Must-Reads and Some Thoughts on Elon Musk as Mr. Potter

"To Musk, a warped, deluded, ego-obsessed man, we’re cattle."

Must-Reads and Some Thoughts on Elon Musk as Mr. Potter

Must-Reads

From Israel’s invasion of Syria to disappearing news content and how AI-generated scores are screwing us over, here are some of the most important articles I’ve read this week.

  • Seattle Planned to Close Up to 21 Public Schools — Here’s How We Stopped Them by Jesse Hagopian. “This decision wasn’t handed down from above. It was won through a relentless, grassroots campaign by parents, caregivers, educators, students and community members who refused to let our children bear the brunt of budget shortfalls.”
  • How to Disappear Completely by s.e. Smith. “We are watching the internet slip away as websites and apps rise and fall, swallowed by private equity, shuttered by burnout, or simply frozen in time — taking with it our memories, our cultural phenomena, our memes.”
  • She Didn’t Get an Apartment Because of an AI-Generated Score – and Sued to Help Others Avoid the Same Fate by Johana Bhuiyan. “Nearly all of the 92 million people who are considered low-income in the US have been exposed to AI decision-making in fundamental parts of life such as employment, housing, medicine, schooling or government assistance.”
  • Inside Israel’s Opportunistic Invasion of Syria by Mitchell Plitnick. “As of Wednesday, Israel had struck Syria nearly 500 times. Their goal with these attacks has been to essentially destroy Syria’s military capability, and they have already succeeded.”
  • Trump Deportation Threats Weigh on Groups Offering FAFSA Help by Ariel Gilreath. “Concerns over filling out the FAFSA are not new to students and families with questionable immigration status, said David Hawkins, chief education and policy officer with NACAC, but the mass deportation threats have intensified fears that immigration enforcement will find a way to use FAFSA data, even though it is supposed to be protected.”
  • Tiny Coffins: Measles Is Killing Thousands of Children in Congo by Stephanie Nolen and Arlette Bashizi. “Olive loved to play football in the rain. And she loved to dance. Just before the burial, her friends and her cousins gathered in three rows, and danced for her.”
  • Israel Kills Palestinian Grandfather Known for Video Mourning His Grandchild by Sharon Zhang. “After his loss, Nabhan dedicated his time to helping those in need, taking care of wounded children and even feeding cats in Gaza. He posted many videos online of him interacting with children in particular.”
  • Amazon Hit With Potential Strike and Damning Senate Report Ahead of Holiday Rush by Mike Ludwig. “Thousands of Teamster workers overwhelmingly voted in the past week to authorize strikes at two major Amazon warehouses in New York City and one near Chicago at the height of the holiday shopping season in an effort to force the company to recognize their union and come to the bargaining table.”
  • Trans in the Heart of Texas by April Maria Ortiz. “Even in rural Texas the average person couldn’t care less about my gender. Most Texans who know me and hear my story are supportive, wherever they happen to lie on the political spectrum. They may not understand it, but they accept it and move on. Those who do shun, hate, or fear seem, in my view, to be either insecure in their own identity or to be captured by merchants of fear in right-wing media.”
  • The Final Boss of Our Medical Misery by Maureen Tkacik. “CNN pundit John Avlon, a right-wing think tank asset turned failed centrist Democratic congressional candidate, fell directly into what began to seem like a cleverly designed rhetorical trap laid by the young engineer: ‘If you’ve got a problem with the way insurance companies do business, there’s a lot of righteous ways to handle it, within the legal structure.’Having thought about this quite a lot, I gotta say, I can’t think of a single one.”

ICYMI

This week, I wrote about how Moms United Against Violence and Incarceration (MUAVI) supports families impacted incarceration–and how crucial that work becomes during the holiday season. I am told the piece led to a surge in donations to MUAVI’s toy drive, so I want to thank those of you who donated, and everyone who shared the piece. It seems everyone is struggling with fundraising this year, and the toy drive has not been spared these difficulties. I am so heartened that folks have been rallying to get presents to these children.

Final Thoughts

On Thursday, authorities in New York City ramped up Luigi Mangione’s folk hero status with a brooding, cinematic perp walk. Mangione, who is accused of gunning down United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, was seen in an orange jumpsuit, with a brigade of cops and the city’s lawless buffoon of a mayor at his back. Observers on social media were quick to note that the image made Mangione look like a martyr or a superhero, or even Jesus Christ. While officials clearly aimed to depict police and the mayor as badass enforcers who had defeated a high-profile criminal, their efforts only served to delight Mangione’s fans, who have continued to flood social media with memes, t-shirts, and fan edits celebrating the accused shooter. 

