Status, Greed & Dominance
Of all the depradations and constitution shredding of the second Trump administration, the most likely to bring tears and rage so far is the abrupt shut down of USAID. They left experimental medical devices in people participating in medical trials. They cut off food aid for hungry children, and coincidentally billions of dollars of purchases from U.S. farmers. They were so eager to take food away from hungry children that they were willing to violate the constitution, which Trump (but of course, not Elon) had sworn to uphold days before. What can we make Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, prancing around in glee over his actions to make some many poor people suffer. What does he gain? Provisional, delayed and inconsequential wealth due to tax cuts? Relative status over his fellow billionaires? They get the same benefits. What he gains, what he wants, is the thrill of making brown people suffer. The cruelty is the point, as Adam Serwer wrote during Trump’s first rodeo.
Paul Krugman has written about how Elon is a different sort of oligarch from Bezos and Zuckerberg. Bezos and Zuckerberg are ordinary oligarchs – willing to make any deal with whoever has political power to advance their interests. They are motivated by greed and status. For Krugman the difference is that Elon is an oligarch with an ideology, he wants to change the world, not just keep more of it for himself. Josh Marshall has long been writing about what he now calls dominance politics. The vicarious thrills motivate the base, just as football fans celebrate a vicious hit that demoralizes the opposition.
But dominance is not just a tactic for these people, a way to achieve status and wealth. It is
But for Trump, the shows of dominance over brown people, and women, and trans-people also reflect his true desires. They have been consistent for decades. Sure, he is cringily addicted to praise and deference too, but making his enemies suffer is more central to he is. If he wanted more praise, he could be magnanimous in victory and all the media would flock to him, but instead he pursues vendettas. It is a sickness. It is evil.
Marco Rubio, who has operating responsibility for the provision of suffering, is a different sort. It is not that he has higher morals than Musk or Trump – from all indications he has no morals at all. What is different is that he has different desires. Rubio wants status. He wants deference. He wanted to be President. If that means sponsoring comprehensive immigration reform, he’s for it. Locking immigrants up, instead? That too. Taking food away from hungry children? Sure, whatever, here’s a press release. But unlike Musk and Trump and Miller, I don’t think he gets joy out of making brown people suffer. They are collateral damage. A few eggs broken, but he wanted the omelette. Musk and Trump and Miller just want to break some eggs. They’ve already got their omelette.
What can we do?