Lately, political writers have called attention to the tendency of billionaire Elon Musk to refer to his political opponents as “NPCs.” This term comes from the gaming world and refers to a nonplayer character, a character that follows a scripted path and cannot think or act on its own, and is there only to populate the world of the game for the actual players.
He is not doing what he is doing without express authorization by the scumbag president and vice Manchurian. Don't get distracted about whom is responsible for this cruel chaos.
Per Musk, social security is the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time and empathy is destroying Western Civilization. Harrumph is what I would say if I weren't an NPC
Trump and Musk are trying to steal our government and resources from the people for themselves, and Musk is wrong about Social Security. Removing the income caps alone would be enough to make the system viable, and Social Security was never intended to be an investment vehicle, but social insurance. Musk is wrongly assuming that SS is an investment vehicle. He and his fellow oligarchs can’t opt out of society as much as they may want to.
Remove the cap, Remove the cap, Remove the cap, Remove the cap, Remove the cap, Remove the cap, Remove the cap, Remove the cap, Remove the cap!
Save Social Security now!
And for all you young 'uns I have two messages for you.
When Mom and Dad or Grandpa and Grandma are reduced to eating cottage cheese on saltines while living in a cardboard box (or have to move in with you :) you will wish you had done something about the fascists.
And....you will get old. Hard to believe, I know. But it happens very slowly and then all of a sudden. You will be amazed.
You are SO CORRECT, Mr. Alstrom!! Aging does indeed happen very very slowly--until SUDDENLY: whoomf!...you're a senior citizen and no longer are the focus of advertising (except for drugs and Depends)...fashion is no longer made for you, the newest music is no longer of interest, you can't figure out what tv ads are even FOR any more....and suddenly you can't remember words, names or where you put your phone.
Paul Klugman recently wrote an excellent essay on the sustainability of Social Insurance. Ending / privatizing social insurance didn't begin with Trump and Musk. It is backbone policy of the Republican Party, and has been for some time. Check out Paul Ryan's policies, which were adopted enthusiastically by the Tea Party. https://www.wikiwand.com/en/articles/Political_positions_of_Paul_Ryan
TO: Mr. Eugene B. Sydnor, Jr., Chairman, Education Committee, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
FROM: Lewis F. Powell, Jr.
This memorandum is submitted at your request as a basis for the discussion on August 24 with Mr. Booth (executive vice president) and others at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The purpose is to identify the problem, and suggest possible avenues of action for further consideration.
Also, my book club is reading Freedom's Dominion by Jefferson Cowie, which shows the difference in mentality of freedom from slave owning nations and those who are not. This New Feudalism is rising up in the south, and the rest have to accept the decision making of those who embrace it. If the US is by, for and of the propertied White, males, then what about the rest of us?
What the elected Democrats could be doing is creating legislation to fight each and every thing that the Trump/Musk administration is doing, and then look at Project 2025 and figure out what is up the turnpike and develop legislation for that too. Then, if they cannot get it on the floor, or passed, hold press conferences where they present an opposition with a plan.
Alternative legislation overall promoting a broad social support platform should be the name of the game for the Dems, and definitely a clarion call to unbreak what Trump 2.0 is attempting now.
The dehumanizers are the top 1 percent of Americans, the "moochers" who don't pay tax. They are the ‘takers,’ not ‘makers'. THEY are the non-contributing members of society, and should be thrown where the garbage goes, below below below.
"That is the world that Elon Musk and Donald Trump are dismantling. They are destroying the government that works for all Americans in favor of using the government to concentrate their own wealth and power."
Divide et Impera, divide and rule, has a long history because it works; unless enough people stand together to render it powerless.
The irony of Elon calling people NPCs is that if anybody is the video game definition of NPC it's Elon! He has no feelings, no empathy, nothing. He's the very definition of a video game NPC.
Musk was not born and raised in America. He has thus no love of the country and people living. He is a homeless man himself. But he has bought Trump. To fight Musk, DEMs need a national leader. Senator Sanders is one but his age is handicap. We need a young leader. Any recommendation. How about Senator Scoti…..
YES Scott! Musk fits right in with Trump calling people he doesn't like "vermin". These are NAZI-like techniques to dehumanize political opponents and minorities. Musk’s "NPCs" are, however, waking up and beginning to awsken and organize. When they do, Musk/Trump will find out how powerful we are!
How long do the powers that supposedly ‘protect us’ allow this to continue? This ‘war’ on equality. Which basically has been going on over how many dead bodies (?) since the beginning of time.
You’d think by now what’s documented ad infinitum …“ self evident “, would be believed.
Not being a gamer, I was not familiar with the term NPC. Thank you for employing it in this letter. That seems to me to be an apt framework to think about the destruction of our government and country wrought by Musk and his rats. There is no purpose to their actions other than pure destruction, much in the same way that a small child might destroy an anthill. Just because they can.
In the United States the heavy lifting, creation of highways that move our economy, creation of medical research that wiped out diseases like polio, creation of the internet was done by our government. When the Soviet Union fell, Russia was privatized. Now we are being privatized. WTF.
Russia was privatized - vandalized. Bill Browder's "Red Notice" describes how Putin and his oligarch thugs became richer than Musk and essentially restored the monarchy.
Putin is the czar of Russia. He deserves the same fate as the last one.
$Trump and Musk are jealous of Putin - their role model.
James ,this is not a game, it's death serious. People are dying already in this country and hundreds died in few days in Ukraine due savage attacks by Putin after "we" suspended intelligence to the military there and green light the Russians to act without restrictions.
Ricardo, I agree this is no game. The people of our country and the whole world are feeling the effects of this mindless vandalism. But it's nothing more than an ego-driven game to these creatures.
Because Musk and Trump are sociopaths, other people’s suffering isn’t real to them. They don’t think of others and think they are the only people who matter.
I'm curious about so many real scientists like Jonas Salk are treated like NPCs?
I'll take real scientists especially the ones that tested their break through on themselves (and didn't patent it for personal profit, so more could benefit from it).
FDR had created the foundation that led to the March of Dimes that provided public donations to Salk's research. We didn't get monetary profits, we got life saving benefits that we could see back in 1955 as the peak of the Iron Lungs required was so apparent.
We didn't hold polio patients hostage for profit, it wasn't a game.
Ezra Klein made a compelling argument in a recent episode of his podcast that the Republicans in congress have become NPCs by ceding all their power to Trump and Musk
I will not say the Democrats have been loud enough in their dissent. Why, when Green was escorted out by the sergeant at arms, did they not all go with him?
Silent or sycophants in the room. I suppose that's as close to an to an NPC as it gets. The problem is that the have serious jobs they're supposed to be doing.
