> Libertarians are like house cats in that they are convinced of their fierce independence while utterly dependent on a system they don't appreciate or understand
People like that shouldn't be allowed to vote. I don't actually believe that, but it's hard to watch Idiocracy happen in real time and watch low-information people cheer it on.
I think the crux is that too many people are taking what’s being said at face value. The banner of cost cutting and lean government was chosen because it’s hard to argue with, assuming it’s true and done responsibly - which it isn’t. Randomly firing 200 people that worked at NNSA is one of the most profound examples of this, let alone gutting 18F.
For anyone paying attention, it’s indeed crystal clear the move is being used to install loyalists while “saving” an amount of money that’s order(s) of magnitude less than the grift they’ve granted themselves, after cutting the very watchdogs setup to stop that kind of grift. Heck, even the word grift is charitable when it’s more like outright brazen corruption.
However, convincing everyone of this difficult insofar that it requires them to a) not take these people at face value, and b) swallow the pill that not only were they wrong for trusting said persons in the first place, but they potentially even voted in the administration that’s doing the damage.
Getting people to admit that they were wrong, even to themselves, is pretty hard these days. Hopefully it becomes too obvious to ignore, and that process becomes easier when it’s replaced by a feeling of betrayal. Because if there’s one things American love on either side of the aisle, it’s getting angry.
18F was one of the finest examples of a non-partisan agile tech organization that was highly efficient and effective. It was just trashed it for no good reason at all.
a) That’s a fair way to describe it regardless of political leanings, and moreover even if it wasn’t, I fail to see how that’s somehow able to be extrapolated to the entire org.
b) Last I checked government employees are allowed to express their opinions, which would be relevant had the man not resigned - meaning what you’ve read is a personal take. Like the vast majority of people, I doubt he took politics to work.
c) Consider 18F was started under the Obama administration and continued through the first Trump administration.
The federal government is being actively dismantled right now in ways that are unprecedented - even for every Republican administration in recent history.
I think it’s reasonable to say “far-right” isn’t partisan in that context. It’s accurate.
To use an example from the other end, it’s not particularly partisan to claim that a communist is on the far left of the political spectrum.
If a neutral observer calls you a fascist, it doesn't necessarily mean that they're biased or compromised. You might just be a fucking fascist.
