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They don't actually know who the bureaucrats are that they want to traumatize. Anyone calling a product manager, UX designer, or software developer at 18F a "bu

They don't actually know who the bureaucrats are that they want to traumatize. Anyone calling a product manager, UX designer, or software developer at 18F a "bureaucrat" simply has no idea what they actually do. They are just demonizing the scapegoat du jour. Also among these so call "bureaucrats" are psychologists at the VA helping veterans with PTSD; search and rescue professionals working for forest service, park service, fema, etc; undercover FBI agents trying to stop organized crime; NOAA scientists predicting hurricanes, the list goes on. The demonization of the civil servants of this country is a story that people who want power are telling the country in order to gain said power. It's a story as old as time.

refulgentis 2y ago
100%, when I hear it, I hear "small enough to drown in a bathtub" for a new era. A lot of people got away with saying a lot of BS for a while Vague thought-terminating cliches, and we are observing one of these formless things decay, in real time, to the point they're outré. The based to cringe pipeline, if you will
justin66 2y ago
> They don't actually know who the bureaucrats are that they want to traumatize. Anyone calling a product manager, UX designer, or software developer at 18F a "bureaucrat" simply has no idea what they actually do. "Bureaucrat" is always a pejorative for a professional person who works in a bureaucracy. It doesn't mean anything.
- nulld3v 2y ago
  > "bureaucrat" is a pejorative > "bureaucrat" doesn't mean anything These two sentences appear to be contradictory.
  - bonzini 2y ago
    It does not mean anything, it has the only purpose of demeaning one's work.
    - justin66 2y ago
      Thanks, that is what I was driving at.
- rl3 2y ago
  >It doesn't mean anything. It certainly means something in context, seeing as virtually everyone in the civil service has been painted with this same brush regardless of whether the term's use is correct or not.
- hayst4ck 2y ago
  > It doesn't mean anything. Language is everything. Are they a government workers or are they a bureaucrats? Deep state operatives or public servants? All of these words could describe someone who works for 18F. 18F workers are public servants, some of the best in the government, but by calling them bureaucrats, it makes their work seem inefficient and their removal seem logical. Accepting the word chosen for the conversation determines what actions are acceptable. Protestors or rioters? Freedom fighter or terrorist? Peacekeeper or occupying force? Security or surveillance? Whistleblower or leaker? Regulation or Red Tape? Tax or Theft? Patriot or nationalist? Socialism, Marxism, or communism? Peace (justice) or peace (submission)? Woke (generational injustice) or woke (any leftist idea I don’t like)? It's precisely because these words have exact meanings, that they are so insidious. Many end up becoming shibboleths, dividing us vs them. There are companies, PR firms, private intelligence, and think tanks that A/B test words and ideas in order to create the right metaphorical context to get people to submit to a certain framing. A good read on the general topic of control via metaphorical framing: https://commonslibrary.org/frame-the-debate-insights-from-dont-think-of-an-elephant/ https://commonslibrary.org/frame-the-debate-insights-from-do...
jmathai 2y ago
Many of Gary's videos on the economy shed light on what's happening in the US right now. A lot of sleight of hand to convince the general population that the villains are immigrants, government employees, anyone on welfare, etc. I found this one to be most poignant on the topic. https://youtu.be/wPoXOwiEfrQ?si=K58Pa-JQhdIvQzrw https://youtu.be/wPoXOwiEfrQ?si=K58Pa-JQhdIvQzrw
- danans 2y ago
  Gary Stevenson is one of the strongest rising voices on what the wealthy have been doing to the working and middle classes over the last decades (under parties of both sides in both the UK and the US), a trend being rapidly accelerated under the current US administration.
rayiner 2y ago
The civil servants should have stayed in their lane: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/resistance-from-within-federal-workers-push-back-against-trump/2017/01/31/c65b110e-e7cb-11e6-b82f-687d6e6a3e7c_story.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/resistance-from-with... I grew up in the DC area 30 years ago. Civil servants declaring “Resistance” to the agenda of the duly elected president would have been unthinkable then. That destroys the premise of a civil service that is a machine that processes paperwork and doesn’t think for itself.
- Barracoon 2y ago
  https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/5/3331 https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/5/3331 The agenda of the president does not matter
  - rayiner 2y ago
    The resistance at Trump’s inauguration has to do with Trump’s immigration and environmental policies. Which undoubtedly are within his lawful executive powers.