Ezra’s argument made me reflect on Gore’s attempt to make the government more efficient. I do believe AI can be used to replace the antiquated government manual processes and thus the bloat of the budget. It is difficult to apply for government help, or a license, or to file taxes, but it doesn’t have to be.
Thank you. I am trying to be positive but am quite disheartened. You keep me on an even keel with your essays. I am doing all I can to let my representatives know that we are not happy with them. I do feel that these oligarchs are worse than those in the past. Musk must go.
They want to make you believe it's Musk. Don't get distracted, it's the whole administration from the scumbag president and the vice Manchurian down to many of their voters and Proyect 2025. Didn't you see how fervent ovation trump had at every lie he spat out of his mouth during his two hours speech to the nation. Shame on all of them.
All of it theater. The pageantry of autocrats was effective too, but ostensibly we were too practical-minded to be fooled. At least not all of the time. I think electronic media, though it bears many virtues, has helped to erode our sense of what's real and what is a con.
I agree. I do feel these oligarchs are worse than those in the past. They are vicious, heartless & will be unrelenting. That includes all the R’s in Congress. And those congresspeople have gotten themselves into a real mess because there’ll be hell to pay if they even *try* to backtrack. I wonder how their family dynamics are - given their determination to destroy American life and our entire infrastructure.
To me, it feels like we are in the final conflict between domination and community… where down one road we all wind up being cogs in a machine run by machine-like men… Think of that as The Matrix film made real, because men like Elon Musk think like machines … they have no hearts. 
Down the other road is a world we MUST start talking about… because its vision can power humanity forward in this fight against domination. It’s not enough to fear being dominated. We must clearly see what we can have when domination is defeated. And that vision of what we can have is not going to come from the Democratic Party, which has proven itself to be not up to the crisis we face. That vision is available, however, from pioneers of the art and science of social system transformation… People like R Buckminster Fuller, W Edwards Deming, Russel L Ackoff, Riane Eisler.  I urge you all to look up these masterful pioneers of the future we can have… A future built on cooperation, love of learning, and conflict resolution without resorting to violence. Imagine living in a world where war has been declared an obsolete form of problem-solving. That world is possible! 
Here’s 2 1/2 minutes of Bucky Fuller outlining that vision way back around 1980. Yes, this vision of what’s possible, and the knowledge of how to get there has been around a long time. And it has never been more critical for that knowledge and wisdom to become public then today!
The comparison to the machine-like men in The Matrix is the appropriate one. Musk sees others only for his convenience. He “produces “ babies to spread his seed, women are the vessels and baby making machines. It’s a factory like production with no hearts or souls. Trump isn’t so different.
People don’t count humans with the full range of abilities, intelligence, and feelings and qualities. This view is dehumanizing and perpetuates the caste system. Heather’s comprehensive overview of our history shows how this system has repeated itself over again.
Thank you for making the point about musk producing so many children with different wives. Yes, he wants to spread his dehumanized seed.
I believe we have the opportunity to finally stop this historic pattern and put domination into the ashcan of history where it belongs. That is why I included the clip of Buckminster Fuller in my comment.
There is much more I can say about achieving the final victory that is out there waiting for us to have. I will do that soon through the next essay of my own Substack page… A wiser way forward.
Unfortunately, I’ve been ill. So my Substack page has moved a bit slowly. But there will be more coming there soon.
Steve, I am sorry you are so sick. I will read your Substack in the morning. It was your comment (which said what I am thinking)?that led me to write. I hope you feel better soon. I’m off to bed
Musk also is a disinterested parent who leaves parenting to the mothers,of his children. One of his children’s mothers is trying to get child support from Musk, and he is legally obligated to pay it.
This isn't a coincidence. Musk has talked at length about believing in "simulation theory". He thinks he can cause all the suffering he wants because "it's just a simulation, bro, no one's really getting hurt!"
Is it his way of absolving himself of responsibility? Absolutely. Does he actually believe it? It doesn't matter, he acts like he does.
The universe cannot really be some very complex simulation. It is much too big for that. Perhaps Elon should read Carl Sagan for some perspective about how unique our situation really is.
The universe unfolding under physical laws, the small-scale quantum ones allowing for substantial freedom in outcomes, is not nearly the same thing as a simple simulation. It is perhaps a grand simulation, but that would greatly expand the meaning of the word simulation, so I think it is best to avoid the description.
And yes, dismissing human experience in life because if your pet hypothesis that the universe is merely a simulation is denying the evidence right in front of you. Elon is clearly no scientist.
No one that matters to him. We see the message over and over. Power tends to corrupt. The (presumably monomaniacal) "love of money" produces evil. What is The Constitution, but a protocol for establishing liberty and justice by defining, limiting, dividing, and balancing the use of power? And why do that? A very long and creepy history of abuses of advantage is the self-evident answer.
Good grief. I didn't want to see the Matrix, so I didn't. Just watched the trailer. Good grief! Everyone should be made to sit through it, like it or not.
Thank you for revisiting a film you originally did not want to see. Like the best film (in my opinion), it’s the story of the war between the light and the dark sides of human nature
I had a college superviser once who, after seeing The Matrix movie, opined to her students about it. She could not understand why anyone would choose to live in a world without a luxury apartment and fine dining if given a choice between that and a dirty underground collective of involuntary warriors. And she was, supposedly, an avid Aristotelian democratic socialist. I understood it as a tragic failure of imagination. A very dangerous and increasingly common cultural faultline.
The "light and dark" sides of human nature, and the fact that we are in fact dealing with human nature, seems to me to get far too little close attention in our thinking as a whole.
The dark side is taught. The light side is how we are when we are born into this world. It is important to make the distinction between behavior that is innate and behavior that is taught. Babies are not born hating others. They have to learn to hate.
How about we start looking at our individual and community lives from some more impartial place that does not judge and self-judge? For me anyway this assessment has been yielding enormous amounts of buried and forcibly stored information, and releasing new energies that I look to use in new ways that are basically following the ethical code of witches:
"... do what you will, and harm none."
For the coming times to be fruitful and multiply our blessings rather than our bitching and complaints, to keep creating the on the ground conditions for each human to thrive in multiple cooperations, to be in harmony with Nature herself (thanks mom), to continue exploring the 90%+ of the oceans we don't yet know, to honor each type of community for its own inner integrity, to continue creating within the framework of a republic in a democratic way - our working ethics need to begin immediately to guide us and most importantly the next generations, regardless of other beliefs. There I've said it :-) :-))
I posted this here before long ago, but I think it remains relevant. Sociopathic event occur when people are framed as objects. Even Trump and Musk; although I find the urgency I see for opposing their depredations outweighs my sympathy for their humanity. That said, in a civilized society, even criminals retain some basic rights, though we have every right to arrest them. I think many who now support Trump are a product of well financed, weaponized misinformation.
