DOGE and it's AI has apparently eliminated those engaged in investigating approximately 30 labour/environmental violations by Musk led organizations. Probably just coincidence. I know everyone is supposed to despise the evil and corrupt bureaucrats, but somehow I trust having NOAA keeping an eye on hurricanes and the CDC monitoring pandemics more than I trust billionaires to do anything. I think about a quote from GK Chesterton "The poor sometimes object to being governed badly; the rich have always objected to being governed at all".If you want to understand the attack on government by Trump and Musk that statement by Chesterton might be a good place to begin.
The photo of Mr. Musk brandishing the chainsaw is a good reminder for the oligarchs to make sure they at least read the chainsaw safety manual (assuming it comes with one) before swinging the power tool over their head, less they accidently cut off some body part they might need at a later date, or cut some innocent bystander in half who they one day might need a hand from (at least a hand that still works). There are other tips I learned in my own safety training on the proper use of chainsaws I could share, but I suppose the head of USDOGE is above such basic training requirements. Also on a side note curious when the tech guru will come up with a "clean, green" electric version of the saw, and what his use of the gas powered Argentinian gifted version says about Musk's confidence in electric American-made smart technology futures. And the laws of entropy might predict that the head closest to the swinging chainsaw is likely to be the first to fall, but then maybe I misunderstood my old physics lessons. I personally like my old fashioned hand/muscle powered saw for use in cutting my firewood. It takes some more effort to cut the wood, but I don't have to worry about losing needed body parts, or injuring bystanders, if I lose control of the saw, but I guess to each his own in the land of the free and home of the brave.
Thank you for the thoughtful analogy, Mr Bardi. Your thoughts here provoked my thoughts to consider how this "DOGE" exercise is likely a vehicle used as the case for adoption of an "AI" system to replace bureaucracy. Cynical me thinks that Musk is doing all he is currently doing, in no small part, to position his enterprises for that destination.
"Small cost, huge savings; GROK's got your back, America!"
Uncharted territory and unknowable outcomes, for sure, but the 'old" system was no longer sustainable. Its corruption combined with its collapse of competence had positioned the nation on the verge of a dark period of tyranny and violence.
You mentioned the emergence of countermeasures, and surely we will see others beyond the reactionary use of "friendly" regime judges to block the investigations and purges, but at the moment, all the Old Guard seems able to do is hold street side press gatherings that are equal parts whine and bluster.
They reveal themselves as the "terrible lizards" of a dying age.
The next age may hold horrors in store for humanity, who can know? But the old one became a dead end.
A last note: the summary by GROK on the Mani Puliti was an impressive digest of information. Assuming it is accurate, consider how much time a researcher would have needed to compile and organize that same info set.
The dependency such a technology will create makes me feel unease propio nei budelli.
I think Musk likes Really Big Projects, which must be managed bureaucratically, because he is a master bureaucrat, as is Vladimir Putin, though their styles are as different as their personalities.
This kind of talent is necessary to actually reform a bureaucracy, and most rare, extremely rare.
An interesting article Ugo. At the mention of suicides and CIA within the context of your article, I don’t know why but a film scene came to mind, you’ve maybe have seen it, it’s at the end of the film “The Good Shepherd” it’s when the character Miriam is thrown out of a plane, I find it quite haunting. I do hope DOGE don’t get too close to CIA bureaucracy.
Again thanks for an enlightening article. You compare bureaucracy to pollution or entropy. Since we are dealing with structures built from living organisms (society, bureaucracy), as a physician I would compare the situation with a symbiosis in the best case, or a relation of host and tumour or host and parasite. There were always bureaucrats who were true servants to the state, but bureaucracy has its own dynamics as described in Parkinsons law, growing on its own terms without any benefit for the host, like a parasaite or a tumor.
I feel like Bureaucracy = Pollution an oversimplification.
The chainsaw is quite a good meme for this kind of thinking, hack down what you don't like and magically all be unicorns and rainbows. It magically will bring the God Blessing manna of "Growth" and in a complex system it is also true: slash a forest and a new one eventually will grow, raze a city and eventually one will grow again (look at the history of Milan), kill a population and eventually a new one will pop up to get the land and so on.
Bureaucracy is an essential element of human life regulation and growth, the greatest civilizations are born and thrived on it from the beginning, from the Green Crescent to Egypt, from Rome to Victorian England. Over - bureaucracy is pollution as over industrialization is or perhaps as any "over" or "under" is a manifestation of a sickness, corruption too is something like it: gift or sign of gratitude for a good work are natural and healthy in a society, expecting them or asking for them before is sickness...
