Innovation is a good thing, so naturally, the Left is very much against it.
The Left wishes to freeze the economy, shrink the economy, and redistribute everything. Last week, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tried to make the case that we should oppose data centers because they&#8217;re making people sick.
Making people sick? Based on what?
“There&#8217;s no control over the radiation that&#8217;s happening here. But what we see is that these plants produce that ash, and then they have to do something,” she bloviated. “All they&#8217;re trying to do is dump it places. Where do they dump it in places? Rural areas, poor areas, disenfranchised areas, black and brown areas.”
“Meanwhile, all these folks are getting sick,” she continued. “Guarantee you we&#8217;ve got a high Medicaid population over here. And so now they they&#8217;re profiting off of all of this, and they don&#8217;t have to pitch into the cost at all for the health care burdens that they&#8217;re —&#8221;
Does she have a single bit of evidence that data centers are making people sick? Does she have one iota of evidence about this?
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ben-shapiro-show-2471?elementPosition=1&amp;row=0&amp;rowHeadline=Recent+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-981859" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/ben-banner.avif" alt="" width="1024" height="171" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/ben-banner.avif 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/ben-banner-300x50.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/ben-banner-768x128.jpg 768w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>
Of course not.
The idea that they are disproportionately dumping data centers in black and brown areas is nuts. They&#8217;re putting data centers in proximity to areas where people can work on the AI, and you think they&#8217;re just going to build the data center in the middle of midtown Manhattan or something similar?
Let us look at a map on how we use our land, because we&#8217;re being told that all of our precious farmland is being eaten by the data centers. A map of the United States where each square represents roughly one million acres shows nearly the entire map is either pasture and range, cropland, or forest. There are a few special use areas and diminishingly small urban areas. The vast majority of America is population-empty. Based on the <a href="https://blog.andymasley.com/p/data-center-land-use-issues-are-fake">analysis</a> of data analyst Andy Masley, by 2028, data centers will take up exactly how many squares of the map?
3.5 squares.
According to Masley, by 2030, data center buildings will take up 1/15 of the land we use to grow Christmas trees in America. That’s roughly 0.3% of the land that we use for prime farmland.
This is just silly. The catastrophism is designed to kill the innovation. The point is not to save our precious farmland. The point is to destroy the innovation. That&#8217;s what this is all about.
Elon Musk was pointing this out. He was speaking with Zanny Beddoes of The Economist about a wide variety of issues, and he pointed out that the socialistic redistribution scheme is nonsense, and so is the envy that suggests that he isn&#8217;t paying his taxes.
“For my stock options, I pay 40% income tax on a national basis,” he revealed. “And then because I spend about 30% of my time in California, I pay another sort of roughly a third of the California state taxes, which is now around 15%. So I pay about 45% in taxes, just so people know this &#8230; it&#8217;s quite roughly half. And then when I die, there&#8217;ll be another sort of 45%, roughly half, that will be taxed. So at the end of the day, I&#8217;ll have a quarter of what I have.”
She then went after him and said people really, really hate him, clucking, “But do you see why this makes people think that this man who has all this power, he&#8217;s the world&#8217;s richest man, he thinks he has a right to influence our politics. We started this conversation saying superlatives. It&#8217;s why people loathe you. I mean, some people do loathe you.”
“Yes, some people do,” he responded.
“But do you understand why?” she continued. “Do you think what you&#8217;re doing is helpful for Western democracies?”
“Maybe some people do loathe me,” he answered. “That&#8217;s probably true. I don&#8217;t care. But the fact that, as you pointed out, a quarter billion people follow me is that I think a lot more people actually like me than don&#8217;t. And I think a lot more people hate you and the media more than you realize.”
He is not wrong.
This is one of the points that is worth making. It turns out that normie, rational Americans like things like free markets and American strength. We do.
That&#8217;s why the DSA program and those who subscribe to it, like Ocasio-Cortez, are too online.
Innovation is a hallmark of America.
We cannot let them hinder it.

lightbulb_america

The Plot To Cripple America’s Future

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Andy Masley

Ben Shapiro

Data Centers

Elon Musk

Opinion

Elon Musk lit the fuse and didn’t look back.
In a blistering face-off with The Economist Editor-in-Chief Zanny Minton Beddoes, the world’s richest man brushed off claims he’s widely despised and flipped the script, insisting it’s the media that’s truly hated.
After Beddoes criticized him for his involvement in European politics, saying, “Why should you be able to shape European politics? You don&#8217;t even live there,” Musk responded mildly, “I think of it as sort of the West collectively.”
“But do you see why this makes people think that this man who has all this power, he&#8217;s the world&#8217;s richest man, he thinks he has a right to influence our politics,” Beddoes pressed. “It makes people, it&#8217;s why, you know, we started this conversation saying superlatives. It&#8217;s why people loathe you. I mean, some people do loathe you.”
Musk then took the gloves off: “Yes, some people do. &#8230; Maybe some people do loathe me, and that&#8217;s probably true. I don&#8217;t care. But the fact that as you pointed out, a quarter billion people follow me is that I think a lot more people actually like me than don&#8217;t. And I think a lot more people hate you and the media more than you realize. Do you realize the media is despised?”
“The shoe is on the other foot,” Musk said, citing rock-bottom trust in journalism. “They hate you far more than they hate me.”
Beddoes had challenged Musk over his vocal support for what she described as far-Right parties across Europe. Musk rejected the label outright, arguing he’s simply backing “normal people” and mainstream policies like border security, safe cities, and controlled spending.
“What you call the far-Right falsely … these were completely normal positions 10 or 15 years ago,” he said, accusing critics of rewriting the political center.
He also took direct aim at journalists, warning that their portrayal of Right-leaning movements as extremist is “false and misleading and nonsense.”
The clash intensified over Musk’s repeated warnings about the United Kingdom — including his claim that “civil war in Britain is inevitable.” Beddoes pushed back hard, citing falling crime rates and her own experience living in London, calling Musk’s depiction exaggerated and harmful.
Musk stood firm.
“If current trends continue, it is,” he said, pointing to what he described as a growing population with values “antithetical to the West,” which he believes will inevitably spark conflict.
The two also sparred over free speech, with Musk condemning European governments for prosecuting social media posts and warning that censorship is a growing threat.
“That’s the sort of thing that I think is bad,” he said, while accusing the media of ignoring these issues.