"I work with dying Trump supporters. It's...confusing" By Scott Janssen
But Trump, far from losing his basic rights even though he is a recidivist criminal, has been afforded every opportunity to escape the consequences of his actions, just as if he were actually innocent. What ought to happen is that we identify him as a criminal and isolate him, at least notionally, so that he cannot gain more and more followers and continue dismantling our democracy. Then we assemble a tribunal--something far more consequential than a Congressional impeachment proceeding--to try him for his crimes.
I am of an age and background wherein I had the honour of once meeting Bucky Fuller in the flesh. He was lit from within by his empathy and compassion. He was also always surrounded, in public anyways, by uber wealthy hangers on and wannabes. This New Age celebrity status and its travelling circus was much to the detriment of his spiritual vision. We desperately need rid of all forms of celebrity culture asap.
Heard him give a talk when I was about 12 years old--he was a very interesting guy, whose ideas (bucky balls, etc) have been instrumental in developing all kinds of new ways of thinking about the physics of the universe,, but I wouldn't consider his life particularly a role model. I think that Kurt Vonnegut is more of my touchstone.
Is it any wonder that Musk thinks like a machine? Look at how this thinking still pervades most of Western science! It’s the reductionist materialism of René Descartes, Galileo Galilei et al; 400 years old, completely refuted by quantum physics, but still going strong. Just look at the medical researchers claiming “serotonin is happiness”, neurologists saying “you are your brain”, “the brain is like a computer”; the best may be Richard Dawkins claiming that you are just “selfish genes”! Philosophically seen that’s all total bullshit, and there is no scientific proof backing it up, either - these are beliefs! Parts of a religion believing in a mechanical universe where everything can be measured and calculated perfectly. Musk and his tech bros are simply the exponent, or ultimate, of this way of thinking. It is high time for Western science to dump this mode of thinking, and turn to the holistic/organic/intuitive thinking of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (yes, the German poet), or it may be too late. I quote David Bohm, the quantum physicist: “This fragmented thinking may well lead to our extinction.”
Heather notes that "...the founders excluded Indigenous Americans, Black colonists, and all women from their vision of government, the idea that the government should work for ordinary people rather than nobles and kings was revolutionary." In some American quarters, this is commonly known as "original intent" and it is held with great zealousness. A civil war, costing 750,000 lives, once tamped it down. We now face the greatest test since that war of whether the notions we thought we had matured to hold will endure.
There was plenty of doublethink in the execution of our founding philosophy, and yet the founding philosophy has proved pretty sound; and it spread. Lincoln et al was very helpful to reconciling social realities with the vision, and leaders and movements since have battled to bring them even closer.
That said, the same old serpent continues to press complete domination.
Well said, J. L. Lincoln's genius is also evident in the Gettysburg Address, in which he melds the ideas of both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution into the concept of "that" nation.
On who elected Elon Musk... It's very similar to the the American Revolution against an unelected tyrant. No taxation without representation. Why should Americans pay taxes to Musk and Trump when their legitimate demands aren't even heard and Republicans evade town halls.
NO TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION: Unelected South African billionaire Musk makes himself king
Since we are stuck with a bias and corrupt SCOTUS, my ongoing irritation is with our mainstream media. It seems like the last 10-years we are witnessing how our culture is uninformed and immoral because news media are not there to inform the public on the government or politics, it’s a sports game competition and without a moral media, any politician we elect will be invisible if they do good - or they will be sane-washed if their greed and prejudices hurt the weaker human.
HCR, tonight my favorite words were your line below:
‘Roosevelt ushered in the Progressive Era with government regulation of business to protect the ability of individuals to participate in American society as equals.’ Thank you again Heather ✅
Well said. We may be NPCs but the oligarchs need us to run their schemes. Walk away from their products. Turn off their social media. Disdain the values of the wealthy. The oligarchs are spending our money, our taxes, desperately seeking our envy, making serfs of workers. Feed the poor, not the wealthy. Walk on the Freedom Highway, walk away from their sources of wealth.
This was the message of the’60s generation, and it applies today.
"By 2012, Republicans were saying, as Representative Paul Ryan did in 2010, that “60 Percent of Americans are ‘takers,’ not ‘makers.’” In 2012, Ryan had been tapped as the Republican vice presidential candidate."
Yup, "supply side economics". Yet who supplies? Why affirming a legitimate role for capital, Lincoln said "Labor is prior to and independent of capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed."
Ain't it the truth?
In most cases, the consumer and the worker are one and the same person.
" There are just two classes in this world. One owns the tools it does not use, and the other uses tools it does not own. The capitalists have the tools, which they cannot use. Workingmen have not the tools, without which they cannot live." Eugene V. Debs
Maybe we can take heart from history -- from the sorry state of American history especially in 1854.
The pro-enslaver classes, as Heather has reminded us, controlled the White House, both houses of Congress, and the Supreme Court.
Lincoln was just getting started.
Maybe some American decency is galvanizing now -- as with the great crowds at Bernie's rallies. But Putin has gotten his agent, that fat orange convicted criminal, in the White House. Howdy Doody Mike Johnson has his house as sycophancy chorus, Senate equally insipid. And Clarence has his corruption thoroughly guaranteed in that massively perjured court of his.
But if some of us keep writing in response to Heather, to Timothy Snyder, to many other figures for decency and -- most vitally -- to each other as fellow commenters, maybe we'll keep a low boil to compete with all the corruption, vulgarity, and illegality in high places?
Several years ago I wrote this about the overlords. It is proving to be worse than I thought.
“Yes, we can march, for now. But, to the ones pulling the strings, destroying the planet and beggaring our children, this is a small annoyance, nothing more. We are insects to them.”
The (smallish) protests are good so far, but I am completely puzzled about why there aren't HUGE demonstrations for Ukraine. When JFK was assassinated, I instinctively went to Washington because I couldn't do anything else, and that night I discovered there were candles in all the windows in town. It was so consoling - why can't we do something simple like that? If the whole country did it, you could see it from space. Why aren't we all wearing Canada pins and flying Canadian and Ukrainian flags? The First Felon is doing his best not only to destroy our government but to destroy these two nations as well. We can't let the world think this is okay with us, or that we just want eggs to be cheaper.
