Democracy is dead: Elon Musk becomes world's first TRILLIONAIRE with SpaceX IPO

Elon Musk has become the world's first trillionaire, with the IPO of his company SpaceX. He is a symbol of how the United States has become an oligarchy, where elections are bought by rich elites and large corporations, and extreme wealth is concentrated in a few hands. Ben Norton explains. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dj-hd3l4dSo Topics 0:00 Elon Musk, world's first trillionaire 0:50 Oligarchy 1:54 SpaceX IPO 3:06 SpaceX is losing lots of money 4:13 Wall Street changes the rules 5:39 Trump coin pump and dump 6:14 Reasons to avoid SpaceX 7:04 Musk: symbol of US oligarchy 8:45 Wealth concentration 9:55 Gilded Age & robber barons 11:13 Money wins US elections 13:06 Elon Musk funded Trump 14:52 Larry Ellison buys up media 17:14 Capitalist class 18:19 Progressive Era 19:27 Great Depression & New Deal 20:08 Golden Age of capitalism 20:59 Tax rates 22:08 Tax burden shifts onto workers 23:24 Billionaires avoid taxes 24:34 Neoliberalism 25:18 Financial crisis & QE 26:54 Neofeudalism / technofeudalism 28:27 Artificial intelligence (AI) 29:24 Universal basic income (UBI) 30:50 Nationalize Big Tech 33:04 China's alternative 33:58 Outro

Gold has officially overtaken Treasury securities (US government debt) as the top asset held by global central banks, according to a report by the European Central Bank (ECB). Ben Norton explains how dedollarization is continuing, gradually and steadily. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmyWn2lrXBM Topics 0:00 Decline of US dollar dominance 0:55 Debasement trade 1:42 Central banks buy gold 3:59 Gold overtakes US Treasuries 5:36 Top countries buying gold 7:00 West's seizure of Russian assets 8:54 Alleged unofficial gold holdings 10:16 Falling dollar share of reserves 12:14 Reasons for fall in gold price 14:58 EU hypocrisy 16:26 China keeps buying gold 18:05 China calls for multipolar system 19:13 De-dollarization is continuing 20:32 Outro

The AI bubble has caused the most concentrated and overvalued stock market in US history. The billionaire CEOs of Big Tech corporations fear it may pop soon, so they changed the rules on Wall Street so that, mere days after their IPOs, SpaceX, OpenAI, and Anthropic will be given "fast track" inclusion in major index funds, despite the fact that they are losing tons of money. These corporate oligarchs want to use average retail investors as exit liquidity, looting pensions, 401(k)s, and other retirement funds, all so Elon Musk can become the world's first trillionaire. Ben Norton explains the scandal. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jh3d8xO9NHg Topics 0:00 US stock market bubble 1:08 (CLIP) Ray Dalio on AI bubble 1:37 Comparisons to past bubbles 3:38 Market cap to GDP 4:50 Concentration of stock market 6:52 Magnificent 7 stocks 7:28 Monopolies eat the economy 8:37 Corporate profits break records 9:35 USA slashes corporate taxes 10:40 Plan to loot retirement funds 11:38 SpaceX is absurdly overvalued 12:32 SpaceX is losing money 13:51 SpaceX IPO is a trap 17:00 Elon Musk, first trillionaire 18:08 OpenAI's shady IPO scheme 19:32 Many IPOs at peaks of bubbles 21:51 Bogus Big Tech earnings reports 24:09 AI circular financing scheme 25:09 Animal spirits 25:49 Unregulated financial looting 26:54 Outro

A comprehensive global survey found that people in most countries see the United States as the biggest threat to the world, and they prefer China over the US. Ben Norton analyzes the results of the Democracy Perception Index. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UhHqPGFGos Topics 0:00 Shifting global political order 1:35 Democracy Perception Index 3:08 USA is biggest threat to world 4:25 US military bases unpopular 5:36 Negative perception of USA 6:25 China more popular than US 8:07 US war against Iran 9:06 Israel-Palestine 9:40 Ukraine war 10:14 Taiwan 11:14 Greenland 11:54 Countries progressing 13:15 Democracy 17:33 USA is an oligarchy 20:20 End of end of history 21:15 Outro

The US government is desperate to create a new supply chain that cuts out China, through its Pax Silica initiative. To do so, the Trump administration plans to colonize the territory of the Philippines, a supposed "ally" run by corrupt leader Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, with a 99-year colonial concession. Ben Norton explains the controversy. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=302uQhql3kY Topics 0:00 Intro 0:35 Cold War Two 1:50 US-India critical minerals deal 2:55 Pax Silica 3:41 US meddling in Philippines 4:55 Corrupt Marcos dynasty 6:36 US military bases & missiles 8:38 US colonial plan 10:37 Colonial 99-year leases 12:11 US colonialism 13:31 China "threat" narrative 14:34 Exploiting natural resources 15:39 US official Jacob Helberg 16:16 Silicon Valley oligarchs 17:39 US official freaks out 19:57 Neocolonialism 23:58 Comprador leaders 25:21 Poverty & development 28:31 Outro