Elon Musk Meets with Senate Republicans

Elon Musk Flips The Script On Leftist Editor-In-Chief Who Says He Is ‘Loathed’

Europe

Legacy Media

Mainstream Media

United Kingdom

After criticizing Christopher Nolan&#8217;s &#8220;The Odyssey&#8221; over its casting choices, billionaire Tesla founder Elon Musk said he would be willing to bankroll an alternative adaptation of Homer&#8217;s epic. 
Musk, who previously <a href="https://deadline.com/2026/05/elon-musk-the-odyssey-christopher-nolan-cast-lupita-nyongo-helen-1236901704/">blasted</a> Nolan for &#8220;race-swapping&#8221; characters and suggested he was chasing awards with casting decisions, said he would be willing to pony up $100 million to produce an alternative adaptation directed by Mel Gibson.
It&#8217;s unclear whether Musk was serious, but the idea quickly gained traction after an X user suggested he bankroll Gibson&#8217;s version of Homer&#8217;s classic.
“I want Elon Musk to give Mel Gibson $100 million to film an Odyssey adaptation with painstakingly historically accurate ships, armour, weapons, and casting, with all dialogue taken straight from the original poem and delivered in Homeric Greek,” the user <a href="https://x.com/martianwyrdlord/status/2079640327170728085">wrote</a> on Tuesday. 
“I’m down,” Musk replied.
The original poster was blown away by the response, and even if nothing comes of it, there are already alternative “Odyssey” projects in the works. 
Later Tuesday, Musk posted that his artificial intelligence (AI) platform, Grok, would take a stab at it.
“Before this year ends, Grok Imagine will make a full-length movie of The Odyssey that is historically accurate and true to the art of Homer,” Musk wrote, sharing a clip of a dialogue scene posted by another X user.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
I want Elon Musk to give Mel Gibson $100 million to film an Odyssey adaptation with painstakingly historically accurate ships, armour, weapons, and casting, with all dialogue taken straight from the original poem and delivered in Homeric Greek.
— John Carter (@martianwyrdlord) <a href="https://x.com/martianwyrdlord/status/2079640327170728085?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 21, 2026</a></blockquote>
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The idea of competing adaptations has already begun taking shape. Days before Nolan’s blockbuster debuted, content generator Ash Koosha announced plans to release an AI-generated version of &#8220;The Odyssey&#8221; later this year.
Koosha is best known for debuting another AI-generated feature, “Dreams of Violets,” at this year&#8217;s Tribeca Film Festival.
“We very much hope that Christopher Nolan’s film, The Odyssey, is a raging success at the box office, and in some way that our version of the journey of Odysseus might further that success by bringing to theaters those who might not otherwise come out to see the film, simply because they are curious to see the ultimate in human creation and compare it to one man’s collaboration with AI,” Koosha <a href="https://www.euronews.com/culture/2026/07/15/ai-slop-version-of-the-odyssey-announced-prior-to-release-of-christopher-nolans-epic-block">said</a> of his version.
Meanwhile, “The Odyssey” has become the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/conservatives-had-concerns-about-the-odyssey-now-theyre-praising-it">biggest box-office opening of Nolan’s career</a>. 
While some conservatives initially criticized aspects of the casting before the film&#8217;s release, many have praised it despite those reservations. Others, however, continue to object to several casting choices, including the decision to cast Elliot Page, a transgender-identifying woman, as a male soldier.

Elon Musk Says He’s ‘Down’ To Fund A Rival ‘Odyssey’

Artificial Intelligence

Christopher Nolan

Elliot Page

Entertainment

Mel Gibson

Movies

The Odyssey

Hard-Left actor Mark Ruffalo got shellacked on social media over the weekend after taking a self-righteous swipe at tech billionaire Elon Musk, with critics blasting the wealthy star for his stunning hypocrisy and total lack of self-awareness.
The &#8220;Avengers&#8221; star ignited a digital firestorm when he posted a cartoon titled “Elon Musk dines alone.” The cartoon depicted Musk sitting before a lavish feast, asking a starving young child across the table, “What are you staring at, African kid?” To which the child responds: “Sorry, I don’t mean to be rude, but I haven’t eaten since you killed USAID.”
Ruffalo wagged his finger at Musk, writing, “Hello @ElonMusk. This is how you are perceived. Not too late to course correct but it’s getting pretty late. You certainly have the extra money on hand to really help the people of the world instead of the hellbent road of chaos and destruction you are ludicrously barreling down.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Hello <a href="https://x.com/elonmusk?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ElonMusk</a>. This is how you are perceived. Not too late to course correct but it’s getting pretty late. You certainly have the extra money on hand to really help the people of the world instead of the hellbent road of chaos and destruction you are ludicrously barreling down.… <a href="https://t.co/O5ndSZzz7Q">pic.twitter.com/O5ndSZzz7Q</a>
&mdash; Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) <a href="https://x.com/MarkRuffalo/status/2078555462174233038?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 18, 2026</a></blockquote>
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Social media users weren&#8217;t buying the A-lister&#8217;s virtue-signaling and immediately ripped the multi-millionaire actor to shreds.
&#8220;Lecturing others while sitting on tens of millions yourself is peak Hollywood,&#8221; fired back one commenter, noting Ruffalo’s estimated $35 million net worth and his $7 million Manhattan penthouse. &#8220;You could donate $25-30 million tomorrow and still live an extremely comfortable life. &#8230; You need a basic economics lesson and a mirror, because your hypocrisy is matched only by your lack of self-awareness.&#8221;
Others brought cold, hard receipts to expose the actor&#8217;s lecture, pointing out that Musk’s personal charitable giving totals roughly $8.2 billion to $8.5 billion over the years. In 2024 alone, the Musk Foundation granted $474 million to causes like pediatric research and STEM education, while SpaceX donated tens of millions in Starlink satellite terminals to keep Ukraine connected during Russian attacks.
&#8220;What percentage of your $35M net worth have you moved to effective causes at similar scale? Or is drawing memes the contribution?&#8221; another user blasted.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Hey <a href="https://x.com/MarkRuffalo?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MarkRuffalo</a> Cute cartoon, but facts:
Elon transferred billions in Tesla stock to the Musk Foundation (now over $14B+ assets). 
2024 alone: $474M granted, record year, heavy on STEM education and paediatric research ($55M to St. Jude). Also funded carbon removal tech via…
&mdash; Mor Edge Insight (@MorEdge_Insight) <a href="https://x.com/MorEdge_Insight/status/2078600735843889392?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 18, 2026</a></blockquote>
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Ruffalo’s defense of USAID also raised eyebrows, given the agency&#8217;s notorious track record of wasteful spending before its functions were absorbed by the State Department.
Lists of dubious government spending by USAID have revealed taxpayer dollars flowing into absurd projects, including $20 million for an Iraqi version of &#8220;Sesame Street,&#8221; $1.5 million for &#8220;diversity, equity, and inclusion&#8221; in Serbia, $68,000 for dance classes in Wuhan, China, and funds that paid for Ukrainian fashion models to attend Paris Fashion Week. Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snIbxC-YhGs">revealed</a> that millions of dollars intended for humanitarian aid ended up diverted to terrorists in Syria, while other lawmakers raised concerns about funds going to terrorists in Gaza.
Critics left Ruffalo with a simple reality check: if he&#8217;s so concerned about global hunger, he should put his own millions where his mouth is.
As one user bluntly put it: &#8220;If you think people need to be fed who aren&#8217;t, why don&#8217;t you feed them?&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
You&#39;re worth 35 million dollars. If you think people need to be fed who aren&#39;t, why don&#39;t you feed them? Feel free to go into debt to do it, which is what you&#39;re asking the country to do&#8230;.and if you&#39;re saying, &quot;Why does it have to me?&quot; That&#39;s the same question we&#39;re asking.
&mdash; John Hawkins (@johnhawkinsrwn) <a href="https://x.com/johnhawkinsrwn/status/2078599381121470814?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 18, 2026</a></blockquote>
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MixCollage-20-Jul-2026-08-06-AM-4275

