threatening to fund neo-Nazi parties in Germany and the U.K. Yesterday, Reuters reported that “waded into Germany's election campaign” yesterday calling the new German Nazi Party (AfD) “the country's saviour.” The election is February 23 and Musk, who has been supporting them for over a year, tweeted "Only the AfD can save Germany” yesterday.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Musk is trying to help British fascist Nigel Farage take over 10 Dowing Street. “There is growing alarm among Britain’s political establishment,” wrote Max Colchester, “that Musk, who has been sharply critical of Prime Minister Keir Starmer, may radically alter the U.K.’s electoral landscape by donating millions of dollars to Reform UK, a populist upstart party. Britain’s government says it wants to change the law to prevent foreigners from making outsize political donations.” Good idea
Farage recently met with Musk and says the world’s richest man is considering donating to Reform, a move that could turbocharge the fast-growing anti-immigration party’s support.
Musk has regularly endorsed politicians or parties he likes at home and abroad. Donating to a foreign political party, however, would be new ground. He has so far relied on Twitter, the social-media platform he owns, as a megaphone to promote his views. This week, he also endorsed Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany, an anti-immigration party that is currently running second in polls…
This week, Musk was photographed meeting Farage in Mar-a-Lago in front of a portrait of a young Trump. Farage shared a photograph of the meeting with Musk on Twitter on Tuesday with the caption: “Britain needs Reform.” Musk replied: “Absolutely.”
Following speculation, Farage confirmed he is in negotiations with Musk over a possible donation, the size and timing of which he says is unknown. Asked on Wednesday if Musk would donate, Farage said: “He isn’t against the idea.” Musk didn’t reply to a request for comment.
In early December, a British newspaper reported Musk was considering donating $100 million. When asked whether he would give Farage that kind of money Musk said “Err, no.”
His “err, no,” as we saw here in the U.S., means absolutely nothing. He was well on the way to spending over a quarter billion on electing Trump and other right-wing Republicans similar to the kinds of fascist South Africans he feels comfortable with, when he was publicly denying he would be contributing anything to Trump. In the last election “Reform,” wrote Colchester, “performed better than expected in the election, securing about 14% of votes and five seats. Shortly afterward, there were riots in Britain after the killing of three children by a man who was wrongly identified as being an asylum seeker. A 17-year-old British citizen born to Rwandan migrants was charged with murder. Musk said on Twitter that ‘civil war is inevitable’ in Britain because of the high level of immigration. Starmer’s spokesman said Musk’s claims were untrue. When several people were arrested for inciting violence on social media Musk further amped up his criticism.” Musk should have been arrested for stirring up the violence and tried too but Starmer has no balls.
In October, Musk wasn’t invited by the U.K. government to an investment summit. In November, he reposted a petition for a fresh general election saying “The people of Britain have had enough of a tyrannical police state.” He also reposted a message saying Reform would win the next UK election with the caption “Yes.”
Britain has strict limits on how much British political parties can spend on elections, but they can theoretically accept unlimited donations as long as they are made through a U.K.-based company. Musk is listed as controlling Twitter UK, Tesla UK, and Starlink Internet Services UK. Such a donation would likely need shareholder approval.
The U.K.’s Electoral Commission is pushing for laws to be reformed so that campaigners cannot accept money from companies that haven’t made enough profits in the UK to fund the handout. “The system needs strengthening,” said Vijay Rangarajan, the commission’s chief executive.
Any donation would prove a big win for Farage, who rose to prominence in the early 1990s as a gadfly against Britain’s membership of the EU. However, he struggled to find a new cause after Brexit.
About this time last year, Farage was eating a kangaroo anus on a reality TV show as his political career wandered. Six months ago, he set out on a long-shot mission to secure a bridgehead in parliament before mounting a bid to become prime minister. He achieved his first aim. The next step will take funds.
As for Musk, he started by donating modestly to political campaigns, which, because of his addictive personality, escalated to becoming a major donor and kingmaker. He started a Super PAC that can spend unlimited amounts on political ads and he helped elect Trump and a handful of congressional Republicans. Now he has taken to threatening Republicans that if they don’t vote the way he wants them to, he will finance primaries against them.
Obviously Musk has been using lobbyists to influence policies related to his businesses for years and his acquisition of Twitter indicates an interest in controlling or influencing media narratives. There are always rumors that he is going to expand this influence by investing in or acquiring other forms of media to push far right narratives in sync with his increasingly fascist views. Given his control over Twitter, Musk uses the platform to sway public opinion while engaging in worse disinformation than anyone on the planet.
Musk could fund ballot measures that push for changes in laws related to technology and other areas where his companies have a stake. Although he hasn’t shown a direct interest in running for office yet, his obsession with politics could lead him to consider such a move in the future, using his wealth to finance a campaign aimed at reshaping policy to match his vision. I expect him to fund movements that appear grassroots but are actually orchestrated to promote his business interests and political views (astroturfing). At this point he appears to have more political influence that anyone other than Trump.
Most very rich people will try to control whatever market they make their money in. With murdoch, it is media. Your list is what they might do with their pocket change. for fun.
Megalomania is epidemic among them. But why not? There are almost no barriers or limits any more. If you have that kind of money (because you aren't taxed; are immune to justice; and are worshipped as a hero by the dumber than shit 99.9%), why not buy one or several governments. This shithole is the one they all want because it's the richest, grants among the least to the bottom 99.9% and you can print more money and give it to yourself.
There are a lot of…