Counter-Currents
3,176 words 
Perhaps it is better that doge became its own word, with its own implications, inferences and cultural meanings to parse.
-Charlie Allison, Venetian Concepts of Power in the Office of the Doge
When Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was still in its formative stages, before the re-election of Donald Trump, I wrote the following here at Counter Currents:
Trump’s decision to place Elon Musk in any future White House cabinet, heading up a department dedicated to cutting government waste, is innovative and brilliant […] Government employment is, I suspect, the same dreadful, shameless racket on both sides of the herring pond, and the fact that someone as astute as Musk, who seems to have a fully functioning bullshit detector, is being tasked with trimming governmental fat means someone loses out.
And that someone could include the British public sector, over–fatted, hyper–annuated, and wasteful as it is. In the last fortnight, what passes for a British right-of-center media has been clamoring for an equivalent of DOGE in the UK, where there exists an almost surreal list of government funded projects for which the British taxpayer is brassing up ever-increasing amounts of his personal income. This inventory of waste and profligacy is every bit as pathetic and insulting to the British people as that listed by new White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt is to Americans. What a lungful of fresh air she is, by the way, compared with her gormless, mop-haired, clam-diving predecessor. But back to British foreign aid.
The list is a long one, but I have selected my personal favorites:
- £1.4 billion to refurbish the High Commission in Nairobi. Who knew that mud huts – even important ones – cost so much?
- £50,000 to study the health of shrimps in Bangladesh. Because, well, just because.
- £500,000 for 15 electric Porsches for Albanian prison service staff. Firstly, I was under the impression that most Albanian prisoners were now in the UK. Secondly, if Albanians want cars, don’t they just steal them? Albanians are the Puerto Ricans of Europe.
- And finally, the clear winner; £840,000 for a study entitled The Europe that Gay Porn Built. To quote Sir Christopher Wren’s encomium on his tombstone at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London (which Wren designed); Si monumentum requiris, circumspice. “If you seek my monument, look around you”.
For a more comprehensive list of these bizarre handouts, pop over to GB News. The MSM wouldn’t touch the story with a long pole.
At this point, it is customary to wheel out that old saw which claims that you couldn’t make this stuff up, but you can. The British government are doing just that, and I would bet a pound to a pinch of snuff that the BBC have a small but dedicated team of researchers who will be endeavoring to keep Trump’s successes away from the great unwashed. Trump and Musk are getting things done that ordinary people want done, and that alone is enough to banish it from the news cycle. Trump has let Musk off the leash, and there is an atmosphere of forensic auditing and crime-scene tape in the corridors of DC. The 47th President has got out of the business of politics and into that of pragmatics, and most of Europe and the UK, or rather their respective governments/deep states, do not want Trump to succeed.
Nothing succeeds like success. It’s such an American phrase, isn’t it? It’s Broadway musicals and self-made men, the blend of Americana I have always loved, the sheer showmanship, the ability to turn anything into entertainment. And I am not being sardonic. A desert in an African country remains just that, a desert. A desert in America? Viva Las Vegas! And now Trump has sprinkled some of that razzmatazz on government, of all things, and the gauleiters of Europe need those glasses observers wore at the Bikini Atoll A-bomb tests to shield them from the glare. The idea of Musk, a man from outside the political class, looking into the workings of government and assessing whether they represent value for money is anathema to the EU kingpins. European governments could never withstand that level of auditing. The EU went something like a decade and a half without any of the world’s largest auditors – including Fitch, and Standard & Poor’s – committing to signing off the books. No private company could get away with that. Someone would be in jail. Of course government doesn’t represent value for money. It isn’t supposed to, it isn’t designed to. Expensive, inefficient government is not a glitch or a bug for Western leaders, it’s a feature. The whole point of government is to be inefficient because that’s where the money is. As far as the EU is concerned, DOGE is something which must not be allowed to replicate in Europe. But it may be too late.
