At first glance, the Cathedral and the Nerd Reich appear to have disparate aims. But when we understand these aims as the pursuit of power, we see they are aligned. Both parties wish to dismantle the bureaucratic state. For clarity, we will refer to this bureaucracy as Functional Government. They refer to it as the deep state.

 

I’m old enough to remember when the deep state was a cabal of powerful interests hidden inside government agencies like the DOD. People thought the deep state killed Kennedy. Now, it’s anyone working in government for two or more administrations. The Department of Transportation is full of deep-state operatives. So is the Department of Energy. And the US Fish and Wildlife Service? Highly trained assassins, all of them.

 

Conflating the deep state and the administrative state was a masterstroke. It provided them with a framework for permission.

 

Picture someone who has been recently fired, struggling with their mortgage, and unable to provide for their children. It's enough to make you feel bad. That is why they were castigated as criminals and freeloaders. They are idealogues stymieing elected officials at every turn. That or they are mindless, bureaucratic drones contributing little to society while essentially stealing your tax dollars in the form of a paycheck. Either way, we can abuse them and even celebrate the act.

 

The more experts and regulators fired, the freer both groups are to monetize and exploit the remainder of our social system. Their goal is to privatize and control our institutions and remake the country in their own flawed images. They can only do this once they’ve destroyed Functional Government.

 

Each side of the coin has its doctrines (Christian fundamentalism/effective acceleration), but these are mere spoons. They are nothing more than a thin justification for their actions.

 

Elon Musk's DOGE is the most striking example of the attack on Functional Government. Much has been written about Musk, often at the prompting of his publicists, so let's take a candid look at his life.

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