Elon Musk, from the height of his fortune of 308 billion US dollars, has just decided: the cuts he is going to impose will cause “temporary suffering”, but it is, in the longer term, for the good of all (especially his).
There is something odious about hearing the richest man on the planet explain that his decisions, at the head of the new Department of Efficiency, will make low-income earners suffer. As if he had any idea what he was demanding.
Every day, Musk earns around $110 million. This is the equivalent of the average annual salary of 1,600 people.
And the guy announces that he wants to cut 2,000 billion dollars per year from the public service.
Impossible cuts
But where is he going to cut? The annual federal budget is $6.8 trillion.
Payments for health, social security and various aids take up 70% of the budget. Of the remaining 30%, 60% goes to Defense, Veterans and Homeland Security.
If he does not want to provoke serious social unrest or a rebellion by the military, he therefore has to cut 12% of the total budget in other state functions. Impossible to achieve this goal, even by closing everything.
If he still wants to achieve his objectives, he will therefore have to cut health, social assistance or the military budget.
According to his expression, everyone will “go to the hairdresser” and there will be dark cuts everywhere. We wish him lots of fun.
Get rid of the state
Musk teamed up with another billionaire, Vivek Ramaswany, who made his fortune in the pharmaceutical industry.
Ramaswany wants to get rid of the Department of Education, Health Agencies, Atomic Standards Oversight Agency, Food and Drug Enforcement Agency, etc. Enough to seriously worry people who consume American foods and medicines, in the United States and abroad.
As for the FBI, its mission consists, among other things, of investigating American companies, fighting against espionage and defending the rights of Americans.
According to him, the Trump administration can do without all these state functions.
World Champions
Some people think that the American administration deserves to be slimmed down. But that’s not the case. The United States is among the world champions of states with the fewest civil servants per capita.
In the United States, civil servants form approximately 13% of the total workforce. In Canada, they are 21%, in France 20%, in the United Kingdom 24%, in Australia 30%. Some countries, like Russia, reach rates of 40%. A few industrialized countries do better than the United States, such as Japan and Austria, each at 8%.
In short, in reality, Trump wants to help his cronies’ companies make even more money with even less regulation. Musk and Ramaswamy will help him set up his plutocracy.
