Elon Musk, World’s Richest Man, Is Arguing About World Hunger On Twitter
Musk is dangling a six billion donation over the UN.
The Theory of the Leisure Class is an 1889 treatise by Thorstein Veblen, in which the sociologist examines the effect that wealth has on the human psyche. Halfway through the work, Veblen outlines the wealthy’s practice of aesthetic excess: rich people, Veblen argues, like to show how rich they are by wasting money, time and resources.
Picture the butler, standing in the corner of a party holding a tray of drinks that could just as easily be supported by a small stool. Or picture Elon Musk, the world’s wealthiest man, wasting his supposedly precious hours arguing with just about everybody on Twitter.
Yep, despite having the money to spend his one trip around the mortal coil literally however he pleases, Musk has decided to take to the internet with the energy of a 14-year-old, engaging in petty disputes with whomsoever is unlucky enough to come across his feed.
Today, the folks in Musk’s crosshairs happen to be the UN’s World Food Program, a charitable organisation designed to solve world hunger.
The story all kicks off thanks to an article published in CNN Business, in which it was claimed that just two percent of Musk’s wealth could solve world hunger. Shortly after that story went live, Dr. Eli David, a Twitter user and researcher, did a “fact check”, noting that last year, the World Food Program raised $2 billion, more than two percent of Musk’s wealth, and yet still didn’t end world hunger.
Fact check:
? 2% of @elonmusk‘s wealth is $6B
? In 2020 the UN World Food Program (WFP) raised $8.4B. How come it didn’t “solve world hunger”?— Dr. Eli David (@DrEliDavid) October 30, 2021
In response, David Beasley, the chief of the World Food Program, clarified that the organisation’s stance had been taken out of context. “We’ve never said $6B would solve world hunger,” he explained.
.@DrEliDavid, We’ve never said $6B would solve world hunger. This is a one-time donation to save 42 million lives during this unprecedented hunger crisis.
— David Beasley (@WFPChief) October 31, 2021
But that didn’t stop Musk, who responded by demanding a Twitter exchange with Beasley.
If WFP can describe on this Twitter thread exactly how $6B will solve world hunger, I will sell Tesla stock right now and do it.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 31, 2021
When Beasley replied, again clarifying that he never claimed that the money would definitively end world hunger, Musk doubled down, demanding “current and proposed spending.”
Please publish your current & proposed spending in detail so people can see exactly where money goes.
Sunlight is a wonderful thing.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 31, 2021
This is all typical Elon Musk behaviour, to be honest — a grandstanding ploy for attention, designed for the approval of Musk’s rabid fans, full of sound of fury, signifying absolutely nothing. It’s mere distraction, designed to shift attention away from vast wealth inequality, and the brute, awful fact that people like Musk have more money than they could spend in a lifetime, while some starve to death.