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CEO of Tesla and SpaceX Elon Musk wields a chainsaw as he leaves the stage alongside Newsmax anchor Rob Schmitt at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at the Gaylord National Resort Hotel And Convention Center on February 20, 2025 in Oxon Hill, Maryland.
(Photo: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
Elon Sinks Our Ships to Assure There Will Be No Going Back
As Musk and crew gleefully erase 250 years of accomplishment—by turns, glorious and imperfect—they are creating a seemingly irreversible path to their own ends by reducing to rubble the institutions that might save us.
Mar 09, 2025
A 500-year-old conquistador, hellbent on winning at any cost, has much to teach us about America today. If we have the stomach to see it.
Hernán Cortés led the expedition from Spain to the New World that resulted in the fall of the Aztec Empire and its leader, Montezuma II. Arriving on the shores of Veracruz, Mexico in 1519, Cortés saw that his men were exhausted and dispirited. There were calls to turn back, whispers of mutiny. Cortés, it is said, responded by burning and sinking his ships, thus stranding his crew, and giving them little choice but to fight and vanquish the Aztecs.
As Elon Musk demolishes the systems, institutions, and infrastructure that support and sustain America, I am reminded of the rapid fall of the Aztec empire, and the deliberate ruination that precipitated it. Like Cortés, Musk’s goals are destruction and assurance that there can be no going back.
People are overwhelmed and exhausted by the magnitude of consistent, determined, and effective resistance against the conquistadors who, having skuttled the ships, seek now to become overlords. Yet we have no choice but to act, to push back.
And another once-great empire falls.
Each day, the nascent “Mump” Regime—allegedly helmed by U.S. President Donald Trump, but clearly commandeered by Musk—razes more American foundations, moving us ever closer to the tipping point where far-right authoritarianism replaces an admittedly flawed, but principled, democracy.
If our president hasn’t the historical awareness, focus, or intellectual capacity to formulate and execute a complex plan, his surrogates and henchman do, and they are reveling in the dual promises of destruction and personal gain.
As Elon Musk, the Project 2025 architects, their accomplices, and enforcers gleefully erase 250 years of accomplishment—by turns, glorious and imperfect—they are creating a seemingly irreversible path to their own ends by reducing to rubble the institutions that might save us.
Department of Education? Burn it.
FEMA? Burn it.
USAID? Burn it.
NATO? Burn it.
Climate science? Burn it.
Medical research? Burn it.
Alliances, treaties, promises? Burn them.
The Republicans who control Congress daily demonstrate their own gullibility and culpability. And the Democratic minority wrings its hands, wavering among unorganized resistance, outrage, and a dawning awareness not only that it can happen here, but that it is happening here.
For the most part, the American people mirror Congress. Many outraged and resistant. Some condoning much of what they see, cherry-picking actions they consider laudable, while refusing to scrutinize the ones that cause their stomachs to clench. And others naively hoping thugs who have cheated their way through life will suddenly begin playing by the rules, i.e., the Constitution, the courts, existing laws, and the checks and balances of a three-branch government. Rules, the thugs sneer, are for suckers and losers. Meanwhile, they set fire to and sink ship after ship. There will be no going back, they assure themselves with a smug grin and a not-so-clandestine Nazi salute.
They may be right.
I’d like to believe that the best and brightest minds among democracy’s defenders and patriots are huddled together crafting solutions that will save America from the evil unleashed upon us by corrupt, would-be dictators, but with each day’s atrocities, lies, deliberate distractions, and concealments, my hope for my country fades.
America is burning. People are overwhelmed and exhausted by the magnitude of consistent, determined, and effective resistance against the conquistadors who, having skuttled the ships, seek now to become overlords. Yet we have no choice but to act, to push back. As British statesman Edmund Burke famously said, “Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little.”
This is what it looks like when a once-great country is dismantled.
Do not look away.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
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Donna Cameron
Donna Cameron is the author of A Year of Living Kindly: Choices That Will Change Your Life and the World Around You. She lives in Washington State.
democracydemocratic partydonald trumpelon muskproject 2025republican partyu.s. congressu.s. constitutionauthoritarianism
A 500-year-old conquistador, hellbent on winning at any cost, has much to teach us about America today. If we have the stomach to see it.
Hernán Cortés led the expedition from Spain to the New World that resulted in the fall of the Aztec Empire and its leader, Montezuma II. Arriving on the shores of Veracruz, Mexico in 1519, Cortés saw that his men were exhausted and dispirited. There were calls to turn back, whispers of mutiny. Cortés, it is said, responded by burning and sinking his ships, thus stranding his crew, and giving them little choice but to fight and vanquish the Aztecs.
As Elon Musk demolishes the systems, institutions, and infrastructure that support and sustain America, I am reminded of the rapid fall of the Aztec empire, and the deliberate ruination that precipitated it. Like Cortés, Musk’s goals are destruction and assurance that there can be no going back.
People are overwhelmed and exhausted by the magnitude of consistent, determined, and effective resistance against the conquistadors who, having skuttled the ships, seek now to become overlords. Yet we have no choice but to act, to push back.
And another once-great empire falls.
Each day, the nascent “Mump” Regime—allegedly helmed by U.S. President Donald Trump, but clearly commandeered by Musk—razes more American foundations, moving us ever closer to the tipping point where far-right authoritarianism replaces an admittedly flawed, but principled, democracy.