I recently listened to a video podcast with Anand Giridharadas and Anat Shenker-Osorio where two similar points were brought up -- one I also have been thinking we need and the other I hadn't thought of but, yeah, it makes sense. https://the.ink/p/watch-free-america
The first one is about a symbol, something we can unite around. It could be a pin, a flag, a slogan, or even a silent gesture. I like the silent gesture because there's no lingering evidence of our connection, especially important as the imprisonment of resisters, protesters, opposers begins in earnest. In the video it was a finger pressed against the lips as if to shush that slowly gets turned and becomes a middle finger. We do need something that will resonate and catch fire.
The second point was that we seem to be waiting, checking the collective temperature, trying to see is it just me, am I overreacting, or are others seeing this too? They called it social proof, the idea that "[our] very important audience is other people around us as a kind of collective gauge on what is happening." And the fact that only one representative stood up, raised his cane, interrupted, and called out the lies of an authoritarian but others did not join him is part of why we are hesitating. In the past there were often leaders, representatives who were saying the things we felt but weren't sure we could say, and without them we are still looking around to see if we really should be doing something more because we're feeling like oh, maybe it's just me. And with the media not covering our protests much if at all, again it feels like okay, maybe it isn't really so bad. So every time we do catch a glimpse of collective action in an online video, even if the action itself doesn't stop something, it gives permission, says its not just you and here's the receipts. And that happens here too each night when we have these conversations. And it happened on International Women's Day at a rally that spanned two sides of a busy street in my town, me standing next to a stranger who was trying not to use the F word to explain the way she too rages at our GOP rep alone in her home until I turned to her and said, "You can say the big word, go ahead, I say it too" and she screamed it out like she was expelling a demon she'd been desperate to exorcise. And we both felt better after.
We're getting there. My only question is will we get there soon enough and strong enough or will we find ourselves having to defend our freedom and equality once again with more than just time and treasure.
Great points. Yes, Nazi victims didn’t believe things could get that bad. Just got an idea for Blue Sky. A quote from a guard at the concentration camps. The conversations he heard over and over. People just couldn’t believe what they had seen, even as they were lined up to die.
Perhaps Musk should be given the title NPC-In-Chief and consigned to a room with huge screens and a game controller hooked up to a virtual world that gives him the illusion he is manipulating the other characters which he can pretend to do to his heart's content. [And we should throw away the keys.]
Thank you for talking about the struggles over time between these poles of belief. Yes, we the people must stand up by the MILLIONS and make our voices heard. This desperate fight for the soul of our country is in our hands.
Thank again HCR ! Your timely news and historical insights digests bring heart and soul to the forefront in this struggle for humanity. It is no less than that.
People do weary of struggle, strife and war. That’s only natural. By the same token, we must bear in mind that there are no lasting victories in warfare. No conflict has lasting resolution in this manner. The cost of struggle is vigilance. And failing that, as we can see now, carries a steep price.
Bernie Sanders is a political and moral hero whose vigilance has never waned.
By the time of Lincoln, all those millions of poor souls in slavery needed to be free. The 'Original Sin' was in the Constitution. If Southern states had not joined the Union, the British in the War of 1812 might have just steam rolled through the South and conquered it as slaves were not going to fight the British. Then at worst we would have a Canada north and south of us. Maybe also the northern colonies then would have tossed the British out, who would have already ended slavery.
Headline: "Tesla Drivers Get Hitler Salutes from Subaru Drivers." At Salon, Heather Digby Parton quotes Musk: "The fundamental weakness of Western Civilization is empathy." Trump's base accepts that he is the Second Coming of Christ, so it makes sense that they will accept an economic downturn and then pack a suitcase for the Rapture. MAGA is NPC... collateral damage... expendable. Stay Stupid!
Dehumanizing people shows a complete lack of empathy. The lack of empathy is the hallmark of a sociopath.
https://www.timelesstimely.com/p/why-empathy-matters?r=bx&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
And Musk tweeted that empathy is destroying Western Civilization. Tells us all we need to know about him.
He is not doing what he is doing without express authorization by the scumbag president and vice Manchurian. Don't get distracted about whom is responsible for this cruel chaos.
Excellent take on vance... brilliant in fact, imagery evoked is, well, evocative! :)
Thanks for your reply Kevin 👍
Lose the head, the body will follow!
Can't wait for that to happen Gary. The poison is spreading wide and fast. Thanks for your comment 👍
Per Musk, social security is the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time and empathy is destroying Western Civilization. Harrumph is what I would say if I weren't an NPC
Trump and Musk are trying to steal our government and resources from the people for themselves, and Musk is wrong about Social Security. Removing the income caps alone would be enough to make the system viable, and Social Security was never intended to be an investment vehicle, but social insurance. Musk is wrongly assuming that SS is an investment vehicle. He and his fellow oligarchs can’t opt out of society as much as they may want to.
Thank you Kathy!
Remove the cap, Remove the cap, Remove the cap, Remove the cap, Remove the cap, Remove the cap, Remove the cap, Remove the cap, Remove the cap!
Save Social Security now!
And for all you young 'uns I have two messages for you.
When Mom and Dad or Grandpa and Grandma are reduced to eating cottage cheese on saltines while living in a cardboard box (or have to move in with you :) you will wish you had done something about the fascists.
And....you will get old. Hard to believe, I know. But it happens very slowly and then all of a sudden. You will be amazed.
Remove the cap.
You are SO CORRECT, Mr. Alstrom!! Aging does indeed happen very very slowly--until SUDDENLY: whoomf!...you're a senior citizen and no longer are the focus of advertising (except for drugs and Depends)...fashion is no longer made for you, the newest music is no longer of interest, you can't figure out what tv ads are even FOR any more....and suddenly you can't remember words, names or where you put your phone.
Nobody voted for Musk. 5 Million Patriots --- bring five million citizens to Washington until MUSK is expelled; and, TRUMP and VANCE are impeached.
5MillionPatriots.blogspot.com
Feathers of Hope. https://jerryweiss.substack.com/p/remove-impeach-impeach
Presssure Congressional Republicans. Call. Write. Picket. Sit in.
Which is why I have an omma phone so I can call myself when I forget where I put my cell down.
THIS!!! Remove the income caps from SS!!!!!! I think your average maga doesn't even know there is a cap on SS.
Paul Klugman recently wrote an excellent essay on the sustainability of Social Insurance. Ending / privatizing social insurance didn't begin with Trump and Musk. It is backbone policy of the Republican Party, and has been for some time. Check out Paul Ryan's policies, which were adopted enthusiastically by the Tea Party. https://www.wikiwand.com/en/articles/Political_positions_of_Paul_Ryan
The beginning, in my life time: Powell’s Confidential Memorandum. An
Attack of American Free Enterprise System. It is a long March to where we have found ourselves today...
https://reclaimdemocracy.org/powell_memo_lewis/
DATE: August 23, 1971
TO: Mr. Eugene B. Sydnor, Jr., Chairman, Education Committee, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
FROM: Lewis F. Powell, Jr.
