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I believe you, but what is their end-game? Do they really think they’ll be “fine” in a fascist regime? Do they feel that insulated? Pray tell!

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Exactly this (see comment by J L Graham). Billionaires like Musk, Thiel and Murdoch wager that they can simply buy the power they want in a fascist regime because these are practically always corrupt - so their bet isn't far off, I'd say. It would be an easy system: they would simply pay dictator alias god-emperor Trump to make the laws that they want. A democracy is too cumbersome for them: the ordinary people (their slaves) have a say in government, and, heaven forbid, may impose rules on the billionaires that prevent them from doing what they want - mostly, getting even more rich. That is why they want to get rid of democracy; see: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/jun/03/billionaires-for-trump-presidential-election

"You cannot become rich by working hard. You can earn a good living by working hard. But you can only become rich by exploiting people." - quote not by me, but I cannot remember who said it...

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I like this. “Poverty is not an accident. Like slavery and apartheid, it is man-made and can be removed by the actions of human beings.” Nelson Mandela. But of course, when it is profitable to some, it becomes a righteous cause.

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Wow, that's a powerful thing Mandela said there...

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Yep, Engels called it social murder, I agree with that.

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Yeah, DM, an oligarch class just like in other dictator-led authoritarian countries. I hear it’s good for the yacht & mansion building businesses tho’.

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...and fortress building business, too.

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I think that they think that will all the power their money can buy, they will stay in control. There always seems to be attraction between oligarchs and despots.

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Putin and Murdoch?

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They see how the oligarchs are doing in Russia and want the same here. Screw the rest of us.

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Exactly that.

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