tegs07

Like any other oligarchy. Extremely good for the people with money, power and influence. Not so great for everyone else. Edit: I still don’t believe any of this is a done deal. Wealthy and influential people tend to get upset when you start to meddle with their wealth. Oligarchs steal wealth and resources. It’s not a done deal by any means. The USA is not post USSR collapse. That’s if they don’t leave! There does appear to be a big uptick of rich Americans leaving for Canada and Europe.

I’m not sure I would class this as tax avoidance as in many ways you’re just shifting the tax payment from one stage of life to another. It’s not like pensions are a tax free benefit. It’s also shifting the burden of care from state responsibility to private responsibility.

If people are a little busy to watch - just forward to the last 5 minutes. Very concerning.

I found this quite helpful as I have little knowledge of the US Constitution or what the limitations are for the President: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/with-sweeping-actions-trump-tests-us-constitutional-order-2025-03-21/

It seems to me that MAGA, its leaders, supporters and philosophy have more of a focus on retribution, victimisation and vengeance than on any positive or collectivist ideas of how to achieve greatness. The scope of their grievances seems to be unlimited encompassing pretty much every country outside of America and multiple groups, agencies, professionals, educators, medical experts etc within America. The only group that appears to be spared this wrath and desire for vengeance are billionaires, tax avoiders, the corrupt and the bullies, Its a sad, sickening and shameful situation.

So they vote in billionaires who no longer need lobbyists but are given the keys to the kingdom. At least they can be bigots in public. I can definitely understand people who want more freedom of expression and a more sympathetic ear for ordinary working people but draw the line at those who use hate speech and discrimination to justify it.

I guess all that will convince these guys is when the repo man rocks up and takes their cars, trucks and televisions. I get the billionaires and those with a nice safety blanket of assets voting for this but anyone who is vulnerable and living hand to mouth is in for a rude awakening IMO. It’s going to get difficult to blame Biden or gay people or immigrants when prices continue to rise even when these people are removed, ostracised and disadvantaged.

Not being American I am not sure of the context or audience for this presentation. Looks like some big and relevant information being presented to an empty room with some very disinterested and not particularly influential people in the audience?

Can shrinking the size of government and making it more efficient work though? Is anything that Musk has done so far leading to positive results? Edit: I guess I am asking due to confirmation bias. I don’t like them and have negative opinions about their motives so probably seek articles that confirm my opinions.

Q is whether Trump and DOGE are right.

Going to take a break from talking about the US electorate for a moment. The UK Government expenditure I think amounts to 45% of GDP, but they still manage to raise taxes, slash benefits and investment and fail to raise GDP in any meaningful way. Big government doesn’t seem to be delivering social services or a booming economy. I guess the average Brit blames the rich for being poor (tax evasion) and asset hoarding (housing and stocks) and demands action yet we have a record high number of millionaires leaving the UK for places like Dubai and record lows of wealth creation as well as a collapsing financial sector and stock market. The average US Citizen tends to blame big government and its control over taxes and regulation for all their problems. Is Trump and DOGE the answer? (I know my thoughts on this that both the UK and the US citizens have a point in who they blame but end up voting for things that are worse).

I would urge anyone who seriously thinks Russia just wants peace and has no intention of invading Europe to watch this. Even if we ignore the senior military and intelligence officers throughout NATO. Even we think Latvia, Estonia and Poland are just paranoid and delusional, maybe examining this checklist will be interesting when looking at peace agreement or proposed solutions. In case you think he is just another internet crank here is his background: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Zeihan

Right now I’m more concerned about the US and Iran. Honestly utterly unhinged.

I don’t think you can classify that as an invasion. It was an incursion designed to try and re-deploy Russian troops away from the front lines and buy some time and hopefully get a bargaining chip in any peace negotiations. It might have worked had 10,000 plus North Korean troops been involved in retaking captured territory. Trump taking away intelligence wouldn’t have helped much either.

Shoppers at Ikea in Latvia may disagree…