Anne Applebaum and her reader have separated themselves from their fellow Americans. So yes I get why this seems like a foreign invasion and how unsettling this for them. But as I wrote in a comment at Chris Bray's substack, I don't think the government associated classes have quite grasped that others actively hate them for their grifting incompetence. Of course they don't associate with those sorts so they don't understand why seeing government employees panic about having to list 5 things they did last week is a cause for joy
As always, Thomas, a great commentary. I live in Virginia now and for the first time in my life I socialize with good people who work in the Federal government. I come from the high tech world of California and I am used to constant disruption, layoffs and change. I do feel real empathy for people who are dealing with some seemingly arbitrary decisions in DC about job cuts and I know some of these are being badly handled. But the difference between commercial business changes and the expectations of these people is vastly different. It is weird to me. Change happens, your job is not permanent, nothing is guaranteed. I wish this were better for the many competent people in the Federal government but also recognize that we need to cut the resistant entitled quickly.
Exactly my point. The great vice of bureaucracy is its devotion to the status quo, which to the extent of the bureaucracy’s power imposes a brake on progress and creativity. And the bureaucracy is always striving to accumulate more and more power.
I'd like to see a televised debate between a single mom working two jobs to earn $50,000 and pay $1,200 in federal taxes and the government worker, quoted at length, as to who is more entitled to the $1,200.
There’s a disconnect there, for sure. For instance, many of the same people who are defending the employment privileges of the bureaucratic class are rooting for Tesla to go belly up—a catastrophe that would put 80,000 people out of work. That moron Tim Walz chortles about the company’s falling stock price, seemingly unaware that the pension fund of his state’s public employees is invested in Tesla to the tune of some $150 million.
“I did not respond to the fork in the road emails, nor have I filled out five bullet points weekly on what tasks I have completed. I could not live with anything I would say.”
If this person doesn’t have the intelligence/guts/actual information to answer an email about their job or document five tasks they did last week then in my opinion, their job is not needed.
I’ll also say the fact this person has their foot in both gov’t and academia says a lot about where their attitude is coming from.
I think that government funding of research came into vogue during WW2 and wasn't ended after the war. I'd like to see Harvard et. al. spend their endowments before getting more government grants. Why should taxpayers, living paycheck to paycheck, pay for any of the research--good or frivolous. Let donors (are they all rich?) who really believe in something buy the research they want.
Anne Applebaum and her reader have separated themselves from their fellow Americans. So yes I get why this seems like a foreign invasion and how unsettling this for them. But as I wrote in a comment at Chris Bray's substack, I don't think the government associated classes have quite grasped that others actively hate them for their grifting incompetence. Of course they don't associate with those sorts so they don't understand why seeing government employees panic about having to list 5 things they did last week is a cause for joy
As always, Thomas, a great commentary. I live in Virginia now and for the first time in my life I socialize with good people who work in the Federal government. I come from the high tech world of California and I am used to constant disruption, layoffs and change. I do feel real empathy for people who are dealing with some seemingly arbitrary decisions in DC about job cuts and I know some of these are being badly handled. But the difference between commercial business changes and the expectations of these people is vastly different. It is weird to me. Change happens, your job is not permanent, nothing is guaranteed. I wish this were better for the many competent people in the Federal government but also recognize that we need to cut the resistant entitled quickly.
Exactly my point. The great vice of bureaucracy is its devotion to the status quo, which to the extent of the bureaucracy’s power imposes a brake on progress and creativity. And the bureaucracy is always striving to accumulate more and more power.
I'd like to see a televised debate between a single mom working two jobs to earn $50,000 and pay $1,200 in federal taxes and the government worker, quoted at length, as to who is more entitled to the $1,200.
There’s a disconnect there, for sure. For instance, many of the same people who are defending the employment privileges of the bureaucratic class are rooting for Tesla to go belly up—a catastrophe that would put 80,000 people out of work. That moron Tim Walz chortles about the company’s falling stock price, seemingly unaware that the pension fund of his state’s public employees is invested in Tesla to the tune of some $150 million.
“I did not respond to the fork in the road emails, nor have I filled out five bullet points weekly on what tasks I have completed. I could not live with anything I would say.”
If this person doesn’t have the intelligence/guts/actual information to answer an email about their job or document five tasks they did last week then in my opinion, their job is not needed.
I’ll also say the fact this person has their foot in both gov’t and academia says a lot about where their attitude is coming from.
And yet much of the public is completely unaware of what is happening (other than "Orangeman bad").
I have told 7 people that Australian universities are in an uproar about the cancellation of US funding of those universities.
Not one had heard of that.
Not one fully believed me (that we are funding Australian universities).
Commentary on both our media and on the intellectual curiosity of Americans.
That's news to me as well...
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03-20/trump-america-first-policy-risking-australian-uni-research-funds/105072344
I think that government funding of research came into vogue during WW2 and wasn't ended after the war. I'd like to see Harvard et. al. spend their endowments before getting more government grants. Why should taxpayers, living paycheck to paycheck, pay for any of the research--good or frivolous. Let donors (are they all rich?) who really believe in something buy the research they want.
Well, at the very least, I think that the government should be a smart investor and disburse grant money with more of an eye on the public interest.