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The Department of Government Efficiency is the Ministry of Love [1]

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Date: 2024-11-18  

George Orwell’s famous novel Nineteen Eighty-Four seems more relevant today than ever. It takes place in a society that has been completely crushed by unchallengeable government ministries. The most powerful of these is the Ministry of Love, which is enforces loyalty to the government with torture, fear and repression. It is obviously the opposite of love, and the most ironic naming of a government entity ever.

Until now, that is. A couple of billionaires have been placed in charge of the as-yet nonexistent Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), but their intentions have nothing to do with efficiency. You can tell because they did not make their billions by being efficient or thrifty — these guys did not get rich by clipping coupons and scouring garage sales. Elon Musk (the head of DOGE, we can ignore his billionaire side-kick whatshisname) paid forty-four billion dollars for a company that’s now worth less than 10, as an example of his financial moxie. This is the man in charge of efficiency?

But don’t worry, because efficiency is not the point. Musk has proposed to cut two trillion dollars from the federal budget. That’s not going to make things run more smoothly or cheaply, that is simply a butchering of services. That matches nicely with his boss, the next president, who wants to eliminate entire government agencies like the Department of Education among others.

Musk has opined that there will be “temporary hardship” for the public due these and other insane actions — like mass deportations that will decimate the workforce, huge tariffs that will cause vast inflation, etc. — but you can be sure that he will never feel them. The temporary hardships might be as mild as starving for a few years, or losing one’s life savings, or permanently skyrocketing prices. But what are these to a man who can blow thirty billion on a single deal?

And why should Musk suspect that there will be hardships, temporary or otherwise, if two trillion dollars are being cut from the budget? Because he knows that not a cent will be returned to the general public: that money is earmarked for the pockets of his billionaire buddies and for various corrupt government officials. We’re going to have a bumper crop of corruption in the coming years, you can take that to the bank (because they certainly will).

There is only one ray of light in this scenario. Musk may have spent thirty billion in order to buy a spot next to the most powerful man in the world. But now he has been given a job that may be advisory and nothing else, as the DOGE may never actually come into being or have any real clout. Plus the obvious kicker that being close to our next president has not turned out well for a long, long line of people. Look what happened to Rudy Giuliani — he had to give up his condo, his car, his watches and everything else of value that he owned, without ever getting paid for the services he rendered to the Commander in Thief. But then, maybe Musk will make a soft landing and be buried on a New Jersey golf course. If he’s lucky.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/11/18/2287133/-The-Department-of-Government-Efficiency-is-the-Ministry-of-Love?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web

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