The left constantly celebrate what they perceive as Trump’s stupidity, his lack of intelligence. What they mean is an aversion to the technocratic instinct. Technocratic government relies on the addition of bureaucracy, not stripping it away. Its idea of addressing the problem of big government is to commission a report on big government which takes five years and costs millions of pounds, paid for from the public purse. The report will then conclude that government is too big. Trump’s answer to the problem of big government is to make the government smaller. Not rocket science? It’s not even shoelace–tying level. But Musk, a rocket scientist, is only one of the cards in Trump’s hand. The President (who The Guardian refers to as “Mr. Trump”) showed both his grasp of international relations, and that he can delegate with confidence, when he sent another of his appointments to Europe.
I blush to blow my own trumpet, but it is nice when you get a couple right. From the same, pre-election Counter Currents piece quoted above:
I’d also like to see Trump smash the optics at EU summits or, better still, send J. D. Vance. He’s capable and it wouldn’t seem a snub, just efficient use of government resources. Elon Musk will approve and US VPs should do more.
Vance’s recent appearance at the Munich Security Summit (like the Alps, the EU has plenty of summits) was like one of those masterstroke substitutions football managers sometimes make. You know, bring off the veteran striker and throw the new kid on. The kid promptly trots into the opposition penalty box and nods home a corner to win the game. And that could have been Tim Walz, champion of the male tampon, making that speech. Or Harris herself, with her novel and almost Joycean take on free-associative language. But Vance was there to kick ass and chew gum, and he was clearly all out of gum. It was thrilling to watch.
One of the German Ministers couldn’t finish his closing speech when he got to the part about Vance’s address – which is what it was – and for why? Because he started crying. This was made even more delicious by the fact that the unelected gauleiter in question was one of a gaggle of Germans caught on camera in 2018 openly laughing at Donald Trump, while then-45 was warning Germany about its over–reliance on Russian energy. That turned out to be prophetic, and the ex-diplomat has discovered, in the heart of the European culture his brood are trying to destroy, that the mask of comedy can quickly turn to show its reverse side, down-turned mouth and all.
So, Vance’s was the great performance of the week, the showstopper. He explained in measured tones that the Europeans mistakenly thought that Russia and China were the barbarians at the gate, when in fact, barbarism begins at home. Vance’s implication was that the barbarians – or those who would help them by leaving the gates open – were, in fact, sitting in the audience.
Vance didn’t talk about Ukraine, and this was more skillful psy-op. As the President’s emissary, the Silver Surfer to Trump’s Galactus, Vance was effectively saying; Ukraine? Not your concern, don’t worry yourselves about it. We’re taking care of all that. Although that doesn’t mean we are not watching you, because we are.
What has really got to the marrow of the Western political and media complex is the whole idea behind DOGE, that of auditing and accountability, including culpability. But Vance’s address has given them something new to think about. DOGE isn’t just looking at the American government. It’s looking at other governments, too, and the audit is not simply fiscal but also ideological. That is, to misplace payments for office equipment is to err but to be human, but to flood your own countries with migrants, condemn your own cultures, and blatantly persecute those who contravene new laws concerning speech is to err and be inhuman.
That is not to say that Trump isn’t listening to the accountants. EU countries are supposed to pay 5% of their GDP (Gross Domestic Product) toward their own defense. Most don’t even pay 2%. Now the bailiff is banging at the door shouting, “come on out, Europe. I know you’re in there”. Europe ran a 235% trade surplus with the US last year. They resemble a bookie taking money off the street then claiming he can’t pay the instalments. Fine, so why did the loan-shark see you driving a new Cadillac?
But Trump and his enforcers have out-thought the big brains of the EU. Western leaders know how to perform psy-ops on their own people, but not on each other’s countries. It’s just not done. It’s usually all smiles between the big European countries and the States, and the same went under Biden, who represented an America which struck no fear whatsoever into the heart of the EU. The odd spat on social media, sure, but any saber–rattling you heard wasn’t coming from real sabers.
What EU leaders are realizing with horror is that someone isn’t playing nice. This is Western politics we are not used to, a psychologically aggressive foreign policy. America is not saying; “We’re back”. America is saying; “We’re back and we are not completely happy with what we see”. And the response was a mixture of confusion and petulance.
