Spyke
world·World NewsbySLVRDRGN

Vance: If US survived Greta Thunberg, Europe ‘can survive a few months of Elon Musk’

Vice President Vance on Friday chided European leaders for their criticism of Elon Musk wading into their elections, comparing Musk’s actions to Swedish activist Greta Thunberg urging American leaders to take action on climate change.

“I believe that dismissing people, dismissing their concerns, or worse yet, shutting down media, shutting down elections or shutting people out of the political process protects nothing. In fact, it is the most surefire way to destroy democracy,” Vance said.

“And speaking up and expressing opinions isn’t election interference, even when people express views outside your own country, and even when those people are very influential,” he continued. “And trust me, I say this with all humor: If American democracy can survive 10 years of Greta Thunberg’s scolding, you guys can survive a few months of Elon Musk.”

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5145304-elon-musk-jd-vance-european-leaders/Open linkView original on lemmy.world
sh.itjust.works

How is that even close to the same thing? Greta pleaded with the people to think about their children's future (and actively partakes in protests and demonstrations all over), while Elon is only looking to enrich himself.

174
lemmy.world

It's not the same at all, but it sounds clever, so the base will suck it up and repeat it.

84
sh.itjust.works

Okay but putting all morals, ethics, character, and opinions aside, looking at it completely objectively… its still completely different because we never put her in government offices and allowed her to make decisions for the entire country

45
lemmy.world

Yeah, but have you considered it from this angle? Elon Musk is a white straight extremely wealthy dude. Those are some strong qualifications right there.

16

She also asked that people do things that she specially could not do due to having no authority to enact policy, whereas Musk is interacting directly with levers of power (whether he has any legitimate/legal authority to do so).

30

Greta snubbed Trump, Elon didn't, so it's obvious why Vance considers the one as evil, the other as a saint.

6

Elon is also thinking about the children, in particular how they should all be white.

3

I mean even the moral aspect of their ideologies aside, one literally just expressed opinions as a form of debate whereas the other is spending hundreds of millions to sway elections.

3
lemmy.world

Hilarious that a teenage girl once terrified the upper echelons of right-wing politicians.

90

Yeah, how do you compare a 16yo (or however old she is now) girl with no political office to the president of the United States?

I guess we can hope Trump ends up being as ineffective as she's unfortunately been (I also noticed she's been invisible in the mainstream media as soon as she started talking about Palestine. Same with Malala.).

11

ahh yes Greta famously known to spend a fraction of a billion to influence elections.

70
lemmy.world

Right. Honestly, I'm so impressed with her being able to get inside these assholes' heads since she was 16.

12
lemmy.world

One person with no power vs one person with all the power.

64

I wouldn't say she has no power. She has the power to constantly upset these assholes.

Not even close to the same, but I'm glad she has that power.

4
lemmy.world

"If I can say dumb ass shit don't worry I will say some even dumber ass shit." - Assistant to Vice President Trump J.D. Vance.

50
lemm.ee

Europe didn't have to survive with Thunberg, she wasn't in the government and had no decision making authority.

45

“I believe that dismissing people, dismissing their concerns, or worse yet, shutting down media, shutting down elections or shutting people out of the political process protects nothing. In fact, it is the most surefire way to destroy democracy,” Vance said.

The jokes write themselves these days.

35
jlai.lu

Funny how we don't see much of her anymore. Does it has anything to do with the fact that she publicly made the link between Capitalism, colonialism and the climate crisis ?
I guess we'll never know !

33
lime!reply
feddit.nu

she got arrested again for being pro-palestinian.

27

Yes, because a foreign climate activist trying to appeal to politician for a cleaner future is the same as an apartheid billionaire funding and endorsing a fascist party to get them elected.

28

Knowing how the right has characterized Greta, comparing them like this is a huge insult against Musk from Couch Fucker Vance

25
lemm.ee

Question, what has Greta Thunberg done? Afaik, she's only protested and post on social media.

24
lemmy.world

This is a brain dead comparison, Musk's influence is highly destructive to democracy, while Greta's influence is only advocating for a global shift to protect the future of the planet.

19

He's mustering anger from his brain dead base. His words aren't meant for the rest of us. He needs to distract the Maga crowd from the damage Elon is actually doing.

6

It’s also braindead because on the one hand you have the richest man in the world backed by the most powerful man in the world. And on the other you have pretty much a very popular influencer.

2

The Hill’s piece on Musk and Vance’s Euro-tour reads like a corporate carnival masquerading as diplomacy. Tech oligarchs playing statesmen while defense contracts and AI patents get shuffled under the table. Ukraine’s “security” is just a euphemism for profit margins, and energy “innovation” means privatizing public infrastructure until it’s another subscription service.

Musk’s private sector savior complex hits different when you realize it’s just a hedge against taxes. Vance whining about EU regulations? Classic regulatory capture—can’t let pesky consumer protections interfere with monopolizing the digital commons. Algorithmic colonialism wrapped in venture capital buzzwords. But sure, let’s pretend this is about “progress” and not entrenching power where accountability algorithms can’t reach.

15

I'm sure Europe would survive a few months of Musk, but I'm not so sure about America.

13
lemmy.world

Man, a president Vance would really suck. He's coherent...crazy, but he can maintain a thought long enough to finish a sentence.

13

Yes, that's the scariest part, because all this behaviour is getting normalised. And this guy sure has chances to win an election and he seems to be much smarter compared to Trump.

The future looks grim.

1

Yeah but that's why trump does so well. Their followers can't follow a thought process through an entire sentence. That's why JD wouldn't resonate with them.

0

oh? ooooh? elon will fall in just a few months. man thats great news. i thank the jd mabeline model for this info.

3

Greta urged the US, China promptly replied. Who's the main world manufacturer? Task accomplished. Just wait

1