This memorandum is submitted at your request as a basis for the discussion on August 24 with Mr. Booth (executive vice president) and others at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The purpose is to identify the problem, and suggest possible avenues of action for further consideration.
Maybe NPC should stand for Not Putin's Cat
Kitty! Kitties! of the world unite! Meow!
Calling all Cat ladies!!!
Love this, and I don’t even have a cat.
Musk and Trump are both part of the New Feudalism. They are both big leaders in this movement of Rich, mostly White, men.
I say that the people can organize a full on Revolution, the Blue States can secede, which would not be more disruptive than what is happening now, and might give people agency. Like pick where you want to live based on the politics, rather than the climate, or the job market. This Bulwark article made me think about secession as an alternative again. https://www.thebulwark.com/p/liberal-democracy-american-south-vance-bourbons?r=f0qfn&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
Also, my book club is reading Freedom's Dominion by Jefferson Cowie, which shows the difference in mentality of freedom from slave owning nations and those who are not. This New Feudalism is rising up in the south, and the rest have to accept the decision making of those who embrace it. If the US is by, for and of the propertied White, males, then what about the rest of us?
A third option is for people to weigh individually what their options are, and make alternative plans that are there waiting for them if things go MORE "SOUTH," as they say. https://lindaweide.substack.com/p/a-plan-c-for-catastrophe?r=f0qfn
What the elected Democrats could be doing is creating legislation to fight each and every thing that the Trump/Musk administration is doing, and then look at Project 2025 and figure out what is up the turnpike and develop legislation for that too. Then, if they cannot get it on the floor, or passed, hold press conferences where they present an opposition with a plan.
Alternative legislation overall promoting a broad social support platform should be the name of the game for the Dems, and definitely a clarion call to unbreak what Trump 2.0 is attempting now.
He’s wrong, empathy is how we survive.
Unless you don't know what he looks like.
I was just about to say that.
The dehumanizers are the top 1 percent of Americans, the "moochers" who don't pay tax. They are the ‘takers,’ not ‘makers'. THEY are the non-contributing members of society, and should be thrown where the garbage goes, below below below.
Don't forget the takers Red States, the ones that voted consistently againt the makers Blue States . Such an upside down country.
"That is the world that Elon Musk and Donald Trump are dismantling. They are destroying the government that works for all Americans in favor of using the government to concentrate their own wealth and power."
Divide et Impera, divide and rule, has a long history because it works; unless enough people stand together to render it powerless.
Ding Dong!
They expect us to serve them, but people don’t want to do that.
These sociopaths are magnetically attracted to each other. Hitler had Goebells, Trump has Musk,
Love at first sight ❤️
The irony of Elon calling people NPCs is that if anybody is the video game definition of NPC it's Elon! He has no feelings, no empathy, nothing. He's the very definition of a video game NPC.
He is a product of Apartheid.
PROJECTION is the MO of Trump and his sycophants.
AND he cheats at video games, which is just lame.
Therefore we are being ruled by sociopaths.
They need to be restrained, medicated and carted off in straight jackets. We need a Nurse Ratched.
It never ends well for Demagogues.
Yet millions may die for their sins.
may? no, Will.
That is what bothers me the most. There are plenty of voters that didn’t vote or voted for Ms. Harris, but we will all suffer the harm.
we have not learned from WWII.
And we never would lend them a boat.
Musk was not born and raised in America. He has thus no love of the country and people living. He is a homeless man himself. But he has bought Trump. To fight Musk, DEMs need a national leader. Senator Sanders is one but his age is handicap. We need a young leader. Any recommendation. How about Senator Scoti…..
.
Dehumanizing people is also a hallmark of fascism.
Musk and Trump are both sociopaths and narcissists, a highly toxic combination of personality disorders.
Exactly.
YES Scott! Musk fits right in with Trump calling people he doesn't like "vermin". These are NAZI-like techniques to dehumanize political opponents and minorities. Musk’s "NPCs" are, however, waking up and beginning to awsken and organize. When they do, Musk/Trump will find out how powerful we are!
Both Trump and Musk are completely devoid of empathy. Hollow shells bristling with ego, arrogance and entitlement. A toxic brew.
How long do the powers that supposedly ‘protect us’ allow this to continue? This ‘war’ on equality. Which basically has been going on over how many dead bodies (?) since the beginning of time.
You’d think by now what’s documented ad infinitum …“ self evident “, would be believed.
But…here we are again…S.O.S.
Not being a gamer, I was not familiar with the term NPC. Thank you for employing it in this letter. That seems to me to be an apt framework to think about the destruction of our government and country wrought by Musk and his rats. There is no purpose to their actions other than pure destruction, much in the same way that a small child might destroy an anthill. Just because they can.
In the United States the heavy lifting, creation of highways that move our economy, creation of medical research that wiped out diseases like polio, creation of the internet was done by our government. When the Soviet Union fell, Russia was privatized. Now we are being privatized. WTF.
"Piratized" is more like it. How stable and productive were pirate kingdoms?
Yup. WTF, indeed.
Russia was privatized - vandalized. Bill Browder's "Red Notice" describes how Putin and his oligarch thugs became richer than Musk and essentially restored the monarchy.
Putin is the czar of Russia. He deserves the same fate as the last one.
$Trump and Musk are jealous of Putin - their role model.
James ,this is not a game, it's death serious. People are dying already in this country and hundreds died in few days in Ukraine due savage attacks by Putin after "we" suspended intelligence to the military there and green light the Russians to act without restrictions.
Ricardo, I agree this is no game. The people of our country and the whole world are feeling the effects of this mindless vandalism. But it's nothing more than an ego-driven game to these creatures.
Thanks for your reply James 👍
Because Musk and Trump are sociopaths, other people’s suffering isn’t real to them. They don’t think of others and think they are the only people who matter.
You just described this two characters. The matching is perfect. I think the vice Manchurian it's a perfect match too. Thanks Kathy.
As I understand it, government of the people, by the people, for the people, holds no such category as "NPC". In fact, that seems to be the point.
I'm curious about so many real scientists like Jonas Salk are treated like NPCs?
I'll take real scientists especially the ones that tested their break through on themselves (and didn't patent it for personal profit, so more could benefit from it).
See https://www.history.com/news/8-things-you-may-not-know-about-jonas-salk-and-the-polio-vaccine
FDR had created the foundation that led to the March of Dimes that provided public donations to Salk's research. We didn't get monetary profits, we got life saving benefits that we could see back in 1955 as the peak of the Iron Lungs required was so apparent.