Ugo may agree that this is a Seneca Effect moment. It is so much easier for a chainsaw-weilding billionaire to tear down government agencies than it was for scientists, aid workers, and, yes, beaurocrats to build them up. According to a story in today's New York Times, Musk and his minions should be training their AI weaponry on the chaotic and fraudulent accounting practices at DOGE. All the protestations about DOGE transparency are truly Shakespearean.
1) Please be extremely focused and careful when operating a chainsaw. Injuries are ghastly, and amputations are permanent. Most jobs can be done with a lighter electric chainsaw, again, with focus and care. Do not cut the power cord, etc.
2) Bureaucracy is the way we humans get large projects accomplished. It is unavoidable.
Bureaucracies are poorly understood by most people, but a few people can understand them well. These are the "Great Founders" of effective bureaucracies.
Over time, especially after the death of the founder, bureaucracies tend to drift from their designed purpose, to just being focused on self-maintenance.
The hardest task, far greater than designing a functional bureaucracy, is to reform an existing bureaucracy effectively. It does sometimes happen. It appears to be happening in the US now.
Musk does have that rare skillset (Skillsaw?) for effective bureaucratic restructuring.
3) Samo Burja has written a treatise, his "Great Founder Theory" of bureaucracy. It's free. I read it during COVID when I discovered it in 2020. He has added some to it. I read it again. It is really excellent. https://samoburja.com/gft/
DOGE and it's AI has apparently eliminated those engaged in investigating approximately 30 labour/environmental violations by Musk led organizations. Probably just coincidence. I know everyone is supposed to despise the evil and corrupt bureaucrats, but somehow I trust having NOAA keeping an eye on hurricanes and the CDC monitoring pandemics more than I trust billionaires to do anything. I think about a quote from GK Chesterton "The poor sometimes object to being governed badly; the rich have always objected to being governed at all".If you want to understand the attack on government by Trump and Musk that statement by Chesterton might be a good place to begin.
The photo of Mr. Musk brandishing the chainsaw is a good reminder for the oligarchs to make sure they at least read the chainsaw safety manual (assuming it comes with one) before swinging the power tool over their head, less they accidently cut off some body part they might need at a later date, or cut some innocent bystander in half who they one day might need a hand from (at least a hand that still works). There are other tips I learned in my own safety training on the proper use of chainsaws I could share, but I suppose the head of USDOGE is above such basic training requirements. Also on a side note curious when the tech guru will come up with a "clean, green" electric version of the saw, and what his use of the gas powered Argentinian gifted version says about Musk's confidence in electric American-made smart technology futures. And the laws of entropy might predict that the head closest to the swinging chainsaw is likely to be the first to fall, but then maybe I misunderstood my old physics lessons. I personally like my old fashioned hand/muscle powered saw for use in cutting my firewood. It takes some more effort to cut the wood, but I don't have to worry about losing needed body parts, or injuring bystanders, if I lose control of the saw, but I guess to each his own in the land of the free and home of the brave.
Thank you for the thoughtful analogy, Mr Bardi. Your thoughts here provoked my thoughts to consider how this "DOGE" exercise is likely a vehicle used as the case for adoption of an "AI" system to replace bureaucracy. Cynical me thinks that Musk is doing all he is currently doing, in no small part, to position his enterprises for that destination.
"Small cost, huge savings; GROK's got your back, America!"
Uncharted territory and unknowable outcomes, for sure, but the 'old" system was no longer sustainable. Its corruption combined with its collapse of competence had positioned the nation on the verge of a dark period of tyranny and violence.
You mentioned the emergence of countermeasures, and surely we will see others beyond the reactionary use of "friendly" regime judges to block the investigations and purges, but at the moment, all the Old Guard seems able to do is hold street side press gatherings that are equal parts whine and bluster.
They reveal themselves as the "terrible lizards" of a dying age.
The next age may hold horrors in store for humanity, who can know? But the old one became a dead end.
A last note: the summary by GROK on the Mani Puliti was an impressive digest of information. Assuming it is accurate, consider how much time a researcher would have needed to compile and organize that same info set.
The dependency such a technology will create makes me feel unease propio nei budelli.
