Normally we try to stay out of politics, but there are some things that need to be addressed.

Many people have been concerned about Elon Musk’s kleptocratic push into government through his cozy relationship with Donald Trump. Yesterday these fears were realized when Donald Trump announced that Musk, an unelected billionaire, was now in charge of writing checks for the government. The move is certainly illegal, (it would be scarier if it isn’t), and is no doubt headed for a showdown in courts. But that doesn’t stop Musk from doing damage in the meantime.

Monster Musk’s first move was to essentially shut down USAID by pulling the rug under its nearly 20,000 employees. USAID is essentially the government’s charitable arm, and dollar for dollar by far its most effective program. USAID does things like respond to disasters, distribute food to starving children, provide life-saving vaccines and health care to those in developing countries, and generally assist people in need. Not only does the money go towards programs that are actually productive and do actual good in the world, (something that is seldom said for most other government programs), but it’s also the one thing America does that earns good will. When you save people’s children, they tend to be grateful, and generally don’t become terrorists against you. At the very least it helps to balance out all the bombs we drop on other communities.

Of all the things Musk could have done–trim the billions of dollars in wasteful military spending, abolish the bridges to nowhere, or maybe cancel some of those unnecessary government grants and contracts paid to companies like SpaceX and Tesla–instead he makes a move to snatch the meal away from the starving kid in Africa. It’s literally a situation of a billionaire taking candy (or food) from a baby.

You’d think that a selfish, self-absorbed, narcissistic billionaire would be cognizant of the optics involved in such a move, but apparently not. It’s almost like he’s intentionally trying to throw as much mud on his legacy as possible.

I wish I could say I was surprised, but sadly, compassion seems to be an increasingly scarce commodity these days. If the United States is going to signal to the world that were sidelining compassion in favor of self-centered greed, we’re all in serious trouble.