6 ms·
“The cruelty is the point”
by Modified3019 2y ago
“The cruelty is the point”
- khazhoux 2y agoIncorrect. Their goal is to dissolve these agencies, to reduce regulation that burden certain industries.
- genter 2y agoHow is that incorrect? They're deliberately being cruel to government employees so they quit and the agencies are de facto dissolved.
- khazhoux 2y ago[flagged]
- fragmede 2y agoWhy would you assume either? Do you have access to brain scanning technology that would let you know what goes on in the minds of these men? If they think that the federal government is all waste, why wouldn't being cruel to them be more important than this idea about efficiency that idiots are absolutely eating up.
- beej71 2y agoBut 18f? They've been one of the most visible streamliners of government bureaucracy we've seen.
- Spooky23 2y ago[flagged]
- khazhoux 2y ago> You're a zealot or incapable of cognitively understanding what the words mean. Straight to ad hominem. Excellent.
- Spooky23 2y agoIf you are an advocate for the destruction of my country through your willful ignorance, you’re the problem. You don’t get to hide behind high minded ideals.
- khazhoux 2y agoI'm not sure exactly what point you are arguing. The issue in this subthread is whether or not cruelty to federal employees is "the point" of the recent actions. I claim that it's not the objective, but a side effect. I claim that the Trump administration's main objective is to dissolve these agencies, not specifically to inflict harm on employees. All of the agency de-fundings and dissolutions can be much better explained as serving some other goal: either industry profit, or to make it easier for his party (or Trump himself!) to win in 2028, or to undo some perceived left-leaning agenda. I am hardly advocating for destruction of the USA simply because I disagree with that pithy quotable, "The cruelty is the point."
- Psillisp 2y agoCruelty and profit or it isn’t capitalism
- Nevermark 2y agoYes, that is the goal, but not quite how they sell it. The sell is to individuals to get their votes, not corporations (who of course are on board, but cannot vote), and more amorphous for not being above board. About how people's hardship are being caused by "enemies" who must be punished. Thus the "cruelty is the point" observation. Simply stating their goal, "the hyper rich feel too fettered, with respect to the rights/safety/wellbeing of individuals", would fail for being overly direct and honest. (I have no doubt there is governmental waste. But their behavior is not consistent with doing the work of identifying and eliminating waste. Waste elmination here is a side effect (that can be pointed to) of mass elmination independent of waste.)
- quantified 2y agoThey are either deceptive or incredibly incompentent. There is no burden to any industry in giving the American taxpayer a free and authoritative easy way to file. Similarly, firing so many FDIC inspectors saves nothing, they are paid by the banks not the government. I'm going with deceptive.
- amiga386 2y agoThere is a burden, and a huge one at that, to the rent-seeking industry. If there's a free and authoritative easy way to file taxes, then there's no reason for people to pay for unnecessary third party services who earn ALL their money by imposing themselves between the taxpayer and IRS. They will fight like bastards to preserve their privileged position. https://www.propublica.org/article/how-the-maker-of-turbotax-fought-free-simple-tax-filing https://www.propublica.org/article/how-the-maker-of-turbotax...
- johnnyanmac 2y agohttps://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/10/who-is-russell-vought-trump-office-of-management-and-budget https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/10/who-is-russe... The cruelty is the point.