Meanwhile, in Washington D.C., Elon Musk has derailed a bipartisan bill that would have raised the debt ceiling and prevented a government shutdown. Musk used his social media platform X to amplify lies about the spending bill, including false claims that the bill included funds for a bioweapons lab, $3 billion for a new football stadium, $60 billion for Ukraine, and 40% raises for Congress. As Republicans scrambled to assemble a new bill, drastic cuts were made, including $190 million for the “Give Kids a Chance” program for child cancer research. That’s right, Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, stole almost $200 million from child cancer research, in an act so heinous, neither the Grinch nor Ebenezer Scrooge could provide adequate caricature. The bill’s rewrite also scrapped reforms that could have reigned in prescription drug prices.

In spite of a firm command from Trump to vote for the new bill, 38 Republicans balked on Thursday night, which means we are now barreling toward a government shutdown. While Elon Musk claims that government shutdowns don’t “actually shut down critical functions,” the consequences of a shutdown could be significant. During a shutdown, many federal workers, including postal workers, active-duty members of the military, and TSA employees would be expected to work without pay. While Social Security checks would still be distributed, people receiving SNAP benefits could be cut off. People navigating TSA screenings at airports could also experience major delays.

For Native people in the US, government shutdowns result in treaty violations, as the US government fails to provide critical services. Everything from individual family incomes to educational and nutritional services are impacted, due to the enmeshed nature of tribal and federal governance. For people in some Native nations, an extended shutdown can prove life-threatening.

For people in federal prisons, government shutdowns can make life even more tortuous than usual.

As the richest man in the world effectively snatched food from children and families and looted funding for child cancer research, I was watching my favorite Christmas movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Mr. Potter, the film’s cranky, old, uber-rich villain serves as a fine representative of the oligarchs of the US mafia state. 

In my favorite scene–one that may have helped shape my politics as a child–our hero George Bailey stands up to Mr. Potter, who is attempting to liquidate the Bailey Brothers Building and Loan, which would effectively put an end to affordable housing in Bedford Falls, the fictional small town where the story takes place. In pushing back against Potter’s mockery of the establishment’s policies, which have allowed a number of working class renters to become homeowners, Bailey delivers an iconic speech, saying:

What'd you say just a minute ago? They had to wait and save their money before they even thought of a decent home. Wait? Wait for what?! Until their children grow up and leave them? Until they're so old and broken-down that… You know how long it takes a working man to save five thousand dollars? Just remember this, Mr. Potter, that this rabble you're talking about, they do most of the working and paying and living and dying in this community. Well, is it too much to have them work and pay and live and die in a couple of decent rooms and a bath? Anyway, my father didn't think so. People were human beings to him, but to you, a warped, frustrated old man, they're cattle. Well, in my book he died a much richer man than you'll ever be.

We could really use some of George Bailey’s energy right about now. Potter is similarly useful, in an emblematic sense. After all, the Grinch and the Grinch and Ebenezer Scrooge were capable of redemption. To pretend that the oligarchs of the US mafia state can be morally redeemed would avail us nothing. They are our enemies, and they are attacking our very ability to survive. Elon Musk is a neo-Mr. Potter, operating at scale. To Musk, a warped, deluded, ego-obsessed man, we’re cattle.

While many people in the United States lack a coherent political analysis, they do understand that they are being screwed. The public’s reaction to Mangione and his alleged crime make that much clear. The public celebration of Mangione is reminiscent of the fandoms that formed around Depression era bank robbers like John Dillinger. Rather than condemning people for “bloodlust” (as though the indifference to bloodletting that typically defines life in the US is somehow morally superior to applauding a single death), it is crucial that we understand Mangione’s folk hero status as a flash of class consciousness. The outrage people are feeling at insurance companies should be encouraged and expanded to include the billionaire and corporate classes as a whole. 

In fact, there is no better target for the public’s ire in this moment than the richest man in the world, who just used his multi-billion dollar social media platform to spread misinformation at scale, thwart pediatric cancer research, deprive workers of their paychecks, and make life less livable for people on reservations.

I am not advocating for violence, of course. I am not a violent person. I am an organizer. I want people to organize. Simply applauding the violence of outlaws, while potentially cathartic, will not save us (though I will admit to sharing Mangione memes with my friends, pretty much daily). What we need is a sharpened sense of who the villains in our stories are, and the will to mobilize in defense of our shared interests. 

Some people in my life are still baffled by the positive attention Mangione has received. However, I will continue to insist that the fact that many Americans, regardless of their stated politics, view an attack on a health insurance CEO as something done in the name of justice tells us there is a visceral understanding of class oppression that could be roused and organized into something meaningful.

“It’s a Wonderful Life,” of course, does not provide a blueprint for Potter’s defeat. George Bailey’s victory lies in the love his community feels for him, and the fact that they rally, such that he can live free and fight another day. In these fractured times, that kind of solidarity and community-based care, all by itself, feels aspirational. So, I invite us to live in that spirit, while also shaping a new narrative for our times–a story based in class, a story of theft at scale, of men who think they are too big to fail, and who must be brought low, for the sake of our collective future.

Much love,

Kelly

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