Elon Musk says Department of Education no longer ‘exists’

https://www.msnbc.com/all-in/watch/elon-musk-says-department-of-education-no-longer-exists-231453765781

33 comments

  1. “The secret of freedom lies in educating people, whereas the secret of tyranny is in keeping them ignorant.” – Maximilien de Robespierre

  2. If you are a parent of a child with special needs, you need to find a lawyer now.

  3. Elon needs to no longer exist…in our country. Deport this fucking piece of shit.

  4. Where are all the red hats that have been stockpiling guns in case of a possible tyrannical government for decades?

  5. If this is true, this is catastrophic. In any case. Get this dangerous CLOWN out of your institutions!

  6. Anyone here starting to question the sheer number of “statements” and “orders” coming out the past few days? I’m looking down the page on this sub today and there’s like 15 different things they’ve claimed to have done just today alone. They’re flooding the zone with shit WAY MORE than usual. There’s no way the Trump administration, even if they were trying to, are realistically doing as much as they’re saying. It’s kind of weird the media is just reporting on every statement they put out without really exploring exactly what is going on and/or what they are ACTUALLY doing. There’s a non zero chance some of the stuff being reported has gone nowhere or are just farts in the wind, yet is distracting us from some of the real stuff they’re actually doing.

  8. K. If the Dept of Education no longer exists, neither do my student loans.

    Going to go buy a car now. Bye.

  9. Cool.

    I ain’t paying my student loans then. And I’ll laugh at the Feds face if they think I’m going to with whatever hellscape they got planned for them.

    Thanks Elon!

  10. Did one of them kids hit the delete button by mistake? I knew it was a mistake to hire kids just out of school.

  12. It still exists no matter how hard they defund it. It’s just going to be crippled until something happens and these goons are no longer in power.

  14. So there’s no agency that has the authority to take payments for my student loans, correct? That was the agency who I signed my loans with, I won’t accept and don’t authorize another agency or department taking responsibility for them.

  15. A bunch of red staters with children with special need are about to find out exactly what the federal government is “wasting” their tax money on.

  16. Education. They try and take it down first. I wonder why?

  17. “An evil man will burn his own nation to the ground to rule over the ashes.”

  18. If special needs kids don’t deserve education… Watch out closely for ideas of eugenics.

  19. The US already has a lack of education considering picking the orange as your president, now they just deleted the department? Amazing..

  20. Yeah he’s full of shit. He has neither the authority nor the ability to do this. It’s easy to forget that in the midst of all of the shock and awe, and I think Elon is banking on the fact that we will. A ketamine-addicted billionaire cannot unilaterally declare the Department of Education abolished with a tweet.

  21. Is Elon the U.S. Congress that created the department of education? He is really way over his head. Only Congress can abolish the department of education.

  22. I know that the term “fascism” has lost some of its meaning recently, especially as Republicans have been trying to dismiss it as some kind of unfounded claim and a universally used, pejorative term that means very little to them the more they hear it…

    Almost as if they believe the more they are called “fascists,” the less likely they are to *be* fascists, but this sort of contempt for education, the arts, intellectuals and experts, and especially for higher education institutions, is a major tenet of fascism.

    But don’t take it from me, here is what some of those experts have to say on the matter:

    Jason Stanley, author of *”How Fascism Works,”* and *”Erasing History: How Fascists Rewrite the Past to Control the Future”* argues:

    > Fascist politics attacks education to undermine democracy and pluralism. Universities and educational institutions are targeted because they promote critical inquiry when challenged the myths that fascist politics rely on

    Stanley even uses the United States (under Donald Trump) to illustrate tactics that are typically used by fascists. In one example, he calls attention to anti-intellectualism, which he says is used to:

    > attack the media, universities, and scientists when they contradict the strong man’s authority.

    The MAGA movement relies heavily on anti-intellectualism to not only dismiss the legitimacy of the educated, the experts, the scientists and the media, but also to assert their own superiority.

    Robert Paxton, author of *Anatomy of Fascism*, which is one of the better books on the subject, describes fascism as having foundations that lie in a set of “mobilizing passions.” He argues these passions can explain much of the behaviour of fascists.

    Paxton argues that:

    > Fascism seeks to control education to instill its ideology in the youth, ensuring that future generations are loyal to the regime and its values.

    > By reshaping educational curricula, fascist regimes aim to eliminate critical thinking and promote a narrative that supports their authoritarian rule.

    Paxton also says that fascists value *”the superiority of the leader’s instincts over abstract and universal reason”*

    This is exactly what MAGA is doing by not only attacking the education system, but also the curriculum, and with the goal in mind to stifle critical thinking and program their followers to accept the leader’s words and the party’s dogma over everything else.

