cross-posted from : https://news.abolish.capital/post/16341
Matthew Yglesias is a centrist political operator with a history of having the worst opinion on every topic. He may have outdone himself this time, comparing criticism of billionaires to the suffering of Holocaust victims.
First, they came for the billionaires…
It’s time to take a bold stand in defense of America’s oft-maligned billionaire class.https://t.co/QhStxRtf1y pic.twitter.com/bxYzVYVSnX
— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) December 29, 2025
Oh dear
Yglesias is referencing First They Came, which is a poem by the German Lutheran pastor Martin Niemöller:
First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist
Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist
Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew
Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for meWhile it’s common for people to reference this poem, it’s rare that someone does so as clumsily as Yglesias.
The problem is that billionaires aren’t a minority group which is being targeted by the state. They’re an ultra-minority group which is literally working hand in glove with the state as it targets others:
US President Donald Trump invited the world’s richest billionaire oligarchs to sit at the center of his inauguration.
Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, & Google CEO Sundar Pichai symbolically sat with Trump’s cabinet picks.
A dozen billionaires will be in the Trump admin. pic.twitter.com/9CHzpmFAEU
— Ben Norton (@BenjaminNorton) January 20, 2025
The Trump administration has been using the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as a Gestapo-like force. This has seen them pulling people off the street much like the Nazis targeted the Jews and the Communists.
“ICE pepper sprayed a disabled woman using a cane, after an abduction raid in her neighborhood. A St. Paul, MN PD Officer then shoves her down hard to the ground after she was already incapacitated and stumbling backwards. (11/25/25)” pic.twitter.com/JgkJg5tb0P
— Ted Cruz Called The FBI on me (@weareronin47) November 26, 2025
Are ICE agents black bagging billionaires?
They are not.
But billionaires like Peter Thiel are profiting from ICE’s activities by providing the tech infrastructure they need to oppress the non-rich population:
Palantir sells AI tools that help law enforcement agencies like ICE analyze massive amounts of personal data.
It’s a big reason why it is quickly becoming the most dangerous corporation in America. pic.twitter.com/NC4jgDpx8Y
— Robert Reich (@RBReich) December 7, 2025
People had other criticisms of the Yglesias post too:
My dude, they literally never came for the billionaires.
Elon Musk Wealth
2012: $2 billion
2025: $737 billionJeff Bezos Wealth
2012: $18 billion
2025: $255 billionMark Zuckerberg Wealth
2012: $18 billion
2025: $234 billionFederal Tipped Minimum Wage
1991: $2.13
2025: $2.13 https://t.co/v3nidp4CdX— Warren Gunnels (@GunnelsWarren) December 29, 2025
Come on man, this one is easy.
The Koch brothers have been cramming money into the Cato Institute for decades to make it shit out anti-train propaganda to keep everyone commuting by car whether they like it or not.
And that’s not the only connection! Just the most obvious one. https://t.co/sbmdYv43iD pic.twitter.com/dk78x6lJtj
— Kyle
(@KyleTrainEmoji) December 29, 2025
People additionally pointed out that billionaires tend to gum up the system like hair in a plug hole:
The correct Marxist line on billionaires is not that they are too powerful but that they are impotent. They represent the waste and hoarding of society’s productive powers. The growth of billionaires coincides with stagnation and a decline in economic dynamism. https://t.co/QQjWdBAKvJ
— John Ganz (@lionel_trolling) December 29, 2025
This certainly makes sense, right?
Loser mentality
Trump has performed so poorly in office that it should be easy for the Democrats to return to power. As people have highlighted, however, Democrat politicians and advisors have a knack for identifying the worst possible policy platforms:
The seeds are being planted for the Democratic Party to lose against all odds in 2028. Healthcare costs are out of control. Running on Medicare for All or even a public option would crush. Instead they will run on AI development, billionaire appreciation and permit reform in CA. https://t.co/jp3jakNUiT
— Kate Willett (@katewillett) December 29, 2025
It’s pretty obvious why they’re drawn to billionaires, anyway, as Mrs Merton said to Debbie McGee:
“So, what first attracted you to the millionaire Paul Daniels?” pic.twitter.com/gZ1fFWKuq8
—
Classic British TV
(@Classicbritcom) March 9, 2025
Featured image via Institute of National Remembrance
By Willem Moore
From Canary via This RSS Feed.
First they came for the billionaires
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a psychopathic money hoarder
Then they came for the fascists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a face to be punched
Then they came for the government
And I did not speak out
Because I was not an instrument of oppression
Then they came for capitalism
And I did not speak out
Because I was not part of the system
Then they came for me
No, wait, nobody came for me
I was finally free.
Alright, it’s a nice idea, but let us not act like after the current tools of oppression are gone, there won’t be new ones.
Anarchy is not going to be all sunshines and rainbows, either.
It’s just that “I was finally free from the current wave of oppression, and ready for the next one” would be a shitty closing verse.
But yes, you’re right. I think oppression is like weeds in a garden: if you’re diligent, the fight against it becomes easier over time, as you’re preventing the oppression/weeds from creating more of itself. But once you stop fighting, it sprouts out of nowhere, ready to reproduce and take your society/garden over again.
It needs a closing verse like ‘Now I am free to build my neighbourhood with my friends to stop any further attempts’
Obligatory note: Anarchy ≠ Anarchism
Ah yeah, the system of coming has stopped itself. Ask Ezhov and Yagoda how realistic it is
I know the last two lines are naïve; and yes, the fate of the two former heads of the NKVD is a good example. Or even the whole USSR after Lenin. (If not for an ice pick, that would be known as “Bonapartism with Russian characteristics”.)
Still trying to find a good replacement. The original poem conveys “fight for groups you don’t belong to, because their enemies will also go after you”; I want the subversion to be something like “don’t fight for your enemies”, or perhaps “don’t fight against people fighting for you”.
I’m considering
Pinging @msage@programming.dev for ideas.