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.

  • peopleproblems@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    16
    ·
    6 hours 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

  • unmagical
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    201
    ·
    9 hours ago

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

    • ikidd@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      15
      ·
      4 hours ago

      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.

    • meco03211@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      124
      ·
      9 hours ago

      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.

    • circuscritic@lemmy.ca
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      31
      ·
      edit-2
      7 hours ago

      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…?

    • xmunk@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      76
      ·
      edit-2
      9 hours ago

      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
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        45
        arrow-down
        3
        ·
        8 hours ago

        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.

        • would_be_appreciated
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          6
          ·
          4 hours ago

          People with that kind of money don’t work, they own. They’ll hire somebody to do those 80 hours while they rape underage trafficked girls.

    • ChocoboRocket@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      12
      ·
      7 hours ago

      This isn’t aimed at the idiots who would line up around the block and work for free to be called high IQ by Musk. Doesn’t really matter though, it’s all performative

      They already know exactly what they want to cut, and billionaires don’t need a salary to realize profits from deregulation.

      The job being “no salary” isn’t indicative of how cost effictive a volunteer public servant could be - it is a dinner bell for the wealthy

      • brbposting@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        3 hours ago

        My goodness we’re gonna be MAGA’d so hard*, can’t wait

        *some people (with the best words) are saying this

  • superglue@lemmy.dbzer0.com
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    27
    ·
    7 hours ago

    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
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      11
      ·
      4 hours ago

      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.

  • Zier@fedia.io
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    7
    ·
    5 hours ago

    M-elon Head to run the department of slavery with un-paid workers. What an unstable ‘genius’.

  • n3m37h@sh.itjust.works
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    6
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    5 hours ago

    Text book Elon, pay for super smart people and take all the credit for their work and say you’re smart because of it. Guy fails upwards

  • superkret@feddit.org
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    40
    ·
    edit-2
    9 hours ago

    Spoiler

    Lot’s of people are gonna apply, cause the payment is the chance for grifting