Elon Against the Bureaucracy
Anthem to a New Land
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John Fraim
The Psychology of Change
Technology Against the Bureaucracy
John Fraim
“A benefit of technology is efficiency. What is political about this? Unless you don’t want efficiency.”
The study of change in a culture is an interesting concept itself. Yet it is seldom given the proper study it deserves. The study of change is most likely of interest to Marshall McLuhan groups such as the Media Ecology Association. Change as a medium itself? McLuhan might have discussed its relationship to media theory, but I missed this in my readings of McLuhan.
Yes, change in culture is not discussed much these days. If anything, it is pushed into obscure areas of scholarship. Yet, one of the key emotions and attitudes of a nation is related to change via collective psychology of the nation at a particular moment in time. Certainly, the stock market shows collective psychology about money in culture. Leading words on Google show most interesting search words. There are many ways to measure collective psychology in a nation. The subject of more than a few college textbooks on the topic.
One of the major aspects of change in culture relates to the size & speed of change. Or the perceived size & speed of this change. There are periods in culture when change moves with the speed of a glacier. There are periods when it moves at a normal speed and there are periods when it moves with the speed of a strobe light at a disco.
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There is the speed of change in global world overall index perhaps averaged from speed & size of change from various nations. The general index of speed of change is then interpreted for various nations.
It is doubtful that any nation has experienced greater change in the first few months of a new administration than the first few months of the 2025 Trump administration. This is not a political observation. Rather is about the speed and size of change brought be the first months of the Trump administration.
The quickness of the change and the size of it was really brought about by Trump not winning a second term and giving him time to – most importantly – get out of DC and see it from the outside, with other outsiders. And in the process give speeches all over the nation, put together a team to write important documents/policy papers (2025 Project) and continue to rise in the populist mind with all the lawfare against him ended in an assassination attempt.
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The Trump team was ready to go, and Trump signed a record number of EOs the first day in office.
He was given a mandate to do a few well-known things like plug up the border and bring manufacturing back to the nation. Those who voted for him agreed on these objectives the nation wanted accomplished.
But there were a few things hanging out there, beyond the public infosphere. Perhaps the most controversial has been the area of the Department of Government Efficiency of D.O.G.E. The story of D.O.G.E is in many ways the story of Trump and Musk’s growing friendship. In many ways, this has guided the unprecedented attack on the federal bureaucracy. Trump has always spoken about the deep state, but I don’t recall it ever being described as the bureaucracy. Now, during these first few months of the new administration, the deep state is being described as the bureaucracy.
And a topic never mentioned by the Biden administration: the national debt. Now at $36 trillion but see the ongoing clock at https://www.usdebtclock.org. The figures of the national debt are now bantered about daily. Something that has never happened before. The cuts Musk’s D.O.G.E. makes to the various bureaucratic departments is stunning but there is the continued justification that the cuts must be made with the national debt so high. Again, concerns we would never hear under the previous administration.
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The story of Trump and Musk is probably being written by all types of screenwriters and novelists now. It certainly is one of the most important friendships of modern times. One can read the brilliant Walter Isaacson book Musk to better understand him. But one can also watch the incredibly revealing interview of Musk and Trump with Sean Hannity.
I think Musk is Trump’s sidekick. I write about it in a blog. The importance of a sidekick in life. It can never be underestimated. This is the type of person you can just hang out with. It is obvious that both like each other’s company.
But behind much of the story today is the huge change from the Biden years to the first few months of Trump 47. In effect, change in the world during the Biden years moved at glacier speed. The nation got used to this speed.
However, the first few months of the new Trump administration has served to present a maximum change to the low change world of the Biden administration. It has presented the nation a particular shock to its system in the amount of change put into the world.
Not only Democrats, but Republicans were used to the slow media cycle of the Biden years.
There has been a huge clash between change in size and speed. Perhaps this is behind much of the collective psychology of America today.
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Trump has brought many brilliant people to cabinet offices. But with Musk, he is using the world’s greatest technologist to reform the bureaucracy. In effect, the speed of change Musk is used to confronts the speed of change of the Federal government. A strobe light speed confronting that glacier.
As we’ve argued, there is great media advantage to speed of news. Yet here, I am more interested in the mass psychological effects of this change.
The confrontation is huge and much greater than Trump himself could have orchestrated. In effect, the world’s greatest technologist has confronted the worlds world technology in the federal bureaucracy. Young technologists invade DC. This might be at the heart of so many things today. The fact the Musk is looking under the hood.
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Change is happening more than at any time in our history. The true symbolism of Elon Musk’s coming to DC relates to this change.
Musk is the outsider but the type of outside that Trump appreciates.
His skills and talents are not those held by Trump’s cabinet members.