    There’s also Lawrence Britt, who published *”Fascism Anyone?”*, which includes a list of 14 defining characteristics of fascism. This list has become widely shared and circulated.

    One of the characteristics on this list is:

    > Disdain and suppression of intellectuals and the arts: Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts is openly attacked, and governments often refuse to fund the arts.

    MAGA is outspokenly hostile towards public education, higher education institutions and academics, threatening to defund the education system while even taking steps to eliminate it altogether. Not to mention how, more and more, we’re seeing Trump and his allies threatening to go after individuals.

    Essayist Luis Britto García defines fascism in his essay *”Fascismo,”* while also outlining a series of eight characteristics.

    One of those characteristics, Garcia says, is how “fascism is anti-intellectual:”

    > Noting the scientific progress achieved by progressivism, Britto Garcia writes “Fascism does not invent, it recycles. It only believes in yesterday, an imaginary yesterday that never existed.”

    This concept is instilled into the MAGA consciousness. To the point where “scientific progress” becomes associated with “the left.” Trump and his supporters constantly challenge progress and deny science. They even go so far as to claim that their backwards and antiquated views about science, medicine, biology, etc, are more valid than the relevant and leading scientific research.

    Eden McLean, a historian of fascism and Italian fascist education, notes that fascists historically put their efforts into controlling public education

    She says that:

    > Restricting access to information and promoting conformity over critical thinking are tactics reminiscent of fascist regimes.

    MAGA isn’t just trying to eliminate the education system, they’re also trying to control what information is being taught to students and children.

    Ruth Ben-Ghiat, also a historian and author of *”Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present,”* notes that:

    > Mussolini and Hitler both restructured educational systems to promote their authoritarian ideologies and suppress dissent

    The goal here for fascist leaders is to seize control of the education system in order to shape the ideologies of followers and future generations, and by doing so, they can suppress any antithetical ideas and perspectives.

    For years now, MAGA has been crying “fake news!” and drumming up conspiracy theories in response to information that challenges their beliefs.

    MAGA spreads fear-mongering propaganda and misinformation about what’s going on in the classroom. Conservative parents show up to town meetings where they demand certain teachers and administrators be fired, certain books be banned, certain lessons be changed, and all part of an effort to restructure the curriculum in a way that aligns with their ideology and worldview.

    Hey Trump supporters, whether you want to believe it or not, fascism is taking root in our country..

  23. People are about to learn fast how much their state doesn’t care about their kids… “fuck them kids” says Texas.

  24. i wouldn’t have a career if i didnt have an individualized education plan in grade school. so many kids are going to suffer for this.

  26. Well, only congress can close or open departments, that’s in the constitution. So if the constitution doesn’t exist anymore, we don’t have a country, and it’s mob rule.

    So mob, get organized and start ruling.

  27. The three branches of government no longer exists. Welcome to the unitary state of imperial presidency of Elon Musk and his second in command Donald Trump.

  28. Elon wants segregation and only rich young lads to get an education like his HOME COUNTRY

  30. No one voted for this asshole. No Congressional vote was held to confirm him. Even most Trump voters don’t want this. It’s crazy that this is happening.

  31. The fact that Elon and Trump can blatantly break federal law and flout the constitution with the SCOTUS complicit proves a fundamental collapse of the separation of powers. The SCOTUS is supposed to prevent executive overreach, this exact scenario.
    The DoE was created by Congress and it cannot be dissolved without an act of Congress. There’s no other way Article I of the Constitution can be interpreted, and there is NO power granted to the president that gives him the authority to repeal statutes. None.
    This means Trump isn’t following the law, he’s not following the constitution, he’s governing by decree, which would constitute an authoritarian form of government. His supporters wrapped themselves in the American flag and called themselves patriots, then burned our constitution and collapsed our country.

  32. This is some SERIOUSLY dark shit going on in the States right now! It’s unbelievable to me that people WANT this, and VOTED for it.

  33. I wish people spent some time looking at Title 1 funding (for example) before getting all excited about the DOE not existing.

    Those of us in Blue states already put a lot of our own local money into our public education so our local and state dollars outweigh federal contributions. So we will suffer less, but understand that extra funding for students in poverty, students with intellectual and physical disabilities, money for students who are not English speaking — this is the stuff that will be deeply impacted in states that refuse to make up the difference.

    I refuse to hear how upset Mama Southerner is because her child can’t get his IEP or 504 plan services for his lack of mental acuity.

    If they rely on free and reduced breakfast and lunch for their children — no more.

    Need a reading interventionist because your kid is illiterate? No more.

    I love when dumb people show us exactly how misinformed they truly are.

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