[thread 1/x] Existential threat of billionaires
[2/x] https://mastodon.social/@persagen/113346390093945554
[3/x] https://mastodon.social/@persagen/113482871306325984
[4/x] https://mastodon.social/@persagen/113742913269375565

conservative advocacy/lobbying
political/legal state capture
deregulation: anti-union/taxation libertarianism
eradication of social programs/public education/benefits

Dark Money (2016)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Money_(book)

Democracy in Chains (2019)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy_in_Chains

None Dare Call It Conspiracy (1970)
https://archive.org/details/none-dare-call-it-conspiracy_202101

Dark money
https://mastodon.social/@persagen/110953607664918460

Dark Money (book) - Wikipedia

/1

Like QAnon, to most Americans the U.S. Republican Party is now an American religion based on belief, conspiracies, dogma.

Religion: range of social-cultural systems, incl. designated behaviors & practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relate humanity to supernatural, transcendental, & spirituality
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion

Behind the scenes Christian right / libertarian billionaires pull the strings.

#GOP #QAnon

Religion - Wikipedia

The GOP As We Knew It Is Long Gone And May Never Return

The chances of the Republican Party emerging intact after the Trump era have markedly declined

TPM – Talking Points Memo

/3

America's nonreligious are a growing, diverse phenomenon. They really don't like organized religion
https://projects.apnews.com/features/2023/the-nones/the-nones-us.html

* most religions are there to control people and get money from them said Dulak (76, Missouri)
* he also cited sex abuse scandals in Catholic & Southern Baptist churches
* as Dulak rejects being part of a religious flock, he has plenty of company
* he is a “none” ... the kind that checks “none” when pollsters ask “What’s your religion?”

#USA #religion #demographics

The Nones: U.S.

America's nonreligious are a growing phenomenon. They have little in common save these key concerns.

/4

Scholar charted decline in religion; church he pastors closing its doors
https://apnews.com/article/illinois-christian-baptist-church-closure-religious-trends-c6b9e938eb228c8018fb911b02a791f0

* 4,500 Protestant churches closed in 2019
* churches dwindle due to scandal, conflict, mobility, indifference, lower birth rates, switching to a church they like better
* most Americans remain religious
* some surveys suggest that the long rise of the “nones” has slowed/paused
* nonreligious far more common today in U.S./other nations than generation ago

#USA #religion #demographics

An Illinois church closes its doors as religion declines in the US

First Baptist Church of Mt. Vernon, Illinois, plans to hold the last service of its 156-year history on Sunday. It's among many U.S. churches that close their doors each year. But there’s a poignant twist in this story. First Baptist’s pastor, Ryan Burge, spends much of his time as a researcher, documenting the dramatic decline in religious affiliation in recent decades. With more Americans abandoning religious affiliation, it's hard to grow and sustain a church, Burge says. He hopes his research, and his personal experience, can provide comfort to other pastors of struggling churches. “This is not all your fault,” Burge tells them.

AP News

/5

Project 2025 Links Revolving Door of Players & Far Right Political Funding
Such cross-pollination - common in political circles - becoming regular occurrence among hate groups
https://truthout.org/articles/project-2025-links-a-revolving-door-of-players-and-far-right-political-funding

* For Republicans goal is to keep white Christian nationalists in power at all costs

#Koch #capitalism #GOP #RepublicanParty #Trumpism #MAGA #billionaires #corporations #libertarianism #ChristianRight #conservatism #HeritageFoundation #LeonardLeo #SCOTUS #ConservativePartnershipInstitute #CPI

Project 2025 Links a Revolving Door of Players and Far Right Political Funding

Such cross-pollination isn’t just commonplace in political circles; it’s become a regular occurrence among hate groups.

