Why John Cusack Just Blocked Me on X

John Cusack, who played Bryce in the John Hughes film Sixteen Candles, called me a “colossal idiot” and then blocked me—for recommending a book to him!

Responding to a Peter Thiel post on X, actor John Cusack went on a bit of a rant on Friday.

“This fucking ghoul spewing his astounding bullshit & gibberish - lemme translate for you - break it down .

Listen you pathetic fucking suckers- we win.

Oligarchy serfdom & feudalism is the natural order . We will blow up the world to avoid paying tax - literally, figuratively We would rather make the world a burning , living hell than pay tax - I’m that obsessed with my greed .

Might makes right Power is absolute - So , me and my friends have it. You don’t , We deserve it - fuck you pay me. Go die .

I went to the ayn Rand school of pseudo intellectual bloviation .

I’m an angry petulant vicious little thug . Just try and get at me in my fortified bespoke compounds and bunkers and my vast warren of underground tunnels . I hate you as much as I hate myself -”

I should have known better than to respond to such an incoherent fulmination, but I’ve long been a fan of many of Cusack’s films. So I responded with a relatively polite book suggestion suggestion.

“John, you should try reading a little bit about the actual road to serfdom,” I wrote, plugging F.A. Hayek’s magnum opus.

I knew the chances of Cusack seeing my comment and buying the book were infinitesimal; but you never know, right? And books, I’ve noted, have the power to rewire your brain (in a good way). And Hayek’s great work The Road to Serfdom is one of those I’ve long argued can do just that.

To my surprise, Cusack did see my suggestion! But apparently he took umbrage to one of the plebians recommending a book to the great Hollywood actor who played Ted’s friend Bryce in Sixteen Candles next to Anthony Michael Hall.

Cusack called me a “colossal idiot” and then blocked me—for recommending a book to him!

Do I care? Of course not. I’m not as thin-skinned as Cusack. And some might even say I got off easy. Crazy Tex received this response after telling Cusack, “Love you in Con Air. Just thought you should know. But your views are whack.”

You have the mental capacity of a slug - if you don’t know billionaires are your enemy

Apparently Cusack has been so infected with the brain disease of Marxism that he sees an entire class of people—billionaires—as The Enemy.

The idea that billionaires are responsible for the problems in the world is nonsense, of course. My friend and former colleague Hannah Cox several years ago pointed out that billionaires don’t deserve your hatred, though throughout history “the rich” have been demonized and scapegoated for various reasons.

“…we must ask ourselves what people are really mad at here. Some obvious issues spring to mind: wage stagnation, high taxes, an unfair playing field, and an inability to achieve the financial status one deems they deserve. I’d actually agree with most leftists on the economic problems people are facing in America.

Billionaires aren’t to blame for these problems, though, at least not on their own. Let’s address the charges billionaires face.

There is no such thing as ‘hoarding wealth.’ It seems that many people upset with our system don’t understand economics well enough to criticize it in the first place. There is not a finite pie of wealth in our country or in any other. Wealth is created, as evidenced by the fact that we now have more billionaires than ever before.

Contrary to anti-capitalist meme accounts, most billionaires did create their own fortunes. Furthermore, the growing number of billionaires is largely proof of innovation, an elevation in our living standards, and the opportunity afforded in our model. Most people don’t become this wealthy without providing a significant service to humanity.”

Hannah’s not wrong. I don’t begrudge Peter Thiel his billions any more than I begrudge John Cusack his tens of millions. Both men earned their money by providing a tremendous amount of value to society. (Yes, art has a tremendous amount of value, as does financial services.) Unfortunately, more and more people don’t see it this way.

As I recently observed, advocates of the gospel of envy (i.e. socialism) believe there’s something inherently flawed in an economic system that enables individuals like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Peter Thiel to amass significant wealth. There is not.

The prosperity we experience today didn’t emerge by chance—it’s the product of capitalism. This economic system entrusts the means of production to private individuals and organizations, rather than monarchs, presidents, bureaucrats, or political parties, with markets dictating the distribution of goods and services.

The hatred we’re witnessing toward billionaires and “the rich” is like nothing I’ve ever seen before. It wasn’t just that the CEO of United HealthCare was shot by a deranged killer. What’s terrifying is the number of people who celebrated it.

It calls to mind the French Revolution, a period that saw Jacobin hatred for the wealthy rise to such a level that it resulted in terror, guillotines, and blood-soaked streets.

The hatred toward the rich didn’t help the poor. It didn’t help France. And it didn’t help Europe. It resulted in one of the longest and bloodiest wars in modern history.

Americans should reject the thinking of John Cusack, who would benefit from reading Hayek. Even if he doesn’t learn some basic economics, he might receive a bit of humility.