Hulk Smashed: Mark Ruffalo Mocked For Hypocritical Attack On Elon Musk

Hypocrisy

Mark Ruffalo

USAID

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), who routinely reprimands the rich for &#8220;hoarding wealth,&#8221; is actually filthy rich himself and apparently trying to hide that reality from the public.
Khanna lives in a $6 million D.C. home, complete with a four-story elevator; his wife drives a $190,000 Range Rover, and his young children own three high-end private golf clubs and a significant stake in a $65 billion wealth management firm, according to a bombshell report published by Washington Free Beacon reporter Andrew Kerr.
Between Khanna, his wife, and his two children, his family&#8217;s net worth could exceed a staggering $340 million.
Khanna has inherited much of this wealth through his father-in-law, Monte Ahuja, an Indian-born auto parts magnate, investor, and philanthropist, the report notes.
Mere days ago, Khanna engaged in his typical vilification of the rich, suggesting wealthy people &#8220;hoard&#8221; their money.
&#8220;I want America to be a country where it&#8217;s easier to build wealth than it is to hoard it, and where workers don&#8217;t have to worry about medical debt and grocery costs when they should be enjoying time with their families,&#8221; he posted. &#8220;An economy that works for everyone is possible.&#8221;
&#8220;Speaking of hoarding wealth, Khanna’s two young children are the proud owners of THREE private golf courses in Ohio, where member initiation fees run upwards of $45k. Khanna’s children — still in elementary school — earned up to $2 million from their golf courses in 2024,&#8221; Kerr pointedly captioned the rep&#8217;s post.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Speaking of hoarding wealth, Khanna’s two young children are the proud owners of THREE private golf courses in Ohio, where member initiation fees run upwards of $45k
Khanna’s children — still in elementary school — earned up to $2 million from their golf courses in 2024. <a href="https://t.co/Wjq82CarXK">https://t.co/Wjq82CarXK</a>
— Andrew Kerr (@AndrewKerrNC) <a href="https://x.com/AndrewKerrNC/status/2072032101067620833?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 30, 2026</a></blockquote>
What&#8217;s more, Khanna evidently doesn&#8217;t want the public to know how wealthy he actually is. Kerr&#8217;s report not only highlights Khanna&#8217;s massive wealth but also how the Democrat reports his finances, arguing that Khanna&#8217;s filing method makes the disclosures difficult to follow.
&#8220;The vast majority of House lawmakers file their financial disclosures in the digital format (left),&#8221; Kerr explained, captioning two examples of financial disclosures. &#8220;As you can see, this is actually legible.&#8221;
&#8220;Khanna [chooses] to file his in these ridiculous illegible analog checkbox tables (right),&#8221; he noted. &#8220;Much of what I reported today has been hiding in plain sight for years. Khanna chooses to file his disclosures in this manner.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
The vast majority of House lawmakers file their financial disclosures in the digital format (left)
As you can see, this is actually legible.
Khanna choses to file his in these ridiculous illegible analog checkbox tables (right).
Much of what I reported today has been hiding… <a href="https://t.co/jTFZzZNvRC">https://t.co/jTFZzZNvRC</a> <a href="https://t.co/0oRlk3oKMr">pic.twitter.com/0oRlk3oKMr</a>
— Andrew Kerr (@AndrewKerrNC) <a href="https://x.com/AndrewKerrNC/status/2072126684971589911?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 1, 2026</a></blockquote>
Kerr gave an example of how Khanna reported his young children&#8217;s ownership of three private golf clubs &#8220;on page 126 of his 2024 financial disclosure,&#8221; using that analog checkbox-style. &#8220;Good luck finding this on your own,&#8221; he emphasized. &#8220;The document isn&#8217;t text-searchable and these tables are designed to be unreadable.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Ro Khanna reported his children&#8217;s ownership in three private golf clubs &amp; the income they received from them on page 126 of his 2024 financial disclosure.
Good luck finding this on your own. The document isn&#8217;t text-searchable and these tables are designed to be unreadable <a href="https://t.co/wzdysKYa63">pic.twitter.com/wzdysKYa63</a>
— Andrew Kerr (@AndrewKerrNC) <a href="https://x.com/AndrewKerrNC/status/2072123961853235701?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 1, 2026</a></blockquote>
Earlier this year, Khanna denounced the &#8220;lack of fairness in America,&#8221; speaking about wealth disparity. He later called wealth disparity and the concentration of billionaire wealth evidence of a &#8220;failed social contract.&#8221;
&#8220;My allegiance is with the working and middle class,&#8221; Khanna <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2026-ro-khanna-weekend-interview/">vowed</a>.
Folks online were quick to react to the report, including a target of Khanna&#8217;s, billionaire Elon Musk.
&#8220;Four-story elevator … wow,&#8221; he reacted. &#8220;Real &#8216;man of the people&#8217; he is.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Four-story elevator … wow
Real “man of the people” he is <a href="https://t.co/aDMG3ctYXo">https://t.co/aDMG3ctYXo</a>
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://x.com/elonmusk/status/2072086313160040675?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 30, 2026</a></blockquote>
Others called Khanna a &#8220;fraud&#8221; and linked him to socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), who notably owns three homes while he denounces the rich for not paying their &#8220;fair share.&#8221; It&#8217;s unclear if Sanders or Khanna has ever offered more money to the government than the taxes they owed.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ro-khanna-plays-an-awkward-game-of-race-based-footsie">Ro Khanna Plays An Awkward Game Of Race-Based Footsie</a>