Truthout

/6

Once Enemies, Trumpists and Mainstream Conservatives Are Now Chillingly United
The Heritage Foundation’s president announced in January that the foundation’s role is “institutionalizing Trumpism”
https://truthout.org/articles/once-enemies-trumpists-and-mainstream-conservatives-are-now-chillingly-united

#Koch #capitalism #GOP #RepublicanParty #Trump #Trumpism #MAGA #billionaires #corporations #libertarianism #ChristianRight #conservatism #HeritageFoundation #LeonardLeo #SCOTUS #ConservativePartnershipInstitute #CPI

Once Enemies, Trumpists and Mainstream Conservatives Are Now Chillingly United

The Heritage Foundation’s president announced in January that the foundation’s role is “institutionalizing Trumpism.”…

Truthout

/7

Addendum to thread landing page:

None Dare Call It Conspiracy (1972) Gary Allen
https://archive.org/details/none-dare-call-it-conspiracy_202101
"We are going to have a dictatorship of the elite disguised as the dictatorship of the proletariat”

Discussed 2024-Jul:
J. D. Vance Is Summoning John Birch Society
Populist appeals indistinguishable f. economic vision of 1970s John Birch Society
https://jacobin.com/2024/07/vance-trump-gop-john-birch

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Allen
Senior member, John Birch Society
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Birch_Society

#libertarianism #Koch #fascism #GOP

NONE DARE CALL IT CONSPIRACY : by Gary Allen with Larry Abraham : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

by Gary Allen with Larry Abraham

Internet Archive

/8 cont'd

John Birch Society
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Birch_Society

* right-wing political advocacy group
* anti-communist; social conservatism
* ultraconservative, radical right, far-right, right-wing populism/libertarianism
* founders: Harry Lynde Bradley (Bradley Foundation), Fred C. Koch (Koch Industries) ...
* Trump 2016 election: JBS core instincts finally reflected in White House
* political commentator, 2016: Trumpism" essent. Bircherism

#GaryAllen #Koch #Trump #billionaires #libertarianism #fascism

John Birch Society - Wikipedia

Koch network’s flagship super PAC pours big money into 2024 elections
https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2024/08/koch-network-flagship-super-pac-pours-big-money-into-2024-elections

* Koch network flagship group
* 2 decades financially influencing U.S. elections
* AFP super PAC ranks 3rd in outside spending in 2024 cycle
* Americans for Prosperity Action, hybrid PAC affiliated w. AFP, spent $257+ million since 2004
* supports conservative congressional/presidential candidates

#Koch #evil #AmericansForProsperity #billionaires #ElectoralFraud #libertarianism #fascism #superPAC #GOP

Koch network’s flagship super PAC pours big money into 2024 elections  - OpenSecrets News

The Koch network’s flagship group, Americans for Prosperity, has spent two decades pouring money into influencing U.S. elections. 

OpenSecrets News

6 Billionaire Fortunes Bankrolling Project 2025
$120+ million f. few ultra-wealthy families powering Heritage Foundation to remake American gov.
https://mastodon.social/@persagen/112962304294428041
https://www.desmog.com/2024/08/14/project-2025-billionaire-donor-heritage-foundation-donald-trump-jd-vance-charles-koch-peter-coors

Evil:
Coors Family
Charles Koch
Richard & Elizabeth Uihlein
Scaife Family
Barre Seid (also gave $1.6 BILLION to Leonard Leo)
Bradley Family

#billionaires #EnablingFascism #GOP #Trumpism #HeritageFoundation #KevinRoberts #Project2025 #FamilyResearchCouncil #TonyPerkins #fascism #libertarianism #FarRight

6 Billionaire Fortunes Bankrolling Project 2025

More than $120 million from a few ultra-wealthy families who have spent years working to promote climate change denial has powered the Heritage Foundation and other groups that created the plan to remake American government.