We didn't hold polio patients hostage for profit, it wasn't a game.
Musk and his rats—perfect description!
Susan, trump and his rats is even better.
Ezra Klein made a compelling argument in a recent episode of his podcast that the Republicans in congress have become NPCs by ceding all their power to Trump and Musk
Well, they have certainly been scandalously silent about Trump/Musk abuses and assaults on our democracy.
I will not say the Democrats have been loud enough in their dissent. Why, when Green was escorted out by the sergeant at arms, did they not all go with him?
excellent question. And when the other (gang)greene shouted at Biden or Obama she was not escorted out.
Silent or sycophants in the room. I suppose that's as close to an to an NPC as it gets. The problem is that the have serious jobs they're supposed to be doing.
Ezra’s argument made me reflect on Gore’s attempt to make the government more efficient. I do believe AI can be used to replace the antiquated government manual processes and thus the bloat of the budget. It is difficult to apply for government help, or a license, or to file taxes, but it doesn’t have to be.
Thank you. I am trying to be positive but am quite disheartened. You keep me on an even keel with your essays. I am doing all I can to let my representatives know that we are not happy with them. I do feel that these oligarchs are worse than those in the past. Musk must go.
They want to make you believe it's Musk. Don't get distracted, it's the whole administration from the scumbag president and the vice Manchurian down to many of their voters and Proyect 2025. Didn't you see how fervent ovation trump had at every lie he spat out of his mouth during his two hours speech to the nation. Shame on all of them.
All of it theater. The pageantry of autocrats was effective too, but ostensibly we were too practical-minded to be fooled. At least not all of the time. I think electronic media, though it bears many virtues, has helped to erode our sense of what's real and what is a con.
And the six corrupt and deplorable justices on the SC.
I agree. I do feel these oligarchs are worse than those in the past. They are vicious, heartless & will be unrelenting. That includes all the R’s in Congress. And those congresspeople have gotten themselves into a real mess because there’ll be hell to pay if they even *try* to backtrack. I wonder how their family dynamics are - given their determination to destroy American life and our entire infrastructure.
To me, it feels like we are in the final conflict between domination and community… where down one road we all wind up being cogs in a machine run by machine-like men… Think of that as The Matrix film made real, because men like Elon Musk think like machines … they have no hearts. 
Down the other road is a world we MUST start talking about… because its vision can power humanity forward in this fight against domination. It’s not enough to fear being dominated. We must clearly see what we can have when domination is defeated. And that vision of what we can have is not going to come from the Democratic Party, which has proven itself to be not up to the crisis we face. That vision is available, however, from pioneers of the art and science of social system transformation… People like R Buckminster Fuller, W Edwards Deming, Russel L Ackoff, Riane Eisler.  I urge you all to look up these masterful pioneers of the future we can have… A future built on cooperation, love of learning, and conflict resolution without resorting to violence. Imagine living in a world where war has been declared an obsolete form of problem-solving. That world is possible! 
Here’s 2 1/2 minutes of Bucky Fuller outlining that vision way back around 1980. Yes, this vision of what’s possible, and the knowledge of how to get there has been around a long time. And it has never been more critical for that knowledge and wisdom to become public then today!
https://youtu.be/LQ3DXDONKmQ?si=58SwJeo0ZoG6gHIi

The comparison to the machine-like men in The Matrix is the appropriate one. Musk sees others only for his convenience. He “produces “ babies to spread his seed, women are the vessels and baby making machines. It’s a factory like production with no hearts or souls. Trump isn’t so different.
People don’t count humans with the full range of abilities, intelligence, and feelings and qualities. This view is dehumanizing and perpetuates the caste system. Heather’s comprehensive overview of our history shows how this system has repeated itself over again.
Now we have the opportunity to stop the pattern.
Thank you for making the point about musk producing so many children with different wives. Yes, he wants to spread his dehumanized seed.
I believe we have the opportunity to finally stop this historic pattern and put domination into the ashcan of history where it belongs. That is why I included the clip of Buckminster Fuller in my comment.
There is much more I can say about achieving the final victory that is out there waiting for us to have. I will do that soon through the next essay of my own Substack page… A wiser way forward.
Unfortunately, I’ve been ill. So my Substack page has moved a bit slowly. But there will be more coming there soon.
Get better.
Thank you 😊
Steve, I am sorry you are so sick. I will read your Substack in the morning. It was your comment (which said what I am thinking)?that led me to write. I hope you feel better soon. I’m off to bed
Thank you. Off to bed for me now too
hope you feel better soon.
Musk also is a disinterested parent who leaves parenting to the mothers,of his children. One of his children’s mothers is trying to get child support from Musk, and he is legally obligated to pay it.
Feel better soon❤️
This isn't a coincidence. Musk has talked at length about believing in "simulation theory". He thinks he can cause all the suffering he wants because "it's just a simulation, bro, no one's really getting hurt!"
Is it his way of absolving himself of responsibility? Absolutely. Does he actually believe it? It doesn't matter, he acts like he does.
I'm sure he does believe it.
The universe cannot really be some very complex simulation. It is much too big for that. Perhaps Elon should read Carl Sagan for some perspective about how unique our situation really is.
The universe unfolding under physical laws, the small-scale quantum ones allowing for substantial freedom in outcomes, is not nearly the same thing as a simple simulation. It is perhaps a grand simulation, but that would greatly expand the meaning of the word simulation, so I think it is best to avoid the description.
And yes, dismissing human experience in life because if your pet hypothesis that the universe is merely a simulation is denying the evidence right in front of you. Elon is clearly no scientist.
Nor humanitarian. We all have an ego for a reason, but without balance from conscience and compassion, it becomes a predator, like a cancerous cell.
I don't know that he actually does and that's the stupidest part.
No one that matters to him. We see the message over and over. Power tends to corrupt. The (presumably monomaniacal) "love of money" produces evil. What is The Constitution, but a protocol for establishing liberty and justice by defining, limiting, dividing, and balancing the use of power? And why do that? A very long and creepy history of abuses of advantage is the self-evident answer.
If we finally get the hint.
Good grief. I didn't want to see the Matrix, so I didn't. Just watched the trailer. Good grief! Everyone should be made to sit through it, like it or not.
Thank you for revisiting a film you originally did not want to see. Like the best film (in my opinion), it’s the story of the war between the light and the dark sides of human nature
I had a college superviser once who, after seeing The Matrix movie, opined to her students about it. She could not understand why anyone would choose to live in a world without a luxury apartment and fine dining if given a choice between that and a dirty underground collective of involuntary warriors. And she was, supposedly, an avid Aristotelian democratic socialist. I understood it as a tragic failure of imagination. A very dangerous and increasingly common cultural faultline.