It has become so widely accepted that the US lost the war with Iran that now even American neoconservative hawks admit it. Ben Norton explains why major neocons like Robert Kagan and Bill Kristol have turned against the war. They lament that Iran's victory reflects the decline of the US empire and the transition to a more multipolar world order. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrlXNHSCfoQ Topics 0:00 USA lost war with Iran 1:47 Poll: war is unpopular 2:42 Media admits USA lost 3:32 Iran still has most missiles 4:39 Iran withstands US blockade 5:21 Iran destroyed US bases 6:03 US hawks admit the truth 7:25 Neocons and PNAC 9:13 George W Bush admin 9:55 Neoconservatism 11:30 Rise of Donald Trump 12:00 Hillary Clinton 12:44 Victoria Nuland 13:41 Coup in Ukraine 15:29 (CLIP) US-backed coup 16:14 US "checkmate" in Iran 17:05 Decline of US hegemony 18:26 Iran has major leverage 19:22 US defeat 20:34 Neocons abandon ship 22:14 Poll: Americans oppose war 22:44 Poll: Americans say US lost 23:30 Crisis of US imperialism 23:57 Outro

Donald Trump said his visit to China was a success, but he failed to pressure Beijing to make any significant concessions. Ben Norton fact-checks the claims of the White House, showing how Washington's trade war backfired, hard, on the US economy. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtuYVMrXmAM Topics 0:00 Trump's visit to China 0:41 US trade war 2:01 The trip was a failure 3:17 CEOs of US corporations 4:24 Iran & Strait of Hormuz 7:42 Trade & investment 9:14 Rare earth elements 11:58 Trade war failure 12:42 Boeing airplanes 13:52 Agricultural products 15:05 Nvidia & chips 18:19 USA failed 20:05 Trump's empty threats 20:35 Problems in US economy 22:38 Outro

Donald Trump took a trip to China to meet President Xi Jinping. He was joined by the CEOs of a dozen top US corporations, including billionaires Elon Musk, Jensen Huang of Nvidia, Tim Cook of Apple, Larry Fink of BlackRock, and Stephen Schwarzman of Blackstone. Ben Norton explains how Beijing won the trade war that was started by Washington, how China has significant leverage (in manufacturing, supply chains, critical minerals, and rare earths), and how the US economy is in a very bad state. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7MnTzKOANg Topics 0:00 Trump's visit to China 0:27 US trade war backfired 1:25 Trump joined by top CEOs 1:56 Elon Musk 2:20 Jensen Huang of Nvidia 2:47 Tim Cook of Apple 2:58 BlackRock and Blackstone 3:22 More CEOs with Trump 4:17 US CEOs meet Xi Jinping 5:31 USA is an oligarchy 6:23 China's massive market 6:57 Nvidia lost Chinese market 8:02 China's self-sufficiency drive 9:15 Manufacturing superpower 10:50 Tesla EVs made in Shanghai 11:25 US tariffs on Chinese EVs 12:21 China has the upper hand 13:00 US trade war 14:42 China-US trade 16:08 Rare earth elements 17:07 Critical minerals 18:18 New supply chain efforts 18:59 Pax Silica 19:41 Why US rhetoric changed 20:40 Iran war 22:51 US sanctions on China 24:20 Inflation in USA 25:41 Trump is very unpopular 26:33 K-shaped economy 27:25 Inequality 28:05 China exported deflation 29:31 US tariffs boost inflation 30:27 China in stronger position 31:07 Outro

Donald Trump claims Iran has been "militarily defeated", but many reports have come out showing this to be a lie. Tehran destroyed the majority of US military bases in West Asia (aka the Middle East), and Iran still maintains most of its missile capabilities. Meanwhile, experts estimate the USA's war against Iran will cost $1 trillion. Ben Norton reviews the evidence, showing how Washington is clearly losing this war that it started. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_wC4KuEcWI Topics 0:00 US government narrative 0:23 (CLIP) Trump: Iran is defeated 1:20 Reality: USA is losing the war 2:34 Reviewing the evidence 4:34 Iran destroyed US bases 5:37 US troops expelled from region 6:54 US military bases in rubble 7:37 Donald Trump lied 8:11 USA running out of missiles 9:33 War will cost $1 TRILLION 10:38 Iran still has most missiles 12:38 US government is lying 13:05 Saudi Arabia gets cold feet 14:00 Huge economic damage 15:44 Gulf "safe haven" myth 16:28 USA is losing the war 18:04 USA failed to achieve goals 19:57 Outro

Donald Trump boasted that the US government acts "like pirates", seizing Iran's ships and oil. "It's a very profitable business", he said. Meanwhile, Beijing is openly resisting Washington's sanctions against Chinese companies for trading with Iran. China has ordered all domestic firms to ignore US sanctions. Ben Norton explains these geopolitical developments. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfB8xQEZolk Topics 0:00 (CLIP) Trump: "We're like pirates" 0:14 US blockade of Iran 1:11 (CLIP) Trump on US piracy 1:57 US seizure of Iranian ships 2:43 AI memes of Trump as pirate 3:01 Multiple acts of US piracy 4:09 Venezuela 5:06 (CLIP) Trump on stealing oil 5:30 Pirates of the Persian Gulf 6:31 US sanctions on China 8:42 Hengli plant in Dalian 9:23 China challenges US sanctions 10:49 Secondary sanctions threat 11:38 USA crossed China's red line 14:17 US sanctions 1/3rd of world 14:47 Map of US sanctions 15:00 Sanctions are very deadly 16:21 Blockade of Cuba 17:19 US empire's goal 17:59 New sanctions on Cuba 19:02 Chinese solar panels help Cuba 19:47 Blowback: US sanctions backfire 20:45 Outro