Epstein Abuse Survivors Join Lawmakers For Roundtable On Capitol Hill

Democrat Who Condemns ‘Hoarding Wealth’ Has A Massive Family Fortune

Dem Rep. Ro Khanna Doesn’t Want You To Know He’s Filthy Rich 

Congress

Politics

Ro Khanna

Washington Free Beacon

This article is part of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/upstream" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Upstream</a>, The Daily Wire’s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you.
***
Nine teenagers in Belgium <a href="https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/en/2026/05/29/no-detention-for-nine-boys-found-guilty-of-triple-gang-rape-case/">committed</a> the brutal gang rape of a 14-year-old girl across three separate attacks in 2024. The juvenile court granted the ringleader only a two-year conditional release, and most other perpetrators just 30 hours of community service.
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/sep/23/asylum-seeker-at-centre-of-essex-hotel-protests-jailed-for-12-months">In 2025</a>, an Ethiopian asylum seeker sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl and another woman near a U.K. asylum hotel. He received a 12-month prison sentence, which was later followed by a mistaken early release before rearrest.
<a href="https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/news-life/outrage-as-eight-of-nine-men-convicted-of-park-gangrape-15yearold-in-germany-receive-no-prison-time/news-story/353bcbf9437ea62eea0ee3c6cc0c2cc7">In 2020</a>, nine men with migration backgrounds gang-raped a heavily intoxicated 15-year-old girl in a Hamburg park in Germany. Most received suspended youth sentences of one to two years instead of substantial prison time.
These are only a handful of the harrowing cases that have inflamed public anger across Europe. Between 2014 and 2024, recorded sexual violence offenses in the European Union rose by 94%, while rape offenses rose by 150%. That escalating crisis, and the fury surrounding it, directly inspired Uwe Boll’s latest film, &#8220;Citizen Vigilante.&#8221;
There is not much plot to speak of. Instead, “Citizen Vigilante” unfolds as a “day in the life” portrait of a sociopathic crime-fighter. Boll has largely <a href="https://variety.com/2026/film/global/armie-hammer-citizen-vigilante-banned-germany-uwe-boll-1236785839/">adapted</a> a notorious 2016 Hamburg case — in which a group of teenagers gang-raped a 14-year-old girl and left her for dead, only to walk free with suspended sentences — staging it as a Tarantino-style revenge fantasy in which the villains receive their due in lurid, macabre fashion. The film is also a return to acting for Armie Hammer, who spent the past few years in professional exile following a string of allegations that did not result in criminal charges. Hammer plays Michael Sanders, a wealthy American businessman who has inherited a sizable real estate portfolio in a European city.
Alongside his day job as a landlord, Sanders works nights as a Dexter Morgan-style serial killer, targeting violent criminals whom the police appear unwilling or unable to pursue. There is little subtlety at play. Boll writes with a sledgehammer, depicting a vigilante redolent of Robert De Niro’s Travis Bickle in &#8220;Taxi Driver,&#8221; but with the icy, menacing countenance of the Coen brothers’ Anton Chigurh. Through his mannerisms and delivery, Hammer conveys palpable fear in nearly every interaction. His stillness and unflinching stare are often just as unnerving as the violence.
Despite <a href="https://slate.com/culture/2026/06/citizen-vigilante-movie-armie-hammer-uwe-boll-banned.html">some critics</a> panning the film as disturbing or morally dangerous, Sanders is not framed as a heroic Batman figure. He is a veritable psychopath, and his madness is presented as a consequence rather than a virtue. Sanders, or the broader sin he represents, is meant to convey the drastic measures that may emerge when governments and courts fail to enforce basic order.
Boll also tries to integrate social media, showing interview and commentary clips in which various online personalities unanimously laud Sanders’s DIY brand of law enforcement. “We need more guys like this in Canada,” one of them says. In reality, the online reaction would certainly be more divided, with civil libertarians and bleeding hearts insisting that due process remains an inextricable feature of developed and civilized nations. The film’s imagined discourse is far too uniformly approving and adds little beyond buttressing the notion that, after years of failed leadership, some citizens will inevitably remortgage their faith to shadowy crusaders.
One of the memorable scenes finds Sanders confronting a group of teenage delinquents on a city bus after they refuse to pay the fare. He attempts to explain basic economics to them: “If 10% doesn’t pay, the cost of everything goes up 10% to cover the loss, and that’s not fair.” The scene is faintly ridiculous, broadening Sanders’ scope to an attempted social worker — you can’t blame the man for trying.
Hammer’s performance drives the film and holds it together. The political anxiety and anger animating &#8220;Citizen Vigilante&#8221; may explain the movie’s purpose, but they do not make it work on their own.
The dialogue is occasionally clunky. At one point, Sanders says to a police captain, “These people never voted for what’s happening: a takeover of the Islamist extremists and the woke Left.” The line weakens his character because it drags him back into the tidy left-right framework he otherwise seems to transcend. Sanders is more frightening when he appears to have moved beyond ordinary political language altogether. Boll’s reactionary antihero is meant to spark a movement, and his anonymous videos to the press have the tone of revolutionary instruction: “I will do this for you until you learn to do it for yourself.”
The film is available to stream through Amazon Prime and Apple TV, and X owner Elon Musk streamed it for free on his platform for 48 hours over the weekend. (&#8220;As Armie Hammer makes his onscreen comeback, Citizen Vigilante teamed up with the perfect platform for a streaming debut… no, not The Daily Wire,&#8221; Deadline <a href="https://deadline.com/2026/06/elon-musk-armie-hammer-citizen-vigilante-stream-x-1236969093/">quipped</a>.)
&#8220;Citizen Vigilante&#8221; was effectively banned in Germany upon release (as the saying goes, old habits die hard), but its ideas are hardly unique. Charles Bronson’s 1974 &#8220;Death Wish&#8221; followed a well-meaning progressive architect in New York who becomes a ruthless vigilante after his wife is murdered and his daughter is assaulted by a gang. That film emerged 52 years ago, when Hollywood was still willing to confront controversial issues through populist genre filmmaking.
Today, the same industry is more likely to produce Paul Thomas Anderson <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/leos-latest-is-a-woke-fever-dream-and-a-box-office-nightmare">glorifying</a> communist terrorists who bomb immigration detention centers. Censorious and partisan environments help create films like &#8220;Citizen Vigilante&#8221; — because when respectable institutions refuse to dramatize real public fears and concerns, lesser-known filmmakers eventually will. 
The film’s most useful warning is that societies cannot allow confidence in the legal order to collapse. No civilized country can survive by outsourcing justice to unhinged men acting as judge and executioner. But such radicals are eventually drawn from the shadows when governments refuse to hold productive and honest debates about crime, integration, and the place of Muslim cultures in European society. A civilization rooted in music, alcohol, free expression, and secular law is not the obvious home for cultures that prohibit or restrict all four. If Europe wishes to thrive and endure, it will have to confront this crisis directly.
&#8220;Citizen Vigilante&#8221; is crude, lurid, and often blunt to the point of absurdity. Yet we still need more films willing to confront controversial subjects without genuflecting before cultural gatekeepers. Perhaps in the sequel, Armie Hammer can travel across Europe installing air conditioners. Germany is sure to prohibit that too.
***
Harry Khachatrian (<a href="https://x.com/harry1t6">@Harry1T6</a>) is a film critic for the Washington Examiner. He is a software engineer, holds a master’s degree from the University of Toronto, and writes about wine at <a href="https://www.betweenbottles.com/">BetweenBottles.com</a>.