The British Prime Minister had a chance to read the room before responding to Vance’s speech, but his response was predictably dyslexic. Starmer’s approach to Ukraine is bordering on the magical realism of the Latins or sub-continental Asians. He has committed the UK to supporting Ukraine not for a year, not even for five years, or a whole decade. No, he has committed for 100 years. The Hundred Years War just happened to last for a hundred years. I don’t think they planned it that way in advance. Starmer is flirting with Monty Pythonesque surreality.
Then, Starmer’s response to Vance’s gentle reminder of the defense shortfall was his ham-fisted idea to guarantee British troops in Ukraine as peacekeepers if there “was a lasting peace”. Well, there wouldn’t be a lasting peace, you buffoon, because NATO boots on the ground is the second most likely thing to irritate Putin after Ukrainian NATO membership, ruled out already by Trump. Starmer appears to be saying to the US President; You arrange the peace deal, I’ll see what I can do to screw it up for you.
During the first Trump administration, the attitude towards Europe more closely resembled that of much of Trump’s heartland base: Which part of Europe are you from, the part whose ass we saved or the part whose ass we kicked? This time around, the bumper-sticker diplomacy has nuance. Most politicians use the phrase “a threat to democracy” as though it were self-evident that it is caused by whoever or whatever they are criticizing, usually Donald Trump. But Vance parsed out the real threat to democracy, and the QED part was explaining to Europe’s ideological nerve center that the threat to democracy in Europe was themselves. If you treat the demos part of “democracy” the way Europe is treating its indigenous citizens, you will lose that part, and only kratos, or power, will be left. And, Vance might have added, we have more of that than you do right now. At least, that’s the way it feels.
Back in the USA, it is getting very real for some. Rumor has it that a lot of expensive properties are hitting the market in Washington DC as the heads of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) head for the hills. And, as this exposure of NGOs as funding the Democrats unfolds, Musk has landed a blow on George Soros, who funds much anti–American activity.
With Vance’s speech as the delivery system for Elon Musk to wield his power across the oceans, the same shockwaves would be welcome in Europe. The Doge of Venice had power outside his own city-state precisely because Venice was so important. The same might be said for Elon Musk, the doge of DOGE.
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16 comments
Yes. We all know well the personal and ideological drawbacks of these guys from our POV, but watching their enthusiastic, wholly unapologetic, non-mealy-mouthed, and very masculine, carryings on has been great fun, especially when I think of what we’d be enduring if the Cackler and Putz had won.
And they make the Proggies insane, which is more fun than watching the Super Bowl.
Beautiful thoughts, words, and predictions!
What timeline are we in that government departments are getting named after memes (https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/doge)?
The logo also looks like something right out of idiocracy (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/36/Department_of_Government_Efficiency_icon.png/175px-Department_of_Government_Efficiency_icon.png). They used to call those “seals” and embed Classical and esoteric symbolism in them!
It’s too early to say whether or not DOGE is worth having. So far, it is completely unimpressive. And Vance is only slightly better.
Agreed. The right’s worship of this overrated pile of shit is downright embarrassing. He showed his true colors a few weeks ago during the visa fiasco. He’s not even close to being “our guy.” He’d sell every white nationalist down the river in a heartbeat.
One of the German Ministers couldn’t finish his closing speech when he got to the part about Vance’s address – which is what it was – and for why? Because he started crying. This was made even more delicious by the fact that the unelected gauleiter in question was one of a gaggle of Germans caught on camera in 2018 openly laughing at Donald Trump, while then-45 was warning Germany about its over–reliance on Russian energy. That turned out to be prophetic, and the ex-diplomat has discovered, in the heart of the European culture his brood are trying to destroy, that the mask of comedy can quickly turn to show its reverse side, down-turned mouth and all.
My father is a German businessman and my mother is an American. I’ve also lived in both countries & I think this gives me a somewhat unique perspective on German x American Relations.