If our president hasn’t the historical awareness, focus, or intellectual capacity to formulate and execute a complex plan, his surrogates and henchman do, and they are reveling in the dual promises of destruction and personal gain.
As Elon Musk, the Project 2025 architects, their accomplices, and enforcers gleefully erase 250 years of accomplishment—by turns, glorious and imperfect—they are creating a seemingly irreversible path to their own ends by reducing to rubble the institutions that might save us.
Department of Education? Burn it.
FEMA? Burn it.
USAID? Burn it.
NATO? Burn it.
Climate science? Burn it.
Medical research? Burn it.
Alliances, treaties, promises? Burn them.
The Republicans who control Congress daily demonstrate their own gullibility and culpability. And the Democratic minority wrings its hands, wavering among unorganized resistance, outrage, and a dawning awareness not only that it can happen here, but that it is happening here.
For the most part, the American people mirror Congress. Many outraged and resistant. Some condoning much of what they see, cherry-picking actions they consider laudable, while refusing to scrutinize the ones that cause their stomachs to clench. And others naively hoping thugs who have cheated their way through life will suddenly begin playing by the rules, i.e., the Constitution, the courts, existing laws, and the checks and balances of a three-branch government. Rules, the thugs sneer, are for suckers and losers. Meanwhile, they set fire to and sink ship after ship. There will be no going back, they assure themselves with a smug grin and a not-so-clandestine Nazi salute.
They may be right.
I’d like to believe that the best and brightest minds among democracy’s defenders and patriots are huddled together crafting solutions that will save America from the evil unleashed upon us by corrupt, would-be dictators, but with each day’s atrocities, lies, deliberate distractions, and concealments, my hope for my country fades.
America is burning. People are overwhelmed and exhausted by the magnitude of consistent, determined, and effective resistance against the conquistadors who, having skuttled the ships, seek now to become overlords. Yet we have no choice but to act, to push back. As British statesman Edmund Burke famously said, “Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little.”
This is what it looks like when a once-great country is dismantled.
Do not look away.
Donna Cameron
Donna Cameron is the author of A Year of Living Kindly: Choices That Will Change Your Life and the World Around You. She lives in Washington State.
A 500-year-old conquistador, hellbent on winning at any cost, has much to teach us about America today. If we have the stomach to see it.
Hernán Cortés led the expedition from Spain to the New World that resulted in the fall of the Aztec Empire and its leader, Montezuma II. Arriving on the shores of Veracruz, Mexico in 1519, Cortés saw that his men were exhausted and dispirited. There were calls to turn back, whispers of mutiny. Cortés, it is said, responded by burning and sinking his ships, thus stranding his crew, and giving them little choice but to fight and vanquish the Aztecs.
As Elon Musk demolishes the systems, institutions, and infrastructure that support and sustain America, I am reminded of the rapid fall of the Aztec empire, and the deliberate ruination that precipitated it. Like Cortés, Musk’s goals are destruction and assurance that there can be no going back.
People are overwhelmed and exhausted by the magnitude of consistent, determined, and effective resistance against the conquistadors who, having skuttled the ships, seek now to become overlords. Yet we have no choice but to act, to push back.
And another once-great empire falls.
Each day, the nascent “Mump” Regime—allegedly helmed by U.S. President Donald Trump, but clearly commandeered by Musk—razes more American foundations, moving us ever closer to the tipping point where far-right authoritarianism replaces an admittedly flawed, but principled, democracy.
If our president hasn’t the historical awareness, focus, or intellectual capacity to formulate and execute a complex plan, his surrogates and henchman do, and they are reveling in the dual promises of destruction and personal gain.
As Elon Musk, the Project 2025 architects, their accomplices, and enforcers gleefully erase 250 years of accomplishment—by turns, glorious and imperfect—they are creating a seemingly irreversible path to their own ends by reducing to rubble the institutions that might save us.
Department of Education? Burn it.
FEMA? Burn it.
USAID? Burn it.
NATO? Burn it.
Climate science? Burn it.
Medical research? Burn it.
Alliances, treaties, promises? Burn them.
The Republicans who control Congress daily demonstrate their own gullibility and culpability. And the Democratic minority wrings its hands, wavering among unorganized resistance, outrage, and a dawning awareness not only that it can happen here, but that it is happening here.
For the most part, the American people mirror Congress. Many outraged and resistant. Some condoning much of what they see, cherry-picking actions they consider laudable, while refusing to scrutinize the ones that cause their stomachs to clench. And others naively hoping thugs who have cheated their way through life will suddenly begin playing by the rules, i.e., the Constitution, the courts, existing laws, and the checks and balances of a three-branch government. Rules, the thugs sneer, are for suckers and losers. Meanwhile, they set fire to and sink ship after ship. There will be no going back, they assure themselves with a smug grin and a not-so-clandestine Nazi salute.
They may be right.
I’d like to believe that the best and brightest minds among democracy’s defenders and patriots are huddled together crafting solutions that will save America from the evil unleashed upon us by corrupt, would-be dictators, but with each day’s atrocities, lies, deliberate distractions, and concealments, my hope for my country fades.
America is burning. People are overwhelmed and exhausted by the magnitude of consistent, determined, and effective resistance against the conquistadors who, having skuttled the ships, seek now to become overlords. Yet we have no choice but to act, to push back. As British statesman Edmund Burke famously said, “Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little.”
This is what it looks like when a once-great country is dismantled.
Do not look away.
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