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The En-shithole-ification of the USA

Musk wants us to live in Honduras North.

Andrew Gaertner
7 min readFeb 9, 2025
A roof scene from rural Honduras. Not actually a shithole country if you ask me. Just a shitty government.

When talking about immigration in 2018, then number 45 famously referred to Haiti, El Salvador, and African countries as “shithole” countries.

I remember the outrage — both my own and in the mainstream media.

The context of the “shithole” comment was to point out how all the immigrants seem to come from awful places, and why don’t we have more immigration from places like Norway?

The implication was that shithole countries send shithole people who are leeches on the USA, whereas Norway (if they sent people) would send people who would contribute to our culture and economy.

The racism drips off of the comment. He is saying that Black and Brown people are bad immigrants, while white folks would be welcome.

The irony is that Musk and 47’s actions since taking office in January are leading the USA to become the kind of place he criticized during his first term. I call this the “enshitholeification” of the USA, and, as an aside, I can’t believe I need to explain to people why having a functional government is a good thing.

Allow me to explain, because I lived in Honduras for three years and know what it is like to live in a classic shithole country.

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Andrew Gaertner
Andrew Gaertner

Written by Andrew Gaertner

To live in a world of peace and justice we must imagine it first. For this, we need artists and writers. I write to reach for the edges of what is possible.

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