DeSmog

The Right's 50-yr plot to wreck democracy
https://www.salon.com/2024/08/16/unpacking-the-rights-50-year-plot-to-wreck-democracy--and-why-it-might-work

Antidemocratic: Inside Far Right's 50-Year Plot to Control American Elections
https://bookshop.org/p/books/minority-rule-david-daley/20370445?ean=9780063321090

* equal parts Dark Money/Democracy in Chains
* riveting/disturbing history of 50-yr Republican plot to hijack voting rights

#billionaires #Koch #capitalism #RepublicanParty #Trump #Trumpism #libertarianism #ChristianRight #conservatism #HeritageFoundation #LeonardLeo #SCOTUS #JaneMayer #NancyMcLean #ElectoralFraud #GOP

Bestselling author David Daley on his new book "Antidemocratic" and the right's long-term strategy

Salon Talks: Author David Daley on his new book "Antidemocratic," a history of the right's 50-year war

Salon.com

These Billionaires Are Donating Big in 2024 Election to Advance Their Interests
From Christian nationalists to fossil fuel barons, they are using their fortunes to pursue policies that impact us all
https://truthout.org/articles/these-billionaires-are-donating-big-in-2024-election-to-advance-their-interests

#billionaires #Koch #capitalism #RepublicanParty #Trump #Trumpism #libertarianism #ChristianRight #conservatism #HeritageFoundation #LeonardLeo #SCOTUS #JaneMayer #NancyMcLean #ElectoralFraud #GOP

These Billionaires Are Donating Big in 2024 Election to Advance Their Interests

From Christian nationalists to fossil fuel barons, they are using their fortunes to pursue policies that impact us all.

Truthout

Koch Inc. Invests in Massive Land Grab f. West African Herders
https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2024/08/21/koch-invests-in-massive-land-grab-from-west-african-herders

* Koch, Inc. (formerly Koch Industries): largest U.S. private company
* provides corporations w. carbon offsets while pulling local natural resources from 2.9 million hectares in 3 West African countries
* led by U.S.-based African Agriculture Holdings
* consume water in drought-prone region
* elim. land from use for subsistence farming

#Africa #neocolonialism #billionaires #Koch #capitalism #libertarianism

Koch Invests in Massive Land Grab From West African Herders - EXPOSEDbyCMD

An investment arm of the largest private company in the U.S. — Koch, Inc. — is investing in an agricultural business venture that will provide corporations with carbon offsets while pulling local natural resources from almost 7.2 million acres of land in three West African countries.

EXPOSEDbyCMD
In DNC Speech, Sanders Says Overturning “Citizens United” Should Be a Priority

Outside groups have already spent more than $1 billion on federal elections this cycle, far outpacing previous years.

Truthout

Elon Musk Forced to Reveal Shady X Investors
Musk said Sean Diddy Combs as investor made it OK that hate speech was increasing on X
https://newrepublic.com/post/185174/elon-musk-x-investors-shadiest-people-diddy
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/08/21/elon-musk-x-investors

* Sean Combs
* Andreessen Horowitz
* Sequoia Capital
* 8VC/Joe Lonsdale >> https://mastodon.social/@persagen/112968642162289475
* Saudi Prince Al Waleed bin Talal Al Saud
* Bill Ackman

#ElonMusk #billionaires #Xcorp #Twitter #EnablingFascism #FarRight #racism #anti-LGBT #transphobia #Trumpism #GOP #disinformation #AmericaPAC #DefundBillionaires

Elon Musk Forced to Reveal Shady X Investors

Elon Musk said that having Sean “Diddy” Combs as an investor made it OK that hate speech was increasing on X.

The New Republic
It’s No Surprise RFK Jr. Endorsed Trump — They’re Backed by the Same Billionaire

Timothy Mellon has poured over $165 million into the election so far, giving tens of millions to both Trump and Kennedy.

Truthout

Powell Memo Changed America
Architect: US Supreme Court Justice Lewis Powell
https://www.levernews.com/master-plan-episode-3-the-memo-that-changed-america

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_F._Powell_Jr.#Powell_Memorandum,_1971
* tobacco industry champion
* wrote confidential memo for U.S. Chamber Commerce
* anti-Communist/anti-New Deal blueprint for conservative business interests to retake America
* based partly on Powell's reaction activist Ralph Nader

https://mastodon.social/@persagen/113093285576894645

#LewisPowell #SCOTUS #PowellMemo #RalphNader #USCC #capitalism #libertarianism #fascism #billionaires #conservatism

MASTER PLAN, Ep 3: The Memo That Changed America

Our third episode introduces the architect behind the master plan’s original blueprint, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Lewis Powell.

