this post was submitted on 14 Nov 2024
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Summary

Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy’s new "Department of Government Efficiency" (DOGE) began recruiting "high-IQ small-government revolutionaries" willing to work 80+ hours per week with no pay to help slash federal spending.

Appointed by President-elect Donald Trump, the panel is tasked with recommending spending cuts, regulatory rollbacks, and agency restructuring by July 4, 2026.

Musk and Ramaswamy advocate for drastic measures, including cutting grants to nonprofits and potential mass layoffs.

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[–] unmagical@lemmy.ml 306 points 2 weeks ago (9 children)

No high-iq individual will work 2 weeks per week with no pay in a society that requires money to live.

[–] meco03211@lemmy.world 190 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

That's a common tactic in scams. You want to weed out the actual intelligent people as early as possible lest they disrupt your scam. That's why scam emails tend to have misspellings and grammatical errors. Smarter people instantly ignore that. Dumb people click on through.

[–] slacktoid@lemmy.ml 41 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

So you're saying we all should apply?

So that we can disrupt this shit

[–] MystikIncarnate@lemmy.ca 29 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Actually not a bad idea. Flood the department with bullshit resumes.

I like this idea

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[–] xmunk@sh.itjust.works 101 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

No they won't... but rich people who can afford to support themselves while indulging in their love of making poor people suffer will be lined up around the block.

Making a position unpaid is a classic tactic to keep out the poors.

[–] givesomefucks@lemmy.world 59 points 2 weeks ago (5 children)

It's disappointing so many aren't getting this...

It's the same as "unpaid internships" being advantage to rich kids who can afford to work without pay.

Like, there is an inordinate amount of rich assholes that would love to spend 80 hours a week finding way to cut taxes, regulations, and the social safety net.

If you're rich enough to begin with, this could pay a hell of a lot better than anything else you would spend your time on. Couple hundred million in the bank or stock market, and it would be more profitable than any actual job.

And let's be honest, Musk and Trump aren't judging IQ by the freaking Wechsler exam, when rich idiots talk about IQ, they mean zeros in a bank account.

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[–] circuscritic@lemmy.ca 41 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

Can you think of any other types of people who might be financially able to volunteer their time here....?

Maybe those who have a vested interest in any number of outcomes that may result from their work there...?

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[–] Gerudo@lemm.ee 32 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Rich assholes who want to influence government will.

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[–] ikidd@lemmy.world 31 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

They'll get paid by conservative think-tanks under the table so the Dept of Efficiency looks good and can pretend that it's efficient.

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[–] Kolanaki@yiffit.net 123 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (6 children)

This dipshit thinks he can save the country 2 trillion dollars by firing government workers.

Even if he fired every single government position in the entire country, he couldn't make up 2 fucking trillion dollars out of that. The budget for payroll is, what? Like 15% of the total spending?

[–] cybervseas@lemmy.world 113 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

He doesn't genuinely think that's true. It's all a grift.

[–] DogPeePoo@lemm.ee 62 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (9 children)

D epartment

O f

G rifting

E veryone

[–] hohoho@lemmy.world 23 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (2 children)

D epartment

O f

G overnment

E xploitation

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[–] DankDingleberry@lemmy.world 61 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

feels like im playing plague inc. and these are all joke news

[–] Showroom7561@lemmy.ca 18 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Please, someone uninstall this version of the game!

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[–] Bougie_Birdie@lemmy.blahaj.zone 59 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

So... if I apply for a super high IQ job that's unpaid, does that prove I'm under qualified?

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[–] superkret@feddit.org 52 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (2 children)

SpoilerLot's of people are gonna apply, cause the payment is the chance for grifting

[–] deegeese@sopuli.xyz 41 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

So you need to be rich enough to not need the salary, morally flexible enough to work for Elmo, and stupid enough to brag about your IQ.