GettyImages-1206179897

‘Citizen Vigilante’ Turns Europe’s Fears Into A Revenge Fantasy

Germany

Upstream

This week, Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna said that Elon Musk should be <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2026/06/22/ro-khanna-challenges-elon-musk-to-televised-debate-after-doge-battle.html">held accountable</a> for “4.5 million children around the world who he possibly sentenced to death by dismantling USAID.” Back in February 2025, Musk bragged about putting the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) “through the wood chipper” in just one weekend with his Department of Governmental Efficiency (DOGE) team, gleefully destroying the decades-old institution because of allegations of corruption. The effects of the cuts were immediate and profound, with thousands of programs serving millions of people disrupted overnight. While some of these programs eventually had their funding restored, others did not.
Where did the 4.5 million number come from? One study from <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(25)01186-9/fulltext">The Lancet</a> estimated that if USAID cuts became permanent, 4.5 million children under five could die over the period from 2025 to 2030. Another frequently cited estimate comes from Boston University’s <a href="https://www.impactcounter.com/dashboard">Impact Counter</a>, which estimated the number of deaths in the hundreds of thousands. Musk has rejected these estimates, claiming that <a href="https://x.com/elonmusk/status/2069477706593604018">“nobody died”</a> and that he would even be willing to call the bereaved parents of children who died due to USAID cuts.
So what is the truth here? Are Musk and his team responsible for hundreds of thousands and possibly millions of deaths to come? Or was USAID so corrupt that disemboweling it overnight caused no deaths? As is often the case, the truth is somewhere in the middle.
USAID was a remarkably efficient organization, spending about 1% of the federal budget to prevent millions of deaths over several decades. While there were clear instances of corruption (several of which were prosecuted under the Biden administration) and some questionable choices, particularly around arts funding, the vast majority of its work focused on providing healthcare, education, and food aid to people who needed it around the world.
Musk has <a href="https://x.com/elonmusk/status/2069108349656834236">claimed</a> that “[a]ll DOGE did was require contact with the aid recipients to confirm that funds were being used legitimately.” This is not true. There has never been any evidence that DOGE attempted to contact any aid recipient anywhere in the world. Some of those recipients live in such remote places that it would take roughly the entire weekend to travel there; others don’t have phones or email addresses. There were voluminous records summarizing how USAID funds had been spent, and DOGE could have gone anywhere to verify this in person if they wished.
Rather, the narratives of DOGE’s work suggest a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/02/24/musk-doge-usaid-cuts-dc/">brazen and cruel disregard</a> for the human lives it condemned to death. Musk himself bragged about destroying the agency until people pointed out that it was funding food aid, HIV care, and Ebola monitoring programs that were weaker for having been abruptly cut off, even if funding was eventually restored. Such flippancy with human life — and a denial that one’s actions had the effects that they truly had — is damnable for a man with such power.
<a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/usaid-cholera-deaths-trump-humanitarian-aid-cuts-south-sudan">People died</a> over the past year as a result of USAID cuts. There are more deaths yet to come. If someone, for example, was on HIV medication and stopped taking it because the clinic closed, it will probably be a few more months before they start showing up at hospitals around the world. If Musk is serious about his concern for the bereaved parents, he should go to a refugee camp and meet some people who lost loved ones to cholera.
However, it is not fair to count the death toll in the millions, and people who are throwing around these estimates are foolish for their hyperbole. The estimates are worst-case scenarios; funding for many critical programs has already been restored, and other organizations have stepped up to help fill in the gaps. These estimates also don’t include realities like the fact that some aid recipients may sacrifice other needs like school fees in order to pay for medical treatment, and some people will still survive diseases like cholera without treatment (though they will surely suffer more for lack of treatment).
Why do accurate figures matter? If Musk only has to rebut the claim that he has the blood of millions on his hands, he can easily and truthfully deny this. If the claim instead is that he recklessly cut off lifesaving humanitarian aid based on a misunderstanding of what USAID did in a manner that left no time for careful sifting of the good programs from the bad, with immediate consequences for a few people and long-term consequences for many more, then he has no ground to stand on.
It is true that millions of people would have died had the USAID cuts remained permanent and nothing else compensated for those cuts. It is more truthful to say that hundreds died in the past year and a half, while others will slowly suffer and even die — the downstream consequences of one weekend spent dismantling an institution dedicated to helping people around the world. Elon Musk should be held accountable for his disregard for human life. He has a much better chance of being held accountable if we are truthful about his crimes.
***
Matthew Loftus grew up in a family of 15 children and completed his medical training in Baltimore, Maryland. Since 2015, he and his family have lived in East Africa, where he currently teaches and practices family medicine at a mission hospital. His first book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Resisting-Therapy-Culture-Dangers-Psychology/dp/1514012685/">Resisting Therapy Culture</a>, will be published by InterVarsity Press on August 18, 2026. You can learn more about his work and writing at <a href="http://www.matthewandmaggie.org">www.matthewandmaggie.org</a>

US-POLITICS-TRUMP

How Many People Did DOGE Really Kill?

Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)

DW Opinion

A woman was killed on Friday night after a Tesla crashed into her home in Katy, Texas, authorities said.
Martha Avila, a 76-year-old grandmother, was putting away groceries when the Tesla plowed into her home. Avila was airlifted to a nearby hospital where she later died, the Harris County Sheriff’s Office said.
The doorbell camera captured the Tesla Model 3 driving about 70 mph through the residential neighborhood before speeding across the lawn and crashing into Avila’s brick home. 
<div style="max-width: 728px; margin: 0 auto;">
  <iframe style="aspect-ratio: 16/9; max-width: 100%; width: 100%; margin: 20px auto 5px; border: 0;" src="https://player.mux.com/3ttzYbS7yU0001SgTfCjw2rCg2jX3c8M0001?metadata-video-content-type=embed_video&amp;metadata-video-id=ed0bdda6-d7c9-4310-acba-d7da15bc9e75&amp;metadata-video-stream-type=on-demand&amp;metadata-video-title=2026-06-22%20Tesla%20Crashes%20into%20Home&amp;poster=https%3A%2F%2Fdailywireplus-v2.imgix.net%2Fimages%2Fembedded-videos%2Fa26c3c52-b147-4a3f-961d-6ceddf0aac2b.png&amp;autoplay=false&amp;accent-color=%23DB3D3B&amp;primary-color=%23ffffff&amp;secondary-color=%23000000" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
Credit: Jennifer Barbour via Storyful
</div>
Michael Butler, the 44-year-old Tesla driver, said the car was in autopilot mode when it slammed into the house. Butler was also injured and taken to the hospital. He showed no signs of intoxication and cooperated during the investigation, the sheriff’s office said.
Officials are actively investigating the crash and whether the Tesla’s autopilot system was functioning properly. They have not identified what caused the Tesla to veer off the road and crash at high speeds.
The crash left severe structural damage to the house, and the family temporarily relocated to a hotel, according to neighbors. A spokesman for Zehl &amp; Associates, the law firm representing Avila’s family, said they planned on filing a lawsuit.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk responded to a news story about the crash on X, <a href="https://x.com/elonmusk/status/2069161438812278946">writing</a>, “Yes, this makes no sense. [Full self-driving] drives slowly through neighborhood streets and this was a high speed crash!”
Automotive analyst and consumer advocate Lauren Fix <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/06/22/business/disturbing-video-shows-tesla-crash-into-texas-home-killing-grandma-76-in-latest-autopilot-controversy/">told</a> The New York Post that the Friday night crash is one of many concerns regarding Tesla’s self-driving technology.
“The mistake was calling it autopilot,” Fix said. “When someone dies in a car at that kind of speed in a neighborhood … there’s obviously either a software issue … or could be a driver issue.” 
“This remains an active and open investigation,” a Harris County, Texas, Sheriff’s Office spokesman told the Post. “Once all evidence has been gathered, it will be presented to the Harris County District Attorney’s Office to determine whether charges are appropriate.”

WATCH: Insane Video Shows 70 MPH Tesla Slam Into Grandmother’s Home

Car Crash

Death

Tesla

Texas

Well, folks, I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but I always try to be honest with you and the truth is: something terrible has happened. Elon Musk has become a trillionaire, so now … everything is ruined.
It seems like only a week ago, when Musk was just worth $900 billion and life was great in this country. I had a beautiful wife. A couple of wonderful kids. Now … I look at my family and, sure, I still love them and all, but not like I’d love a trillion dollars. I mean, that’s a lot of money! But I don’t have it and Elon Musk does, so … everything is ruined.
It’s just like they said on the socialist website Left Voice — “A trillionaire Elon Musk is a morbid symptom of capitalism.” That’s right. Capitalism simply isn’t fair. After all, the Soviet Union had socialism for 70 years and ended up with nothing. Musk shows up in a capitalist country with $2,000 just 37 years ago, and now he’s a trillionaire so … everything is ruined.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/the-andrew-klavan-show-ep-1283?contentProgram=The%20Andrew%20Klavan%20Show&amp;contentType=ShowEpisode&amp;elementPosition=2&amp;location=Home%20Tab&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Home%20Featured%20Carousel"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-974735 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Klavan-watch-now-1024x171.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="171" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Klavan-watch-now-1024x171.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Klavan-watch-now-300x50.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Klavan-watch-now-768x128.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Klavan-watch-now-1536x256.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/Klavan-watch-now.jpg 1800w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>
Alexandria Ocasio Cortez was obviously right too when she said, &#8220;You can’t earn that much money&#8221; just by creating Tesla with its new energy storage systems, and Starlink, with its worldwide network of satellite connections or Neuralink, which gives paralyzed people the ability to use computers with their minds and SpaceX with its rocket ships that go into space and then come down and land safely on a platform the size of an inner tube so they can be used again and ultimately take mankind to Mars. You can’t earn that much money just by doing those things. Musk must have cheated his employees, by forcing them to work for low wages and stock options that have now made 4,500 of those employees millionaires themselves. And, okay, that might make them happy now, but wait till they find out they only have a lousy million bucks while Musk is a trillionaire so … everything is ruined.
To give credit where credit is due, a lot of politicians tried to stop this from happening. Senator Elizabeth Warren did a tribal dance to the Great Spirit of Sun and Sky who lives on Mackinac Island. Warren asked the Great Spirit of Sun and Sky to stop the fork-tongued white man from taking all that money like the whites took the land that belonged to Elizabeth Warren’s Native American ancestors. Unfortunately, the Great Spirit of Sun and Sky just looked down from Mackinac Island and said, “Whoever told that white girl she could dance?” Then he handed out cards good for a free gin and tonic at his new Sun and Sky Casino on Mackinac Island, and before we knew it, Musk was a trillionaire and … everything was ruined.
And just think what good we could have done with all that money if Musk hadn’t taken it. There are almost 800,000 homeless people in America. If Musk just divided his wealth among them, each and every homeless person could be smoking meth through a rolled hundred thousand dollar bill and talking to Venutians using a helmet made out of genuine tinfoil.
Even if Musk just gave away enough money to help one location, that would be something. For instance, there are 70,000 homeless people in the tent cities of Los Angeles alone. If Musk just gave $1 billion to the public officials there, I bet within a month, there would be some very happy public officials driving their Ferraris past the tent cities of Los Angeles. Instead, Elon Musk is a trillionaire and … everything is ruined.
Let’s face it. A trillion dollars in the hands of one individual just gives that individual too much power. With that much money, Elon Musk could come over my house and order me to do whatever he wanted, and I would have to do it, unless I didn’t want to, then I wouldn’t have to do it. Still, it would be really annoying to have Elon Musk coming to my house shouting orders at me all the time. What the hell is his problem?
Anyway, that’s the bad news. Everything is ruined. The good news is we’re going to Mars.