The "light and dark" sides of human nature, and the fact that we are in fact dealing with human nature, seems to me to get far too little close attention in our thinking as a whole.
The dark side is taught. The light side is how we are when we are born into this world. It is important to make the distinction between behavior that is innate and behavior that is taught. Babies are not born hating others. They have to learn to hate.
The Matrix was recommenced to me and when I saw it I was a bit disappointed. And yet... real situations keep triggering recollection of the metaphors.
I saw it a zillion years ago. I guess it's time to watch it again. I've already re-read Handmaid's Tale.
How about we start looking at our individual and community lives from some more impartial place that does not judge and self-judge? For me anyway this assessment has been yielding enormous amounts of buried and forcibly stored information, and releasing new energies that I look to use in new ways that are basically following the ethical code of witches:
"... do what you will, and harm none."
For the coming times to be fruitful and multiply our blessings rather than our bitching and complaints, to keep creating the on the ground conditions for each human to thrive in multiple cooperations, to be in harmony with Nature herself (thanks mom), to continue exploring the 90%+ of the oceans we don't yet know, to honor each type of community for its own inner integrity, to continue creating within the framework of a republic in a democratic way - our working ethics need to begin immediately to guide us and most importantly the next generations, regardless of other beliefs. There I've said it :-) :-))
I posted this here before long ago, but I think it remains relevant. Sociopathic event occur when people are framed as objects. Even Trump and Musk; although I find the urgency I see for opposing their depredations outweighs my sympathy for their humanity. That said, in a civilized society, even criminals retain some basic rights, though we have every right to arrest them. I think many who now support Trump are a product of well financed, weaponized misinformation.
"I work with dying Trump supporters. It's...confusing" By Scott Janssen
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/4/6/2233194/-I-work-with-dying-Trump-supporters-It-s-confusing
But Trump, far from losing his basic rights even though he is a recidivist criminal, has been afforded every opportunity to escape the consequences of his actions, just as if he were actually innocent. What ought to happen is that we identify him as a criminal and isolate him, at least notionally, so that he cannot gain more and more followers and continue dismantling our democracy. Then we assemble a tribunal--something far more consequential than a Congressional impeachment proceeding--to try him for his crimes.
I am of an age and background wherein I had the honour of once meeting Bucky Fuller in the flesh. He was lit from within by his empathy and compassion. He was also always surrounded, in public anyways, by uber wealthy hangers on and wannabes. This New Age celebrity status and its travelling circus was much to the detriment of his spiritual vision. We desperately need rid of all forms of celebrity culture asap.
Heard him give a talk when I was about 12 years old--he was a very interesting guy, whose ideas (bucky balls, etc) have been instrumental in developing all kinds of new ways of thinking about the physics of the universe,, but I wouldn't consider his life particularly a role model. I think that Kurt Vonnegut is more of my touchstone.
Is it any wonder that Musk thinks like a machine? Look at how this thinking still pervades most of Western science! It’s the reductionist materialism of René Descartes, Galileo Galilei et al; 400 years old, completely refuted by quantum physics, but still going strong. Just look at the medical researchers claiming “serotonin is happiness”, neurologists saying “you are your brain”, “the brain is like a computer”; the best may be Richard Dawkins claiming that you are just “selfish genes”! Philosophically seen that’s all total bullshit, and there is no scientific proof backing it up, either - these are beliefs! Parts of a religion believing in a mechanical universe where everything can be measured and calculated perfectly. Musk and his tech bros are simply the exponent, or ultimate, of this way of thinking. It is high time for Western science to dump this mode of thinking, and turn to the holistic/organic/intuitive thinking of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (yes, the German poet), or it may be too late. I quote David Bohm, the quantum physicist: “This fragmented thinking may well lead to our extinction.”
Heather notes that "...the founders excluded Indigenous Americans, Black colonists, and all women from their vision of government, the idea that the government should work for ordinary people rather than nobles and kings was revolutionary." In some American quarters, this is commonly known as "original intent" and it is held with great zealousness. A civil war, costing 750,000 lives, once tamped it down. We now face the greatest test since that war of whether the notions we thought we had matured to hold will endure.
There was plenty of doublethink in the execution of our founding philosophy, and yet the founding philosophy has proved pretty sound; and it spread. Lincoln et al was very helpful to reconciling social realities with the vision, and leaders and movements since have battled to bring them even closer.
That said, the same old serpent continues to press complete domination.
Well said, J. L. Lincoln's genius is also evident in the Gettysburg Address, in which he melds the ideas of both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution into the concept of "that" nation.
Thanks for sharing the ridiculousness of original intent so simply. This is not a world we should strive to return to.
On who elected Elon Musk... It's very similar to the the American Revolution against an unelected tyrant. No taxation without representation. Why should Americans pay taxes to Musk and Trump when their legitimate demands aren't even heard and Republicans evade town halls.
NO TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION: Unelected South African billionaire Musk makes himself king
https://thedemlabs.org/2025/03/08/no-taxation-without-representation-unelected-south-african-billionaire-musk-makes-himself-king/
Elon Musk's Ransom Note To Keep The Government Open: How The Republican Continuing Resolution Hurts You (Infographic & Podcast) https://thedemlabs.org/2025/03/08/elon-musk-ransom-note-to-keep-the-government-open-how-the-republican-continuing-resolution-hurts-you-infographic-podcast/
People v Musk challenges Musk’s attempt to buy the Wisconsin Supreme Court: See what’s at stake
https://thedemlabs.org/2025/03/07/people-v-musk-challenges-musks-attempt-to-buy-the-wisconsin-supreme-court-brad-schimel/
I agree Deepak.
Since we are stuck with a bias and corrupt SCOTUS, my ongoing irritation is with our mainstream media. It seems like the last 10-years we are witnessing how our culture is uninformed and immoral because news media are not there to inform the public on the government or politics, it’s a sports game competition and without a moral media, any politician we elect will be invisible if they do good - or they will be sane-washed if their greed and prejudices hurt the weaker human.
HCR, tonight my favorite words were your line below:
‘Roosevelt ushered in the Progressive Era with government regulation of business to protect the ability of individuals to participate in American society as equals.’ Thank you again Heather ✅
Well said. We may be NPCs but the oligarchs need us to run their schemes. Walk away from their products. Turn off their social media. Disdain the values of the wealthy. The oligarchs are spending our money, our taxes, desperately seeking our envy, making serfs of workers. Feed the poor, not the wealthy. Walk on the Freedom Highway, walk away from their sources of wealth.
