“A soft coup, sometimes referred to as a silent coup, is an illegal overthrow of a government. Unlike a classical coup d'état, it is achieved without the use of force or violence.” – Wikipedia
The US Treasury has a complex payment system that handles all of the government’s payouts: Social Security, Medicare, all government contracts, and on and on. Elon Musk and his team of unmerry pranksters got control of the Treasury payment system long enough to set up an unauthorized proxy server and lockout Treasury staff. They’ve been blocked by a Federal judge for now, but no one knows what they have or what they might have done to the coding.
This at least partially successful takeover is both brazen and dangerous. And it is far from being the only takeover in the works. Stopping USAID is another example, and one that is cruel and heartless (there’s a famine in Sudan). It also weakens the US internationally. The loss of the image of positive, on-the-ground aid from the US makes America vulnerable to being out maneuvered by countries like China who can say, legitimately, that you cannot count on the United States.
Additional major problems:
1. Musk has deep financial ties to China, and China already has been able to hack into critical US systems and information. Who knows what Musk might share. Any data that he has is also vulnerable to hacking.
2. He and Trump are seeking to eliminate anyone or any group that has acted in an effort to hold them accountable. Now he has the goods on anyone he decides to go after.
3. Two of his companies, Tesla and SpaceX (which are the source of his wealth) have received billions of US dollars for years. Now, he can see what competitors are doing as well as where to eliminate payments to other entities that can be diverted to his companies – and therefore to himself.
Musk’s bold actions depend upon people believing his pretense that he has the authority to act this way. Trump is behaving exactly the same way with his launch of dozens of Executive Order mortar rounds as he tries to bluff and bully his way past ethical, legal, and Constitutional limits.
All of this reminded me of something I did at a school dance in 7th grade. I felt awkward because I didn’t know how to dance and I was afraid to try. Instead, I wandered around the outskirts of the gym to avoid the dance floor. I finally stopped by some glass doors along one wall that led outside to a small courtyard. Standing there, I was seized by the mischievous impulse to open the doors and direct others to go outside to dance. Several couples did. Then, after half an hour or so, I announced that everyone needed to come back inside. With some grumbling, they did. I had no real authority but I acted as though I did, and I got away with it. I realized then that some people will comply with a command simply because it was a command.
Along that line, though far worse, you may have heard about an unethical study that showed how someone posing as a scientific researcher was able to get many subjects to deliver what they were told were lethal jolts of electricity to a hidden victim. The status of the researcher was emphasized by a white uniform.
This reaction by people to perceived by unauthorized authority is exactly what Musk and Trump are counting on.
Weak Points in Our Democracy Revealed
As a nation, we are continuing to discover all the places in our complicated governmental organization that has counted on good will and a habit of following norms contained boundaries that were respected.
Today, so many critical boundaries are being assaulted but we have yet to see a full-scale, well-organized counter-assault. Yes, there are a growing pockets of resistance, but unless, for example, Musk and his team are arrested and all their equipment seized, these assaults will continue. At this point, they remain in a position to do incredible damage to the United States and much of the rest of the world.
In his Substack commentary, Prof. Timothy Snyder made a case for calling this the “Mump Regime.” “… Musk+Trump, keeps the two men who currently matter the most, Elon Musk and Donald Trump, in the proper order,” he said.
I find myself disgusted and outraged at lies both men use to attack and defend what they are doing. Ironically, Musk labeled USAID a “criminal organization,” since the label fits Musk (and Trump).
The word “shocked” has been overused as click-bait, but I am shocked at the extent of the clear and major violations of Federal law and the Constitution that are happening 24/7 by the Mump Regime.
I’m buying a BIG RED BUTTON which I will install in a block to sit on my desk so I can pretend to STOP all the illegal and unkind actions and simultaneously replace them with humane acts of fairness. It also will register my outrage over these selfish, inhumane, immoral, and illegal acts.
The Divide Becoming Even More Extreme
As I laid out in my original post, our species (Modern Humans or Homo sapiens) started out with our evolved (DNA), natural social system that was characterized by being egalitarian, generous, peaceful, non-hierarchical (leaderless), sensitive and highly attuned to the needs of children, and being in synch with the rest of the natural world.
This changed radically when we shifted to agriculture for the last 10% of our 300K-year existence. For the first time, as the communities grew larger, a hierarchy emerged along with violence. As I explained in more detail in the initial post, this led to humanity developing an insecurity about whether we were important or valued enough to belong with others; to not belong amounts to a threat to one’s life. Our unconscious but powerful solution was to make oneself important by making others inferior, unimportant.
This fear-driven solution is what we have seen acted out throughout all of recorded history. This includes class systems, slavery, genocide, virtually all forms of discrimination. And today, on a global scale, we are witnessing this divide reaching extremes. The differences today are the many vital ways in which we are globally interconnected; and the world-destroying weapons we possess.
In fighting to stop this current assault by those that have the most on all .that we have to stop fighting back, nor stop calling out exactly what is happening. It especially means NOT agreeing to actions that are inhumane as a means of getting along by compromising.
It does require accepting our unbidden rage and thoughts of revenge as normal, primitive, protective impulses, while choosing NOT to act on them. It is possible to compassionately understand someone’s underlying needs while fighting back on how they are choosing to try to meet those needs.
And, Finally ..
I’ve finally learned to stand down from time to time, to refresh my inner being with moments of enjoyment. My clowder of cats help me with that, and I’ll be sharing some of their stories from time to time.
So insightful. I especially appreciated this part, as my work centers on belonging:
"insecurity about whether we were important or valued enough to belong with others; to not belong amounts to a threat to one’s life. Our unconscious but powerful solution was to make oneself important by making others inferior, unimportant."
Let us also consider that war made serf-soldiers of the people and the power of the King ruler was then so strong that it was used to squash dissent among the people. Y’all better mind now! (Tilley)