Everything Was Fine Until Elon Musk Became A Trillionaire

Democrats

Money

Satire

One of the suspects accused of planning an attack on the UFC Freedom 250 event at the White House hoped to target trillionaire Elon Musk, according to the group&#8217;s messages.
The alleged plotters hoped to carry out the attack by detonating explosive-carrying drones over the event last Sunday before conducting a sinister secondary strike with snipers on those evacuating.
In a Signal chat dubbed &#8220;Hunters,&#8221; a user with the moniker &#8220;Shepherd&#8221; posted his plans and gave orders to others around June 11, according to a criminal complaint. Investigators later identified &#8220;Shepherd&#8221; as 31-year-old Omaha resident Abraham Alvarez, who is reportedly not a U.S. citizen.
Law enforcement nabbed Alvarez Sunday at an old church in Western, Nebraska, <a href="https://www.1011now.com/2026/06/16/nebraska-man-arrested-connection-with-disrupted-attack-white-house-ufc-show/?fbclid=IwY2xjawSfh-1leHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEe8S2lSqSCtcvX8oCXaOGFdfJ48w2gl8jP9KKblhHOYJXOv8hgx7tQwWoEJxI_aem_jraCzyvqlOvbwW9GCVyB_g" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to NBC&#8217;s Omaha, Nebraska, affiliate WOWT.
<div id="attachment_1117877" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1117877" class="wp-image-1117877 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/Untitled-design-2026-06-17T085449.288-1024x512.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="512" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/Untitled-design-2026-06-17T085449.288-1024x512.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/Untitled-design-2026-06-17T085449.288-300x150.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/Untitled-design-2026-06-17T085449.288-768x384.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/Untitled-design-2026-06-17T085449.288.jpg 1284w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Screenshot from Alvarez&#8217;s alleged Signal messages.</div>
&#8220;i. Targets confirmed ii. 1. 2. VP 3. N 4. Musk,&#8221; the message read.
While reports last week indicated that Musk would attend the UFC event at the White House, it does not appear that he made the trip.
Alvarez also appeared to assign roles within the group, classifying them as &#8220;Sniper 1,&#8221; &#8220;Sniper 2,&#8221; &#8220;Sniper 3,&#8221; and &#8220;Drone Operator,&#8221; adding that he was &#8220;working&#8221; on drones &#8220;as we speak.&#8221;
Investigators believed that the targets identified by Alvarez included President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Musk.
Alvarez allegedly identified a &#8220;fall back location&#8221; for the group to meet at an old church in Nebraska.
&#8220;They can grow the camp, and make a training ground we have the go ahead from the owner,&#8221; he allegedly wrote in the chat, adding, &#8220;grow your numbers, I will build your teams.&#8221;
&#8220;Train them, fall back location is NE in an old church,&#8221; he wrote, according to the complaint.
<div id="attachment_1117929" style="width: 351px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1117929" class="wp-image-1117929 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/Untitled-design-2026-06-17T095212.380-341x576.jpg" alt="" width="341" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/Untitled-design-2026-06-17T095212.380-341x576.jpg 341w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/Untitled-design-2026-06-17T095212.380-177x300.jpg 177w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/06/Untitled-design-2026-06-17T095212.380.jpg 420w" sizes=" (max-width: 341px) 100vw, 341px" />Screenshot: Justice Department complaint</div>
Tycen Proper, 19, who was also arrested as part of the alleged plot, told authorities that he learned of &#8220;an anti-government protest in Washington, D.C.&#8221; through a TikTok posted by a user who also went by &#8220;Shepherd,&#8221; according to the complaint. It is not clear whether that was also Alvarez, who used the nickname on Signal.
Proper also identified &#8220;Shepherd&#8221; as &#8220;the primary individual involved with planning&#8221; and &#8220;directly stated that Shepherd was the leader of the group and described him as aggressive in tactical planning,&#8221; according to the complaint.
The radicalized teen allegedly wrote in one of the chats on or about May 13 that he “got a possible target Marsha Blackburn is senator for Tennessee,” saying the group should go after her for taking “money from the Israel pro Israel lobby.”
He also allegedly sent messages on May 31 saying, “These are people we’re going to focus on,” before sharing photos of Senator Jim Justice (R-WV), Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Rep. Carol Miller (R-WV), and Rep. Riley Moore (R-WV). The four images appeared to have been taken from the website “TrackAIPAC.com,” which shows how much money each lawmaker received “from pro-Israel PACS.”
Authorities arrested five individuals, including Alvarez and Proper, for their alleged involvement in the plot.
Some of the alleged attack planners were said to have “expressed ultra-religious and antigovernment sentiments, specifically citing grievances about government corruption, the handling of the Epstein files, data centers taking up all the water in communities, and other government actions.”

