I hope it backfires wildly, even if it is only the equivalent of a small pinch to his finances.
this post was submitted on 31 Oct 2026
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A small pinch is putting it lightly. His donation is the equivalent of the average American throwing in $40.
Half a billion dollars for someone worth $1 trillion is about 0.05%.
Median American net worth is $216,000, and 0.05% of that is about $108.
I was looking at HHI, but that tracks too.
The expense is basically meaningless to him.
Just one small point of contention, median and average are not the same, that might be the median, but the average is significantly lower than that. About $65,000, which is $32, which honestly tells a much more illustrative story.
Still what Elon spent dwarfs both by multiple orders of magnitude.
No, you're confusing average with statistical mean. Average can also be the median. In cases where the data becomes heavily skewed by the extremes, like this case, median is often the better way to convey the average.
the average is significantly lower than that
No, for these types of long tail distributions, the mean is much, much higher than the median. In this case, mean net worth is about $1.25 million, about 6 times larger than the median.
I literally went to Bureau of Labor Statistics and pulled up the average income for americans. Fidelity and Sofi are also in the same ballpark, ablut $65,000/year.
Actually looking it up further, you're not even right about the median income, that is also about $65,000 per year again from BLS, Fidelity and Sofi.
I've been talking about net worth this whole thread.
You know what, that's fair. My error.
And none of it detracts from the main point, like you were saying. Being rich takes things into another world, to where comparisons to normal budgets don't really capture the essence of what is going on or how it is being experienced by the rich person.
I chose net worth because I think at around the $100 million mark, realized income in any given year gets fairly meaningless compared to longer term trends, including in unrealized gains/losses in one's net worth.
But nothing truly captures what it's like to have money like this. These people treat money like points in a video game.
It already is 🤣
I wonder what the George Soros fearing folk will have to say about this...
Can you imagine how much dirt an fbi under direct control of Trump must have on him? He knows how fucked he is when accountability comes knocking.
And he's not alone, which is why they are going to have to do whatever it takes to ensure that the 2028 election never takes place. Buckle up for a bumpy two years.
Campaign Finance Reform is the issue from which ALL other issues flow.
Take all money out of politics. A qualifying candidate will get a modest war chest from the Federal government, and may not take a single penny from anyone else. Violations include mandatory prison time for both the donor and candidate.
Presidential campaigns are only 90 days long, and include mandatory background checks, ability to pass a security clearance, full medical disclosure, and the release of all tax records. If you object to any of these, you are hiding something significant, and you can't be a candidate.
All political speech by candidates will be tightly controlled, and demonstrable lies will result in the candidate's campaign being cancelled, and the candidate being declared ineligible to hold office for life, essentially forfeiting the race.
You will run for office honorably, with respect for the Constitution and our system of government, or not at all.
I think the first half is achievable, but the second half is unrealistic.
God this just pisses me off, soo much money wasted and for what?
This guy needs to be socialized, split up between everybody. And his fortune too
I hope to see polling numbers of before and after his last push. There's no way this has been beneficial for Republicans. I can't imagine they are earning any new voters at this stage.