Elon Musk’s SpaceX IPO will most likely make him the richest person to ever walk the planet. And whereas his mountain of horrible private conduct may fill a number of books, one reality particularly stands out: A yr in the past, Musk’s actions immediately led to the deaths of tons of of 1000’s of individuals. He did it knowingly. And, worse — gleefully.
That is not a serious personhowever his abuse of the world is lethal critical. Within the first months of President Donald Trump’s second time period, the Musk-led Division of Authorities Effectivity (DOGE) destroyed the US Company for Worldwide Growth, whose mission was a boon to public well being across the globe. Musk referred to as the lifesaving company a “felony group” and blithely celebrated spending a weekend “feeding USAID into the wooden chipper.” It was a very good reference if you would like everybody to suppose you’re the killer in Fargo. Mission achieved, Elon.
Within the months that adopted, public well being fashions would point out Musk was a killer, at a far larger scale than any Coen brothers villain. A tracker co-created by Boston College professor Brooke Nichols projected over 780,000 deaths — principally of kids, a lot of infants — because of the Trump administration’s early-2025 USAID cuts, brought on by malaria, tuberculosis, HIV, and extra. These deaths have been extensively predicted from the start, a direct, recognized, and simple consequence of DOGE’s actions. We don’t know the exact variety of deaths, however multiple experts engaged on figuring out the size of the tragedy have usually agreed it’s within the tons of of 1000’s. World researchers, publishing in Natureundertaking that the cuts to USAID may lead to 163,500 youngster deaths yearly. One other publication in The Lancet says there may very well be hundreds of thousands extra to come back. Musk confirmed no signal of caring.
Musk confirmed no signal of caring
Throughout a televised cupboard assembly on the White Home in 2025, Musk, sporting a murdered-out MAGA hat signed by his boss, had a giggle about “unintentionally” canceling Ebola prevention. He mentioned it was a mistake that will be mounted. USAID whistleblower Nicholas Enrich, testifying before Congressmentioned that repair by no means got here. Just a little greater than a yr after Musk’s feedback, Africa is dealing with what may develop into the worst Ebola outbreak ever. And DOGE’s cleaver to USAID goes properly past the newest Ebola disaster. In response to Enrich, the HIV fee amongst new infants being born was wanting near zero, until Musk intervened.
You may suppose Musk’s actions gutting efficient international well being applications conflict along with his downright creepy quest to lift delivery charges, however not when you think about the man can also be an enormous racist. The record is simply too lengthy to maintain rating, however a number of related highlights: He’s stoked claims of a “white genocide” in South Africa, spent most of January posting other white supremacist talking pointsand most not too long ago has been encouraging race riots within the UK all to gin up anti-immigrant sentiments. Is there any doubt about why this man had a lot enjoyable destroying one of the crucial profitable international well being initiatives in historical past, which saved hundreds of thousands of Black folks?
The Trump administration is filled with extremists, however even a few of these of us checked out Musk like, “Now this man is admittedly wild.” Trump’s chief of workers, Susie Wiles, told Vanity Fair that Musk was a “full solo actor.” She says he “most likely knew” that what he was doing “could be horrifying to others,” however did it anyway. (Sadly, Wiles additionally mentioned she was solely “initially aghast” at his conduct, which just about sums up the Republican response to the celebration’s personal chaos.)
As he addressed SpaceX staff on IPO day, Musk mentioned, “There are at all times issues on Earth. There are at all times issues we want to be higher, that we wish to clear up right here on Earth, and we should always clear up them. However there additionally need to be issues that get you excited concerning the future.” Sounds good, till you take into account one of many current tasks Musk acquired enthusiastic about was killing immunization efforts that save the lives of kids from lethal illnesses. In actual fact, “there are at all times issues on Earth” is the type of factor you say whenever you truly don’t care about a number of these issues.
Guess what, Elon? There are many issues concerning the future that individuals get enthusiastic about after they get up within the morning. You fired a bunch of them for no good purpose, and a number of dangerous ones. The tales from fired USAID staff are heartbreaking, like so many related tales from so many individuals within the US and overseas who had devoted their lives to missions that vary from defending the dignity and well being of human beings to preserving our pure lands. I’ve met loads of these of us personally, and in contrast to the person who fired them, they didn’t enter public service for personal profit.
Musk hijacked the federal government to destroy these missions
Musk hijacked the federal government to destroy these missions and dehumanize these folks in service of the whole lie that it could make the federal government extra environment friendly. After all, there’s a giant distinction between “effectivity” and incompetence. An company isn’t extra environment friendly if it doesn’t exist; it’s merely been murdered. A hearth division with no firefighters seems to be good on a stability sheet in case you can ignore that the town is ablaze.
The intentional destruction of the flexibility to avoid wasting lives and cut back struggling is psychopathic habits — the sort that will stop any rational, form particular person from giving energy to anybody able to it. However right here we’re. And whereas there has at all times been a category of mega-rich menaces, together with horrible racists in energy who’re detached to struggling, we appear to be crossing the Rubicon with Musk. Few folks in historical past, if ever, can have gathered the identical mixture of wealth, media energy, and authorities affect.
After his reign of terror at DOGE ignobly ended in a fizzleMusk walked away from authorities with the identical type of careless indifference that marked his tenure. The maths is fuzzy, however it seems to be like DOGE barely saved the government any money. Even the libertarian Cato Institute says DOGE didn’t cut back spending, solely federal employment, by 9 % in round 10 months. However whenever you look past outlays and take into account the very fact the operation looted a large stockpile of experience and functionality from our society, it’s straightforward to see how Musk’s undertaking is among the most expensive ever.
Musk hasn’t absolutely moved on from authorities; he nonetheless wants these federal contracts for SpaceX, now greater than ever. He is likely to be sporting a special hat now, however little else has modified. X remains to be a firehose of distress with Musk on the reins, and his AI undertaking is a nightmare of misinformation and AI-generated child sexual abuse imagery. This man shouldn’t simply be stored from having all of the world’s cash; he most likely shouldn’t even be let inside 500 toes of a college.
Elon Musk proved way back that he’s the wrong man to save the world. It’s even worse now. The world wants saving from him.