Elon’s experience is in that field of technology and particularly, AI technology.
He must be amused to see the inefficiency and slowness of the bureaucracy.
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What will be end up defining this period of great change during the first few months of the Trump administration? How long will it continue?
Much is happening around the nation. The district courts are blocking Trump’s orders. The Supremes must weigh in. But the borders are sealed, and illegals are being transported out of the country. The tariffs are having negative impacts on the stock market.
And Musk’s Tesla dealerships are under attack with numerous firebombs hitting Tesla lots. This, during the same time that Musk brought the two stranded astronauts back to earth.
In all of this, one thing I am certain of: the world’s greatest technologist has never been given entry in the federal bureaucracy as in the case of Musk and D.O.G.E.
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One can look at this in a few ways I suppose but I look at it as technology confronting bureaucracy. This is the major source of change today. There could not be two more opposite things: Technology and Bureaucracy.
Might the final test of the Trump administration be to confront the Bureaucracy with Technology for the first time? Not with political appointees but rather the leading technologists of the world working for Musk and DOGE? Is the true battle between Technology and Bureaucracy? Jacque Ellul would have much to say on this.
One might be non-political and say that “It’s about time our bureaucracy was given a checkup by technology.”
But a more truthful and political way to say this would be that “It’s about time our liberal bureaucracy (92% in DC) is given a checkup by the leading technologist and technology of the day. This has never been done before. The leading technologist with a conservative philosophy. Based on Silicon Valley in the past, this is a radical shift of tech towards Trump philosophy.
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In the end, the changes of the Trump administration are being felt by those on both sides of the political aisle. The stock market is taking a dive. Yet inflation is down. Illegals are continually shown on the nightly news as rounded up and shipped out of the country. The United States have upset a lot of the world by demanding they no longer get ripped off.
In essence, the speed of change in culture effects all members of culture. Republicans and Democrats and Independents and all political groups. All feel change as a major aspect of understanding politics.
As I’ve argued, the intensity and speed of change has been the greatest of any political administration in history. The question to ask is the relation of this cultural change to mass psychology. It might be a common aspect of Americans beliefs, certainly something today beyond the rings of Republican and Democrat parties.
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The larger question is what is the key clash of media today. The great rumblings of lightning in the background of our current landscape.
Is it the media of Bureaucracy against that of Technology?
It would be a first time that the world’s leading Technology has taken on an analysis of the Bureaucracy.
Is there something wrong about this from a political perspective? Should leading technology be applied to government? This is a good question. The government’s answer is of course “No” as new technology would bypass the old nets built over years and billions in contributions.
The battle between Technology and Bureaucracy goes on continually in the background of all the historic change today. But like the most important things in life, it is a battle in McLuhan’s “environment” invisible to examination. Like all the most important environments in life. Like water around a fish. Air around humans.
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In the rush of all the change created by the Trump administration, one needs to see this battle between Technology and Bureaucracy being fought in the background. Like great forms of media. It would be interested to hear an MEA perspective on this.
When Trump came to the White House for the second time, I don’t think many suspected where the true battle lines would be drawn. Yes, it was all the announced things in his various documents created in his years out of office like Project 2025 and the 1776 Project and other documents. Many became the basis for Executive Orders.
No one could have seen the incredible friendship between Trump with Musk. A friendship I label as one of a sidekick in a recent blog. (https://midnightoilstudios.org/2025/03/15/the-sidekick/). A special friend. Both, special friends to each other. The friendship has put Trump in a unique position of having access to the most sophisticated modern technology for looking at “efficiency” in government via the DOGE group.
Reviewing “efficiency” in government should not be political. One of the main benefits of technology – regardless of ideology – is efficiency. What is political about efficiency? Unless you don’t want efficiency. Then it becomes political. And identifies you as a certain type of political state.
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Like the Federal Bureaucracy.
I would say “our” bureaucracy but voting records in DC show it is 95% Democrat.
So, it is really the Democrat’s Bureaucracy. It’s the only way to see things.
Has there ever been anything larger than then the Bureaucracy in fighting the implementation of efficiency into their system. Than in fighting the DOGE system?
The Bureaucracy has never been seriously attacked by Technology. One could find a few attacks on it during the years but there was nothing compared to the attack of Musk on Bureaucracy by his DOGE technology kids.
Not only technology, but the greatest technology in the world. From the world’s greatest inventor. The Einstein, Michelangelo Monet of our period. What happens when the world’s greatest genius gets access to the insides of parts of the bureaucracy. Such as a huge NGNO called USAID. The findings of corruptions continue to come out each day as the DOGE team goes through various departments within the bureaucracy.
How long will the DOGE team exist?
Until Technology triumphs over Bureaucracy?
Or, Bureaucracy triumphs over Technology?