One thing I would stress to Americans is that Germany’s bureaucrats are mostly weak-willed, image conscious people. Heusgen’s tears are not that surprising. These people are deeply attached to being ‘on the right side of history’ and are among the worst virtue signalers in the world. They’re afraid of national success and actively try to avoid it.
The forced shutdown of nuclear plants, the refusal to invest in fracking (even in countries which wish to partake in joint efforts on their own land), the refusal to be realistic about Russia – it’s all part of a long running pattern in which these people slowly drive their nation’s interests into the ground. They hate Trump and Vance for having the audacity to call them out on their behavior. Especially to their face (Germans might be more blunt than Brits, but that is definitely bad form).
There is also an immense misunderstanding, on the part of German elites, about the nature of American culture. The Brits, like the author, seem to understand that an almost crass form of showmanship and theatre are important parts of America’s DNA. Vance showing up and delivering a televised ‘reality check’ is – in a way – the show that Americans paid to see. Yet even after Trump’s first term, Germany’s leaders are still repeating the same platitudes and expecting different results.
This culture gap has always existed. I’ve often thought that, in the preamble to WWII, Germany’s leaders clearly failed to grasp America’s collective psychology. They knew endless facts about the Jewish Lobby within America, but they didn’t understand the American masses. Most European elites still don’t ‘get’ Americans.
The good side of America is that it’s a daring and optimistic nation. The dark side is that it is nation addicted to fantasy and in which people constantly lie to themselves. Sometimes the people running the show don’t even know when their performance is real and when it isn’t.
If Germany’s leaders were smarter, they would accept the good and bad and figure out how to work with America. But that won’t happen with people like Heusgen and his comrades at the helm.
The untold story here is what REALLY happened between Trump and the System last year, probably after July and his attempted assassination. They tried to bump him off, they failed, they tried again, they failed. Why didn’t they screw him over at the election itself like they did in 2020? Why suddenly treat him with kids gloves, why give him the reins, why is the System suddenly compliant? After going to the ultimate last resort of assassination? It makes no sense to walk back from that. I can only imagine they had some sort of “change of heart” – they put him in a room somewhere, put all their cards on the table, and they plus Trump finally managed to hammer out some sort of honest-to-God deal with the Gatekeepers. Whatever it is, THAT is the story of the decade so far.
I can only imagine it’s something like, let Israel do whatever it wants, and we won’t mess with you. I just worry that Europe, and Europeans (not just the fraudulent EU) will get the short end of the stick. Europe is not Israel’s toilet, we must not under any circumstances take in the people that the Zionists displace, and the US had BETTER not start pressuring European governments for this outcome. The US and Europe must form an international Bloc that preserves Western peoples, cultures and values, but instead I am seeing Jewish “right wingers” celebrating the fact that “the West as a unit” is coming undone. This is not the desired outcome.
I see Europe, Canada and Australia forming an international bloc or common ground to preserve western culture and respectable values (?). The path that we are evidently on and the Choices we are allowing, may incite Europe (as most of the planet based on past UN issue votes) to probably consider joining BRICS and pissing in our direction.
“Nothing succeeds like success. It’s such an American phrase, isn’t it? It’s Broadway musicals and self-made men, the blend of Americana I have always loved, the sheer showmanship, the ability to turn anything into entertainment.”
Unfortunately its becoming “Nothing exceeds like excess”, the uncontrolled result not being entertaining, or very funny.
Similar to “Give them enough rope…”, (And they’ll hang us all)
Musk’s nonsubtle, bafoonish recklessness with the rank-and-file, non-leadership federal workforce is on the edge of backfiring, and the negative consequences are going to redound against Trump and us–ordinary people who support Trump’s agenda including cleaning up the federal government.
Sending a mass email asking people to list one week’s accomplishments in five bullet pounts is not the way to identify the unnecessary, incompetent and left partisan elements. The ICE agents busting ass to execute mass deportations are also federal employees. Why hound them and the percentage of those like them who want to use their federal position to help Trump? That email will not do anything to root out the incompetents and the real subversives who will just ignore it or write lies.
Beyond that, from a broader, theoretical standpoint, indiscrimately gutting the federal workforce is a mistake, because in many of these cases, it is the person in the job that is the problem not the job itself.