US-NEWS-TRUMP-UFC-BOUT-5-MI

UFC Attack Ringleader Hoped To Target Elon Musk

Donald Trump

UFC Freedom 250

White House

This article is part of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/upstream">Upstream</a>, The Daily Wire’s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you.
***
Why eat out when you can DoorDash? In an <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/be/podcast/elon-musk-vlad-tenev-on-the-good-time-show/id1551570777?i=1000507355879">interview</a> from 2021, Elon Musk <a href="https://x.com/astro_greek/status/2053097906920714746">discusses</a> how his son, Saxon, who is &#8220;sort of autistic,&#8221; was always confused about why the family would go out to dinner once a week. Finally, Musk said, Saxon realized the reason people go out to restaurants is to meet new people. 
“You can get the same restaurant food delivered,” Musk said. “You can call your friends over, but you know what you can’t get unless you go to a restaurant is hanging out with strangers. So we actually like hanging out with strangers.” 
But not everyone likes hanging out with strangers. Ghost kitchens, which are professional, delivery-only food preparation infrastructures, are becoming increasingly popular in the U.S. Removing the &#8220;inconvenient&#8221; and &#8220;inefficient&#8221; dine-in space, these kitchens are expected to make up &#8220;half of the market share in both drive-thru and takeaway foodservice sectors&#8221; by 2030, <a href="https://oysterlink.com/spotlight/ghost-kitchens-statistics-facts/">according</a> to OysterLink. There are roughly 7,600 ghost kitchens in the U.S. Even <a href="https://www.thestreet.com/restaurants/chick-fil-a-opens-ghost-kitchen-delivery">Chick-fil-A</a>, known for its southern hospitality and values, has opened its own. 
Americans are opting for quick, easy, stay-at-home meals. Millions of us <a href="https://backlinko.com/doordash-users">use</a> DoorDash every month instead of visiting local restaurants. Sixty-four percent of Gen Z get takeout or delivery weekly or more often, <a href="https://foodinstitute.com/focus/gen-z-eats-differently-what-this-means-for-restaurants/">according</a> to TouchBistro. This generation <a href="https://www.fmi.org/blog/view/fmi-blog/2023/04/25/how-gen-z-is-grocery-shopping">spends 20%</a> of their grocery budget online compared to baby boomers, who only spend 10% online. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic only further normalized this behavior. 
Whether we know it or not, our habits of ordering food and sitting in front of the TV alone contribute to isolation and disconnection. I am not innocent in this. Often, I go for take-out because it&#8217;s more &#8220;convenient&#8221; or I&#8217;m just &#8220;too busy.&#8221; But these statements are less of an uncontrollable reality and more of a priority issue.
We have all heard that America is suffering a loneliness epidemic. In an age when there are more ways to connect than ever, we have never been more disconnected. As of last year, 54% of adults felt isolated, 50% felt left out, and another 50% felt they lacked companionship often or sometimes, <a href="https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2025/11/nation-suffering-division-loneliness">according</a> to an American Psychological Association poll.
The solution might be easier than you think. You need to go outside and talk to strangers.
Micro-interactions with people we don&#8217;t know seem rarer than ever. At the grocery store, self-service machines have been on the rise as people expect to make their next visit to the supermarket swift, controlled, and without the annoyance of an exhausted employee. <a href="https://www.wevend.com/the-rise-of-self-service/">According to WeVend</a>, a payment processing platform specializing in self-service businesses, self-service kiosks are in high demand, with 66% of U.S. customers saying they prefer automated interaction over a human one. I remember seeing my first <a href="https://www.instagram.com/reels/DY4j6SWMh3L/">completely automated</a> coffee shop in an airport: Robo Cafe. The adoption of, investment in, and demand for these automated machines is <a href="https://kioskindustry.org/self-service-statistics/">increasing</a>; a lack of human interaction is in high demand. 
However, research on the indispensable nature of interactions with strangers is eye-opening. Something as simple as a quick comment, small joke, or friendly smile can reduce loneliness. <a href="https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/why_loving_moments_with_strangers_carry_lasting_benefits">In one study</a>, participants reported a more positive commute to work when instructed to talk with a stranger compared to those who weren&#8217;t. Another study in Starbucks found that when asked to have a “warm, genuine interaction (compared to an &#8216;efficient&#8217; one)” with the barista, people had an elevated and positive mood partly because they felt “a greater sense of belonging.”
In fact, research typically finds that interactions with strangers are beneficial, contrary to many fears of rejection. And these fears of rejection are not really based on reality. <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022103122000750">Research shows</a> that a stranger rejecting or shutting you down does not occur very often. Also, the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15298868.2020.1816568#abstract">fears of screwing up</a> an interaction — awkward silence, fumbling with your words — are not the norm. 
What we need is to stop fearing social interactions and give ourselves the opportunity to meet our neighbors.
Slaughterhouse-Five author Kurt Vonnegut Jr. knew what this meant. He used to argue with his wife about buying envelopes. &#8220;You’re not a poor man,&#8221; she <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/god-bless-you-mr-vonnegut/">would say</a>. &#8220;You know, why don’t you go online and buy a hundred envelopes and put them in the closet?&#8221;
&#8220;And so I pretend not to hear her,&#8221; Vonnegut said. &#8220;And go out to get an envelope because I’m going to have a hell of a good time in the process of buying one envelope. I meet a lot of people. And, see some great looking babes. And a fire engine goes by. And I give them the thumbs up. And, and ask a woman what kind of dog that is. And, and I don’t know. The moral of the story is, is we’re here on Earth to fart around. And, of course, the computers will do us out of that. And, what the computer people don’t realize, or they don’t care, is we’re dancing animals.” 
Many Americans are lonely, depressed, and anxious because we lack purpose and human connection. If we continue to replace everything with AI and automation for the sake of efficiency, we will become optimized, selfish, and aimless.
Now, self-service machines and AI are not evil and are not inevitably going to destroy us. They don’t have agency. We do. We can find new ways to interact with people and strangers. We can choose to make hard decisions. The issue is that this technology makes it incredibly easy to avoid doing the hard thing.
We need to be more intentional than ever about making space for human interaction in our everyday lives. That means embracing a little friction and remembering that, like Musk, &#8220;we actually like hanging out with strangers.&#8221;

GettyImages-1889655168

Americans Are Paying A Hidden Price For Convenience

Musk

What Elon’s Trillionaire Status Reveals About The Left’s War On Success

America 250

Platner

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