The Lever

Project 2025: How the far-right’s tax plan would hike middle-class taxes while slashing taxes for the wealthy
https://www.nationofchange.org/2024/08/29/project-2025-how-the-far-rights-tax-plan-would-hike-middle-class-taxes-while-slashing-taxes-for-the-wealthy

* radical tax reforms disproportionately burden middle-income Americans
* significant tax breaks to wealthiest persons/corporations

#billionaires #DefundBillionaires #capitalism #libertarianism #fascism #corporations #WealthInequality #taxation #TaxAvoidance #GOP #Trumpism #MAGAfascism #FarRight #oligarchy #plutocracy #meritocracy

#SCOTUS #EnablingFascism

Project 2025: How the far-right’s tax plan would hike middle-class taxes while slashing taxes for the wealthy | NationofChange

Another Reason Project 2025 Is So Bad for Women? Guns
https://msmagazine.com/2024/08/29/project-2025-guns

* Project 2025: 900+-page misogynist manifesto
* promise to eliminate IVF; attacks racial equity, LGBTQ+ youth; ...
* radical “guns everywhere” agenda

#SelfDetermination #GunViolence #WomensRights #DomesticAbuse #Project2025 #HeritageFoundation #billionaires #capitalism #libertarianism #fascism #EnablingFascism #corporations #GOP #Trumpism #FarRight #oligarchy #plutocracy #meritocracy #SCOTUS #antiLGBT #antiabortion

Another Reason Project 2025 Is So Bad for Women? Guns.

If implemented, Project 2025 would be devastating for women, families and feminists everywhere. Voters—particularly women voters—need to understand these threats. But while Project 2025’s abortion and LGBTQ+ rights plans have

Ms. Magazine

How Dark Money Groups Bought Colorado Tax Cut
Extracted huge tax cuts f. Colorado lawmakers
Threatened ballot initiatives to further slash taxes
https://jacobin.com/2024/08/colorado-dark-money-tax-cuts

* billionaires use referenda to blackmail state
* state reps. slashed CO property taxes by $100s millions
* cut funding for public schools, health care, essential services

#billionaires #Colorado #StateLegislatures #StateCapture #capitalism #Trumpism #libertarianism #ChristianRight #conservatism #SCOTUS #ElectoralFraud #GOP

How Dark Money Groups Bought a Tax Cut in Colorado

Dark money groups extracted huge tax cuts from Colorado lawmakers by threatening to push ballot initiatives that would slash taxes even further. Referenda should promote democracy — yet billionaires are using them to blackmail the state.

MAGA Looks to Notorious War On Terror Lawyer John Yoo For Trump II Inspiration
Want War on Terror justifications for domestic military use
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/maga-looks-to-notorious-war-on-terror-lawyer-for-trump-ii-inspiration

John Yoo: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Yoo
* legal scholar
* wrote Torture Memos to det. legal limits for torture of detainees
* justification of waterboarding/enhanced interrogation methods constituted "ntentional professional misconduct

#Trump2 #HeritageFoundation #Project2025 #EnablingFascism #fascism #GOP #JohnYoo #911 #WarCriminals #Bush

MAGA Looks to Notorious War On Terror Lawyer For Trump II Inspiration

As Trump allies seek to justify deploying the military at home — be it to round up undocumented immigrants, quell protests, or simply make an aggressive point — they're looking again and again to the…

TPM – Talking Points Memo

Neoliberal Policies Associated w. Reaganomics Actually Started w. Carter
https://truthout.org/articles/neoliberal-policies-associated-with-reaganomics-actually-started-with-carter

* historian David N. Gibbs says we mustn’t whitewash Carter’s record
* should look to administrations of Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter who set up foundations launching of neoliberal counterrevolution

Revolt of the Rich: How the Politics of the 1970s Widened America's Class Divide
https://cup.columbia.edu/book/revolt-of-the-rich/9780231556224

#DavidGibbs #neoliberalism #libertarianism #billionaires #capitalism #history #PoliticalScience

Neoliberal Policies Associated With Reaganomics Actually Started With Carter

Historian David N. Gibbs, author of “The Revolt of the Rich,” says we mustn’t whitewash President Carter’s record.