The problem is not the bureacracy but who runs things. Instead of indiscriminately removing established positions with power, “our” people should be placed in those jobs instead to use the tools of those jobs for legitimate value work for the common good, or to target enemies using their power over law, taxation, regulation, or intelligence.
Samuel Francis, among others, warned the conservatives of his era not to fall into the trap of wanting to “reduce the size of government” when its vast powers can and should be used to advance right-wing goals with the right people in the jobs. MAGA needs to avoid that trap, too. The problem is who runs things not the government itself.
I agree that reducing government this way is a big mistake. The problem of “non qualified” people exists but does not compare or impact the real problem of mass deregulation by reduction which started 2 decades ago and is now becoming explosive,, and then there is the irony of the qualifications of the new appointees to consider, hopefully in a serious way, with perhaps the exception of Gabbard. This purge is a mistake and as its Robespierre policy includes medicaid even embezzler Steve Bannon was aired saying “big mistake too many Maga’s on medicaid, and Musk is a anti American foreigner”.
Interesting (and not at all surprising) that Candidate Trump runs on a populist, white-working class type platform and then one of his first acts as POTUS is to go after low-level federal employees while all the “muh smaller government” Reaganite douchebags cheer him on.
The new admin has been mostly good great even from my POV judged by mainstream standards. DOGE however is evolving into a serious problem by going well beyond exposing USAID, DEI and other establishment corruption and graft to targeting ordinary Federal employees who administer populist programs that are very popular and benefit whites.
A lot of hard won gains will be reversed instantly if somebody in DOGE screws something up and tens of millions of people who rely on it, mostly, again, white people, don’t get social security or medicare payments. Reducing the size of government means reducing your ability to impose one’s agenda.
Musk at this point is a liability. I wish he would go back to AI, Mars and Tesla. He only got involved to save his businesses from the left, and in hindsight, it’s clear Trump would have won without him.
Well said. DOGE is alienating far more people than it’s winning. And this also has the unfortunate side effect of conceptually marrying anti-DEI sentiment to broadly unpopular neoliberalism cuts. In fact, several government agencies recently announced that their cuts will take into consideration “protected groups,” so you will likely see white people, especially white men, disproportionately affected by these firings. In turn, the agencies will be both smaller and browner – i.e. less efficient.
The ultimately devastating policies of Reaganomics were similarly sold to the public based on resentment of listless blacks, although at that time it was welfare queens instead of DEI hires. Yet in practice, the welfare queens continued on as normal while white people saw their jobs outsourced. Similar thing may happen here.
We can welcome Vance’s speech, but it’s a bit rich coming from someone who used to call Trump a fascist and (as Angelo Plume has pointed out), represents a nation which has spent decades pushing the liberal, anti-nationalist values which Vance now (seemingly) decries.
Now is a good time to revisit this excellent six-year-old essay by Andrew Hamilton to better understand what Trump 47 is up against with his promise to drain the D.C. swamp: Political Outsiders Lack an Institutional Base | National Vanguard
The New York City Zionist whose family intermarried with Jews, whose business cronies, attorneys, and even personal physician were Jews, who routinely hobnobbed with degenerates like ultra-rich sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein, the Clintons, Hollywood elites, porn prostitutes, and Negro celebrities, was transformed by the power of imagination into the mythical billionaire of right-wing fantasy: the principled strongman with money and power who (unlike us) can and will singlehandedly change things.
Yet Trump, who railed against the Swamp, promising to drain it, quickly became the Swamp Thing after taking office. There was some forewarning: “People think I’m a wild man [a rebel], but I’m not” and “After I become President I’m a totally different person.”
The most important thing about Trump is that he was never pro-White. He was and is philo-Semitic and multiracialist. Whether Whites worldwide are killed, as is happening, or survive, is a matter of indifference to him…
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Richard Chance: February 23, 2025 The right’s worship of this overrated pile of shit is downright embarrassing… He’s not even close to being “our guy.” He’d sell every white nationalist down the river in a heartbeat.
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