[MaxfordAndSons]

I think the ripping out of woke stuff is mostly marketing for the political base. Sure, Trump and Musk have some personal stake in it too, but it's not the point.

I wouldn't say they're "burning things down for the sake of burning things down", though. The truth is somewhere between what you and gp are contending. There's no moral framework, but there is a framework. They're burning things down so that "the free market" can replace the things they burn down and capture the money that used to go towards doing those things for the public good, and instead do those things for a private profit.

[jordanb]

They're getting rid of things that stand in Elon's way. CFPB was actively investigating complaints about Tesla and financing, for instance. It was also reportedly seen as a roadblock to turning Twitter into a payments platform.

[tuna74]

Yeah, it is like the so called "Shock therapy" imposed on failing countries (like Russia in 1991 and some South american countries in the 2000s). The goal is to break down institutions so that more can be privatized.

[jordanb]

Yeah and these guys are actually friends with Jeffery Sachs, who was the economist pushing for shock therapy in Russia in the 90s.

I strongly feel like these guys see what happened in Russia and see it as a success: the "weak" soviet union was replaced by a "strong" Putin-controlled Russia. The collapse in living standards, lawlessness, etc, was acceptable collateral damage.

[tuna74]

It might actually be so bad that the last bad effects mentioned are part of the goal this time.

It is kind of funny that the people who complain about the "deep state" with some kind of goal actually create something similar with an actual goal.

[jordanb]

I think the silicon valley bros are playing checkers, not chess. They are succeeding because they're being allowed to succeed and if they get what they want their ultimate fate will be dying of polonium, falling out of a window, or disappearing into the American equivalent of a Siberian jail.

[Gud]

Well, I guess there's always a silver lining.