I think Musk likes Really Big Projects, which must be managed bureaucratically, because he is a master bureaucrat, as is Vladimir Putin, though their styles are as different as their personalities.
This kind of talent is necessary to actually reform a bureaucracy, and most rare, extremely rare.
Deng Xiao Peng was also a master of bureaucracy.
An interesting article Ugo. At the mention of suicides and CIA within the context of your article, I don’t know why but a film scene came to mind, you’ve maybe have seen it, it’s at the end of the film “The Good Shepherd” it’s when the character Miriam is thrown out of a plane, I find it quite haunting. I do hope DOGE don’t get too close to CIA bureaucracy.
00:7.30 minutes “The Good Shepherd - Airplane Death Scene” https://youtu.be/tffoU7xE8Yc?si=H7dcvjQ1Zo8EYPua 🤔
I didn’t see that movie. Impressive scene. It reminded me of when the Chilean Army threw the sedated opposers into the sea from planes.
Again thanks for an enlightening article. You compare bureaucracy to pollution or entropy. Since we are dealing with structures built from living organisms (society, bureaucracy), as a physician I would compare the situation with a symbiosis in the best case, or a relation of host and tumour or host and parasite. There were always bureaucrats who were true servants to the state, but bureaucracy has its own dynamics as described in Parkinsons law, growing on its own terms without any benefit for the host, like a parasaite or a tumor.
I feel like Bureaucracy = Pollution an oversimplification.
The chainsaw is quite a good meme for this kind of thinking, hack down what you don't like and magically all be unicorns and rainbows. It magically will bring the God Blessing manna of "Growth" and in a complex system it is also true: slash a forest and a new one eventually will grow, raze a city and eventually one will grow again (look at the history of Milan), kill a population and eventually a new one will pop up to get the land and so on.
Mani Pulite created a vacuum of power to eradicate corruption, what didn't do was make something that keep the skills and functions of purged individuals. DOGE too is risking, and actually had done, destroying useful functions (https://www.inc.com/kit-eaton/doge-fired-key-nuclear-safety-staff-triggering-a-scramble-to-find-them-and-rehire-them/91149187) and once you had fired professionals in a couple of years skill will be done forever, and you must grow them up again!
Bureaucracy is an essential element of human life regulation and growth, the greatest civilizations are born and thrived on it from the beginning, from the Green Crescent to Egypt, from Rome to Victorian England. Over - bureaucracy is pollution as over industrialization is or perhaps as any "over" or "under" is a manifestation of a sickness, corruption too is something like it: gift or sign of gratitude for a good work are natural and healthy in a society, expecting them or asking for them before is sickness...
Ugo may agree that this is a Seneca Effect moment. It is so much easier for a chainsaw-weilding billionaire to tear down government agencies than it was for scientists, aid workers, and, yes, beaurocrats to build them up. According to a story in today's New York Times, Musk and his minions should be training their AI weaponry on the chaotic and fraudulent accounting practices at DOGE. All the protestations about DOGE transparency are truly Shakespearean.
Gotta understand corruption, Ugo. Here you go: https://empathy.guru/2025/02/15/elites-and-counter-elites-and-implicit-and-explicit-corruption/
Mr Bardi is an Italian of a mature age. Assume he understands corruption quite well.
You didn't read the piece, did you?
Chuck's piece is pretty good.
4th Turning and Peter Turchin and Elon goes to Mars!
1) Please be extremely focused and careful when operating a chainsaw. Injuries are ghastly, and amputations are permanent. Most jobs can be done with a lighter electric chainsaw, again, with focus and care. Do not cut the power cord, etc.
2) Bureaucracy is the way we humans get large projects accomplished. It is unavoidable.
Bureaucracies are poorly understood by most people, but a few people can understand them well. These are the "Great Founders" of effective bureaucracies.
Over time, especially after the death of the founder, bureaucracies tend to drift from their designed purpose, to just being focused on self-maintenance.
The hardest task, far greater than designing a functional bureaucracy, is to reform an existing bureaucracy effectively. It does sometimes happen. It appears to be happening in the US now.
Musk does have that rare skillset (Skillsaw?) for effective bureaucratic restructuring.
3) Samo Burja has written a treatise, his "Great Founder Theory" of bureaucracy. It's free. I read it during COVID when I discovered it in 2020. He has added some to it. I read it again. It is really excellent. https://samoburja.com/gft/
4) Operation Gladio... ;-(