refulgentis 2y ago

100%, when I hear it, I hear "small enough to drown in a bathtub" for a new era. A lot of people got away with saying a lot of BS for a while Vague thought-terminating cliches, and we are observing one of these formless things decay, in real time, to the point they're outré. The based to cringe pipeline, if you will

justin66 2y ago

> They don't actually know who the bureaucrats are that they want to traumatize. Anyone calling a product manager, UX designer, or software developer at 18F a "bureaucrat" simply has no idea what they actually do. "Bureaucrat" is always a pejorative for a professional person who works in a bureaucracy. It doesn't mean anything.

nulld3v 2y ago
> "bureaucrat" is a pejorative > "bureaucrat" doesn't mean anything These two sentences appear to be contradictory.
- bonzini 2y ago
  It does not mean anything, it has the only purpose of demeaning one's work.
  - justin66 2y ago
    Thanks, that is what I was driving at.
rl3 2y ago
>It doesn't mean anything. It certainly means something in context, seeing as virtually everyone in the civil service has been painted with this same brush regardless of whether the term's use is correct or not.
hayst4ck 2y ago
> It doesn't mean anything. Language is everything. Are they a government workers or are they a bureaucrats? Deep state operatives or public servants? All of these words could describe someone who works for 18F. 18F workers are public servants, some of the best in the government, but by calling them bureaucrats, it makes their work seem inefficient and their removal seem logical. Accepting the word chosen for the conversation determines what actions are acceptable. Protestors or rioters? Freedom fighter or terrorist? Peacekeeper or occupying force? Security or surveillance? Whistleblower or leaker? Regulation or Red Tape? Tax or Theft? Patriot or nationalist? Socialism, Marxism, or communism? Peace (justice) or peace (submission)? Woke (generational injustice) or woke (any leftist idea I don’t like)? It's precisely because these words have exact meanings, that they are so insidious. Many end up becoming shibboleths, dividing us vs them. There are companies, PR firms, private intelligence, and think tanks that A/B test words and ideas in order to create the right metaphorical context to get people to submit to a certain framing. A good read on the general topic of control via metaphorical framing: https://commonslibrary.org/frame-the-debate-insights-from-dont-think-of-an-elephant/ https://commonslibrary.org/frame-the-debate-insights-from-do...

jmathai 2y ago

Many of Gary's videos on the economy shed light on what's happening in the US right now. A lot of sleight of hand to convince the general population that the villains are immigrants, government employees, anyone on welfare, etc. I found this one to be most poignant on the topic. https://youtu.be/wPoXOwiEfrQ?si=K58Pa-JQhdIvQzrw https://youtu.be/wPoXOwiEfrQ?si=K58Pa-JQhdIvQzrw

danans 2y ago
Gary Stevenson is one of the strongest rising voices on what the wealthy have been doing to the working and middle classes over the last decades (under parties of both sides in both the UK and the US), a trend being rapidly accelerated under the current US administration.

rayiner 2y ago

The civil servants should have stayed in their lane: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/resistance-from-within-federal-workers-push-back-against-trump/2017/01/31/c65b110e-e7cb-11e6-b82f-687d6e6a3e7c_story.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/resistance-from-with... I grew up in the DC area 30 years ago. Civil servants declaring “Resistance” to the agenda of the duly elected president would have been unthinkable then. That destroys the premise of a civil service that is a machine that processes paperwork and doesn’t think for itself.

Barracoon 2y ago
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/5/3331 https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/5/3331 The agenda of the president does not matter
- rayiner 2y ago
  The resistance at Trump’s inauguration has to do with Trump’s immigration and environmental policies. Which undoubtedly are within his lawful executive powers.