This was the message of the’60s generation, and it applies today.
"By 2012, Republicans were saying, as Representative Paul Ryan did in 2010, that “60 Percent of Americans are ‘takers,’ not ‘makers.’” In 2012, Ryan had been tapped as the Republican vice presidential candidate."
Yup, "supply side economics". Yet who supplies? Why affirming a legitimate role for capital, Lincoln said "Labor is prior to and independent of capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed."
Ain't it the truth?
In most cases, the consumer and the worker are one and the same person.
" There are just two classes in this world. One owns the tools it does not use, and the other uses tools it does not own. The capitalists have the tools, which they cannot use. Workingmen have not the tools, without which they cannot live." Eugene V. Debs
Maybe we can take heart from history -- from the sorry state of American history especially in 1854.
The pro-enslaver classes, as Heather has reminded us, controlled the White House, both houses of Congress, and the Supreme Court.
Lincoln was just getting started.
Maybe some American decency is galvanizing now -- as with the great crowds at Bernie's rallies. But Putin has gotten his agent, that fat orange convicted criminal, in the White House. Howdy Doody Mike Johnson has his house as sycophancy chorus, Senate equally insipid. And Clarence has his corruption thoroughly guaranteed in that massively perjured court of his.
But if some of us keep writing in response to Heather, to Timothy Snyder, to many other figures for decency and -- most vitally -- to each other as fellow commenters, maybe we'll keep a low boil to compete with all the corruption, vulgarity, and illegality in high places?
Harlan Crow, woncha' buy me a brand new RV...
"My friends all drive Marchis, I must make amends..."
Several years ago I wrote this about the overlords. It is proving to be worse than I thought.
“Yes, we can march, for now. But, to the ones pulling the strings, destroying the planet and beggaring our children, this is a small annoyance, nothing more. We are insects to them.”
Sad to agree with you Annabel.
The (smallish) protests are good so far, but I am completely puzzled about why there aren't HUGE demonstrations for Ukraine. When JFK was assassinated, I instinctively went to Washington because I couldn't do anything else, and that night I discovered there were candles in all the windows in town. It was so consoling - why can't we do something simple like that? If the whole country did it, you could see it from space. Why aren't we all wearing Canada pins and flying Canadian and Ukrainian flags? The First Felon is doing his best not only to destroy our government but to destroy these two nations as well. We can't let the world think this is okay with us, or that we just want eggs to be cheaper.
I recently listened to a video podcast with Anand Giridharadas and Anat Shenker-Osorio where two similar points were brought up -- one I also have been thinking we need and the other I hadn't thought of but, yeah, it makes sense. https://the.ink/p/watch-free-america
The first one is about a symbol, something we can unite around. It could be a pin, a flag, a slogan, or even a silent gesture. I like the silent gesture because there's no lingering evidence of our connection, especially important as the imprisonment of resisters, protesters, opposers begins in earnest. In the video it was a finger pressed against the lips as if to shush that slowly gets turned and becomes a middle finger. We do need something that will resonate and catch fire.
The second point was that we seem to be waiting, checking the collective temperature, trying to see is it just me, am I overreacting, or are others seeing this too? They called it social proof, the idea that "[our] very important audience is other people around us as a kind of collective gauge on what is happening." And the fact that only one representative stood up, raised his cane, interrupted, and called out the lies of an authoritarian but others did not join him is part of why we are hesitating. In the past there were often leaders, representatives who were saying the things we felt but weren't sure we could say, and without them we are still looking around to see if we really should be doing something more because we're feeling like oh, maybe it's just me. And with the media not covering our protests much if at all, again it feels like okay, maybe it isn't really so bad. So every time we do catch a glimpse of collective action in an online video, even if the action itself doesn't stop something, it gives permission, says its not just you and here's the receipts. And that happens here too each night when we have these conversations. And it happened on International Women's Day at a rally that spanned two sides of a busy street in my town, me standing next to a stranger who was trying not to use the F word to explain the way she too rages at our GOP rep alone in her home until I turned to her and said, "You can say the big word, go ahead, I say it too" and she screamed it out like she was expelling a demon she'd been desperate to exorcise. And we both felt better after.
We're getting there. My only question is will we get there soon enough and strong enough or will we find ourselves having to defend our freedom and equality once again with more than just time and treasure.
Great points. Yes, Nazi victims didn’t believe things could get that bad. Just got an idea for Blue Sky. A quote from a guard at the concentration camps. The conversations he heard over and over. People just couldn’t believe what they had seen, even as they were lined up to die.
Perhaps Musk should be given the title NPC-In-Chief and consigned to a room with huge screens and a game controller hooked up to a virtual world that gives him the illusion he is manipulating the other characters which he can pretend to do to his heart's content. [And we should throw away the keys.]
Thank you for talking about the struggles over time between these poles of belief. Yes, we the people must stand up by the MILLIONS and make our voices heard. This desperate fight for the soul of our country is in our hands.
Thank again HCR ! Your timely news and historical insights digests bring heart and soul to the forefront in this struggle for humanity. It is no less than that.
People do weary of struggle, strife and war. That’s only natural. By the same token, we must bear in mind that there are no lasting victories in warfare. No conflict has lasting resolution in this manner. The cost of struggle is vigilance. And failing that, as we can see now, carries a steep price.
Bernie Sanders is a political and moral hero whose vigilance has never waned.
A belated Bernie bro here.better late than never
Perhaps we should have let the south go when we had the chance, rather than trying to make them accept an ideology foreign to their character.
Quick - is it too late?
By the time of Lincoln, all those millions of poor souls in slavery needed to be free. The 'Original Sin' was in the Constitution. If Southern states had not joined the Union, the British in the War of 1812 might have just steam rolled through the South and conquered it as slaves were not going to fight the British. Then at worst we would have a Canada north and south of us. Maybe also the northern colonies then would have tossed the British out, who would have already ended slavery.
Maybe...
But we didn't Cindy and now, like a cancer, they spread out everywhere. They are going to kill this country and many of its citizens.
Headline: "Tesla Drivers Get Hitler Salutes from Subaru Drivers." At Salon, Heather Digby Parton quotes Musk: "The fundamental weakness of Western Civilization is empathy." Trump's base accepts that he is the Second Coming of Christ, so it makes sense that they will accept an economic downturn and then pack a suitcase for the Rapture. MAGA is NPC... collateral damage... expendable. Stay Stupid!
I feel badly for those Tesla drivers who thought they were doing something good for the planet by buying an electric car. Many are not fans of Musk.