Summary
Ukrainian officials were advised not to sign a U.S. proposal on accessing rare earth minerals, as it prioritized U.S. interests and lacked security guarantees for Ukraine, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The document, presented by U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bassent during a Kyiv visit, was intended as compensation for U.S. aid.
Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, Zelenskyy stressed any agreement must ensure both financial benefits and security for Ukraine amid ongoing Russian aggression, and Ukraine is preparing a counter proposal.
If Trump and Musk had just waited until some of these deals were inked before trying to plunder the US Treasury, they’d be in a much better position. If they’re willing to treat their own people like an ATM, how are any of our allies supposed to take them at their word, or trust that the US is negotiating in good faith? And the notion that foreign aid should be paid for like a utility bill is, I think, a pretty foreign notion to most.
It’s wild to me that the super-wealthy are still so insatiably greedy that they’re tripping over their own feet here.
That’s because you’re thinking of them as people like us instead of sociopaths.
Extreme wealth is a disease.
most of us if we had 10 million dollars would just stop working and go out adventuring across the world. billionaires, however, are set onto some sort of arcade game where the number next to their name when they die is the entire point. it’s not fun for them. but they have to see the number go up because it’s the only source of dopamine in their life
A recent study shows a link between workaholics and erosion of moral values.
workaholics? hrm.
I know a lot of very rich people (I am very not rich). Most of them dont work very hard at all-- they arent workaholics. A small handfull of them worked to some degree when were younger, but mostly they were lucky in the dotcom boom. When you hit a big break like selling your company, your pot of money just starts making more of itself and you can start strutting around like you earned every cent. They uniformly become awful people as well. Fucking each others wives, making truly awful children, enjoying throwing their weight around while pretending to be humble. Its entirely predictable and an obvious pattern. Human nature I think.
That was another study. In that, they let people play Monopoly but gave one player an obvious advantage. Double money when passing start, that kind of thing. Of course they won, but when asked why they won they would invariable boast how much better they were than the rest and not mention their advantage. The same thing happens with getting lucky in dot com boom or born wealthy and they see it as just being better.
thats why the billionaires figured out if your worn down and tired you arnt willing to engage in class war.