Truthout

Elon Musk Giddily Accepts Idea of Joining Trump’s Cabinet
https://newrepublic.com/post/185538/elon-musk-accept-trump-job-offer-cabinet

* Musk says he “can’t wait” to take on a role in Donald Trump’s administration

Trump eyes plan that may give Elon Musk role in auditing U.S. agencies
Trump discussed asking executives to comb through federal books
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2024/09/02/trump-elon-musk-commission-doge

#ElonMusk #billionaires #Xcorp #Twitter #EnablingFascism #FarRight #racism #anti-LGBT #transphobia #Trumpism #GOP #disinformation #AmericaPAC #Trump2 #libertarianism #capitalism

Elon Musk Giddily Accepts Idea of Joining Trump’s Cabinet

Donald Trump may consider having Elon Musk join his Cabinet if he wins the White House—and Musk is already gleefully accepting.

The New Republic
Starlink U-turns, will block X in Brazil after all

Musk fought the law and the law won... for now

The Register
Elon Musk’s Shadow Rule

Ronan Farrow reports on how the U.S. government came to rely on the tech billionaire—and is now struggling to rein him in.

The New Yorker

Inside Brazil’s X Ban: How Musk Started/lost Fight w. Brazil’s Judiciary
https://www.counterpunch.org/2024/09/04/inside-brazils-x-ban-how-elon-musk-started-and-lost-a-fight-with-brazils-judiciary

* Brazilians woke up 2024-Aug-31 w.o. X/Twitter
* Supreme Court (Brazil) ordered national telecommunications agency to block X
* X refused to follow Brazil’s telecommunications laws

#ElonMusk #capitalism #billionaires #Xcorp #Twitter #Starlink #oligarchy #plutocracy #meritocracy #autocrat #authoritarianism #Trumpism #fascism #EnablingFascism #censorship #FarRight #TAXtheRich #WealthConcentration

Inside Brazil's X Ban: How Elon Musk Started–and lost–a Fight With Brazil's Judiciary

Millions of Brazilians woke up on August 31 in a country without X, after the Supreme Court ordered the national telecommunications agency to block the social media platform. This move culminated over a year of X's refusal to follow Brazil's telecommunications laws, particularly those requiring deplatforming of suspects in internet crime investigations. In a single day, X lost 22 million users, while alternative platform Blue Sky gained 2 million new Brazilian users in just three days. The order to ban the platform initially came from Supreme Court Minister Alexandre de Moraes, a figure vilified by the Bolsonaros and the international far right, and was ratified by a 5-0 vote in the Supreme Court's 1st working group three days later.

CounterPunch.org
Donald Trump, in economic speech, said he plans to hire Elon Musk to lead "government efficiency commission"

Donald Trump, in economic speech, said he plans to hire Elon Musk to lead "government efficiency commission"

Salon.com

@persagen

That would truly be the end of the American Experiment.

May as well hand the country back to the various countries that used to run the place.

@PeterLG @persagen If we do return America to the original tribes that lived here

@paulc

Now THAT would be the right move!

@persagen

@persagen The guy that bankrupted a casino is giving a job to the guy thats lost billions from Twitter. sounds right.

@persagen

How do you make a $12.5B company? You start with a $44B company and destroy $31.5B of its value through malfeasance de votre choix.

@Cirdan Ah, the 'ol trusted top-down approach (Trump; Musk)! 😹
@persagen
I hope so badly it'll be banned and blocked in the EU too.....
@persagen That would be a disaster of epic proportions.