Let's Be Frank - Elon Musk

The rich hate us

Is doing exactly what we should expect from someone with obscene wealth.

Most normal people would take 10% of his fortune, sail off into the sunset, and enjoy their lives. But not the 1% who hoard most of the world’s wealth. No, they need more money and more power. They want the world to bow to them because they were born into money or made some good bets, and now they believe they’re the smartest people on the planet, destined not just to rule Earth but Mars as well.

He, and others like him, are well aware that they’d be at the very top of the common enemies list if 99% of the world’s population ever figured out what they were up to.

And at this moment, Musk is very publicly chasing the title of the world’s first trillionaire. Tesla has proposed a new compensation package for Musk that can be worth up to $1,000,000,000,000. I spelled it out with all the zeros so you can see how absurd it is. It doesn’t even look like a real number.

If the population weren’t so divided, outrage over something like this would dominate social media. But the wealthy have run their playbook to perfection. Pit the poor and middle class against each other to distract them from this money grab. And frankly, they’re pitching a perfect game.

Too many people cling to the fantasy that they can be the next Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos. A person who barely graduated high school and can’t keep a job at the Amazon warehouse convinces themselves that they have enough discipline and the ability to run a company and become uber wealthy.

There’s plenty of opportunity in the United States to live a successful, comfortable life. But people need to be realistic about their financial expectations. Start questioning why you’re underpaid while the wealthiest keep padding their portfolios. Why does a CEO get a massive compensation bump while you’re told that the company can’t afford to give you a 1% raise?

Stop blaming your neighbor and look at the person who is reaching right into your wallet. Yes, I get it, your neighbor sucks. We all have shit neighbors. But unless your neighbor is a billionaire, they aren’t the main issue here.

So it’s no wonder that someone like Musk has been fanning the flames of division and violence. He recently attended a right-wing rally in the UK, virtually I should add. Because why would someone like him want to surround himself with plebs?

He wants ordinary people divided, so he attaches himself to the most hateful voices. He wants them to direct their rage at their neighbors and communities instead of people like him.

After the murder of Charlie Kirk, Musk saw the right-wing response and pounced. He didn’t even miss a beat.

He sits behind a computer screen and stokes hatred and fear amongst people who apparently are too blind or distracted to see or question why he does this.

He won’t physically appear in these crowds because he doesn’t actually like these people. If anything he is probably disgusted by them. But he knows he can use them in a class war that they don’t even know they’re fighting. Sadly they think they’re soldiers fighting some noble cause, not realizing they’re pawns to the oligarchs.

This is not a new playbook from the wealthy. Here is a great book that goes into the strategy of the wealthy pitting everyone else against each other throughout US history. (Please only get it from your local bookstore or library. Don’t support Amazon.)

These right-wing groups are backed by some of the wealthiest people on this planet. And not just individuals, but groups like The Heritage Foundation which has literally written political playbooks for the politicians they buy and install into office.

After decades of planning, they now have control of the government and are using it to their advantage. U.S. departments and politicians are weaponizing their megaphones to spew some of the most disgusting, hate-filled nonsense that would have ended a politician’s career just a decade ago.

They’re even cozy with actual enemies of the democracy, like Putin, who has used the internet and bots as a tool to divide the world.

And it’s not just foreign enemies. We all laughed when Musk overpaid for Twitter, but he’s used it perfectly to push his agenda. He controls the algorithm of one of the world’s largest platforms, and uses it to amplify hate. Add all the money he pumped into Trump-aligned PACs, and look at where we are right now.

His online feud with Trump was very public, and entertaining. He even announced starting a third party. But not long after that, he donated another $15 million to Republicans. We should see that as a sign of what he really thinks and feels. It was theater from wealthy people to get us off the scent.

The wealthy are handpicking who they want in office to push their agenda. They back politicians who campaign on culture wars so they can keep passing tax breaks for themselves and suppress the working class.

And this is not limited to the United States. It’s happening all over the world. We are talking about a small group of people that are trying to muscle their way into all forms of government worldwide. These groups are all united. And the playbook is the same everywhere.

Divide communities so no one challenges the wealthy

Let’s not forget one of their most effective tools over the past few decades. They fund wars in other countries, creating a refugee crisis, and then get the local population to hate those people fleeing their homes for survival. This play has worked across Europe, fueling the rise of far-right parties.

Until people recognize that we’re getting dominated in this class war, then it’s going to be hard to reach the turning point. A lot of people are going to have to wake up to reality. Look at who is pushing these messages, and question why they are listening to a wealthy person that doesn’t care about them or their family.

I’ve written before about boycotting as a political statement, about the importance of community involvement, and about unionizing. Those steps matter, and they can win smaller battles. But if we want lasting change, we need something bigger, and we need to get our communities on the same page.

That’s not easy with so much of the media and social media owned by right-wing billionaires. They control the narrative and drown out the opposition. But we don’t have a choice. We need to unite and start convincing our neighbors who don’t yet see what’s happening.

The wealthy are counting on us to stay divided. Our job is to prove them wrong.

And remember, there’s a reason why Musk rhymes with Suck. OK, maybe it doesn’t, but the sentiment fits.