[–] skillissuer@discuss.tchncs.de 23 points 2 weeks ago

People who boast about their I.Q. are losers. —Stephen Hawking

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[–] arc@lemm.ee 50 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

So a billionaire wants people to work 80 hour weeks for nothing. People tell him to fuck right off. As in, find a cliff and keep walking.

[–] ChaoticNeutralCzech@feddit.org 32 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (3 children)

I don't think these positions will remain empty. Corporations will send a few lobbyists to check if the cost/power ratio is beneficial and if so, just flood the department.

[–] TehWorld@lemmy.world 37 points 2 weeks ago

I hadn't thought of that, but this is 100% exactly what will happen. BP oil will surely pay someone VERY handsomely to 'volunteer' 80 hours a week toward eliminating all oversight of drilling rigs in the gulf.

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[–] HawlSera@lemm.ee 48 points 2 weeks ago

Smart people don't work for the bad guys for free Jack.

[–] bstix@feddit.dk 48 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (10 children)

Ok, get this. You elect politicians to "help slash federal spending".

What the hell is Musk even doing and why is he outsourcing this job to unpaid idiots, when politicians already get paid to do this?

Okay, I'll do a few suggestions for free:

  • Stop subsidizing companies. All of them.
  • Tax the rich to boost the federal income.
  • Legalize all immigrants so they can be tax paying citizens.
  • Crack down on employers using illegal underpaid illegal immigrants.
  • Provide universal health care. Sick people don't work.
  • Cut down on police force spending.
  • Cut down on car infrastructure spending.
  • Cut down "defense" spending in artificial oil wars.
  • Help Ukraine to defeat Russia, so Russia will have to surrender and disarm their nukes, so that USA can also cut down on cost for maintenance of nukes.
  • Expand renewable energy. It's free energy yo, and it creates jobs for tax paying citizens.
  • Stop mining fossil fuels. It will cost more to clean that shit up than is earned.
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[–] kautau@lemmy.world 45 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

Can this department kick it off by eliminating itself, since it’s a wish.com version of https://www.gao.gov/

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[–] andrew_bidlaw@sh.itjust.works 45 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Win a grift by pretending you are an idiot

Your opponent is Elon Musk

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[–] superglue@lemmy.dbzer0.com 43 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Just to make sure I understand. Musk is going to run an orgination who will advise the federal government to cut regulations that are in the way of him making more money. And this is in no way a conflict of interest.

[–] londos@lemmy.world 24 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

That's specifically why it won't be a government agency. So they won't be bound by any ethics rules. Make no mistake, this is not a silly one-off. This is the first step of privatizing the government.

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[–] Nuke_the_whales@lemmy.world 38 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Man that leopards are gonna get so fat on conservative faces.

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[–] sibachian@lemmy.ml 36 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

do "high-IQ" individuals even exist on the republican isle? why would a lefty want to get involved in this shit, especially unpaid? what idiot would accept unpaid labour under a multi-billionaire?

[–] laserm@lemmy.world 33 points 2 weeks ago (5 children)

High IQ individuals definitely exist on the republican side. The only thing is that they are the most selfish kind (hence why they are republican) and hence they won't work for free.

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[–] dejected_warp_core@lemmy.world 34 points 2 weeks ago (4 children)

Good grief. It's like he asked ChatGPT "how do I hire people suffering from the Dunning-Kruger Effect?"

Dear meme-lords: I need something with much more facepalm than the Picard one. A "super facepalm" if you will. Thank you.

[–] mhague@lemmy.world 30 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

At least they're too cheap and lazy to properly push their fascist takeover.

[–] BakerBagel@midwest.social 17 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

It's just gonna be rich failsons who are loving off their trust funds. It's gonna be bad

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[–] jaybone@lemmy.world 29 points 2 weeks ago (5 children)

They are calling it DOGE? 🙄🙄🙄

[–] hombre_fundido@lemmy.world 37 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

100% Musk's idea. Because he doesn't think the other 8 billion humans on the planet are real people and none of this is of any real consequence to him.

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[–] Please_Do_Not@lemm.ee 28 points 2 weeks ago

Much like unpaid internships, this is also a method to prevent anyone who is not independently wealthy from applying, so they can fill the department with the same people already benefiting from the current system and allow them to design one that benefits them even further.

No one that this department is ostensibly built to serve can afford to work on it, so who is it really (clearly) for?

[–] Eiri@lemmy.ca 27 points 2 weeks ago

The US are just a bad parody of themselves at this point.

[–] rustydrd@sh.itjust.works 27 points 2 weeks ago

Fun idea: Flood their contact addresses with fake applications and fake credentials like certificates with high scores on made-up IQ tests or Mensa membership cards.

[–] Nougat@fedia.io 25 points 2 weeks ago

"high-IQ small-government revolutionaries"

No, "rich people," because nobody else can survive with no pay.

[–] 1SimpleTailor@startrek.website 24 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

America's saving grace may in fact be that the fascists are too stupid and lazy to do the work required to dismantle the federal government and cause mass human suffering.

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[–] Blackmist@feddit.uk 23 points 2 weeks ago (5 children)

I divide my officers into four classes; the clever, the lazy, the industrious, and the stupid. Each officer possesses at least two of these qualities. Those who are clever and industrious are fitted for the highest staff appointments. Use can be made of those who are stupid and lazy. The man who is clever and lazy however is for the very highest command; he has the temperament and nerves to deal with all situations. But whoever is stupid and industrious is a menace and must be removed immediately!

--Kurt von Hammerstein-Equord

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[–] Sam_Bass@lemmy.world 23 points 2 weeks ago

There are oxymorons and then there is musk, the oxyless moron

[–] demizerone@lemmy.world 21 points 2 weeks ago

They will make their money by fleecing the government of course.

[–] peopleproblems@lemmy.world 20 points 2 weeks ago

Department of Government Efficiency is the name of the department that ends up involved in creating Soylent green or some crazy human organ harvesting thing.

This sets off all sorts of red flags that bother the shit out of me. Like I'll take boring dystopia over human slaughterhouses TYVM

[–] Aceticon@lemmy.world 18 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

There are only two types of "Super High-IQ" people who will go for an unpaid job working in politics for the likes of Musk:

  • Very naive young things, hence very inexperienced and who are going to do all mistakes in the book and then some for the next couple of years as they learn the ropes. By the time they know enough about the job they'll be burned out from working for a guy like Musk not to mention knowing enough to know they're better of elsewhere.
  • Grifters looking for making maximum money from being in politics. Since they're not getting paid, that means corruption, lots and lots of corruption.

Also, even amongst the "very naive young things", in my own personal experience, the high intelligent types with the personality to be real believers of far right stuff, are at most above average intelligence but below genius level IQ (which is 120) and hence not really "super high"-IQ (which would more 160+) - I once worked with a guy like that who thought himself very intelligent and in his new job ended up working in an office with two genious level colleagues and he was very entertaining because of his "buttons" were so obvious and he was so easy to give the run around.

Super-high IQ people are often the very opposite of street smart, but one thing they aren't is stupid and at most fall into the first part of the saying "you can deceive most people some of the time, or some people all of the time, but you can't deceive most people all of the time" - they can be swindled but they'll figure it out faster than most.

[–] prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 23 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Also, most actual intelligent people understand that IQ is incredibly flawed at best, and put little stock in it.

But I guess if your goal is "anti-DEI" or whatever, then of course you're cool with intelligence tests that make white people seem smarter.

[–] elucubra@sopuli.xyz 19 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (2 children)

I'm a guy with a high "test IQ", and my sister, who is in the normal range is way more succesful that me in most aspects of life. You don't want high "test IQ", you want "smart people" not the same, and far more difficult to measure. High IQ basically means you are good at solving certain types of puzzles

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[–] lemmus@lemmy.world 17 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

He really believes it’s real.

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