this post was submitted on 29 Mar 2025
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[–] crazyhotpasta@lemm.ee 9 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

Here in Finland, Kristillisdemokraatit also has dude who thinks that DOGE is good and we should get something alike to oversee our government efficiency.

[–] IceFoxX@lemm.ee -5 points 3 days ago (3 children)

The idea itself is not the bad thing. It's the people carrying it out and what they're doing about it that's bad. It just doesn't affect the people who should be affected because they are the ones who are doing it.

In Germany, for example, we should also be downsizing, but instead we are adding more and more pointless authorities etc. that are paid for doing nothing...

So I definitely don't want to defend America's approach. Because it hits the wrong people. But the basic idea itself is not the real problem. It's just a shame that Europe is also turning to the right and would directly abuse such a system to strengthen its own power.

[–] mhague@lemmy.world 12 points 3 days ago (2 children)

It sounds really bad to me. The implication behind efficiency is that if it's inefficient then it can be stopped. It's a question of control / funding. (Auditing for efficiency is already a thing in societies, DOGE is not that.)

It's like a government within a government. A super institution that sits above the others and decides budgets and policy.

This super institution would need expertise in all things related to self governance. When this super institution audits education how will it know what is efficient unless it has that domain specific knowledge? And then economics, and then engineering, and then social planning, and so on.

I think governmental efficiency stems from a society that values efficiency. Creating a super institution to rule them all is something else.

[–] Amanduh@lemm.ee 3 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I mean in terms of government in a sane world efficiency wouldn't mean cutting things just because they don't turn a profit but instead just means trying to improve the efficiency with which the government handles citizens issues

[–] rice@lemmy.org 1 points 3 days ago

Yea, efficiency would be figuring out the chain of paperwork to get ____ done and simplifying it to 1 paper.. and repeat 10000000 times

[–] IceFoxX@lemm.ee 2 points 3 days ago

I don't even deny the negative aspects, which is why I directly emphasized that the whole thing would be directly abused. In other words, that something like this should not be allowed. I'm really only talking about the basic idea and if the whole thing were really to be used against corrupt politicians etc. The thing about the super institution etc. and this extreme fool's freedom is of course wrong. As I said, I also think the way the whole thing is implemented is wrong.

[–] FatCrab@lemmy.one 8 points 3 days ago (1 children)

We have effectively always had an audit and accountability process for our agencies in the US, and I'd be willing to bet the same is true for you in Germany. The problem is that this is absolutely not that--it's just raw oligarchic capture-- and the actual aforementioned historical processes are naturally slow, meticulous, complex, and not readily reported on because they provide little clickbait. If you haven't already, I recommend you actually investigate into the internal review mechanisms that exist in your country.

[–] IceFoxX@lemm.ee 1 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

Example: So we are using taxpayers' money to finance some alleged climate projects worldwide that cost millions without any controls. If you were to check this in China, for example, you would find empty fields or environmentally harmful companies in many other places. The whole thing is supported by politicians. Who profit from it themselves.

Or through MS lobbying that Windows continues to be used and millions are spent on licenses. So that industrial espionage etc. also takes place via these systems.

[–] AA5B@lemmy.world 4 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Are you claiming wastefulness of central planning in China is a valid example for firing people in the US or Germany

[–] IceFoxX@lemm.ee 3 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

No!
Examples of what I mean when I talk about the basic idea. I should have made it clear directly that by the basic idea I only mean taking action against waste. In other words, real waste without all the other bullshit. So no mass redundancies or anything else. By waste I also don't mean the education system, health system, environment, research, etc. But real waste where corrupt politicians enrich themselves.

[–] AA5B@lemmy.world 1 points 3 days ago

It’s not that it hits the the wrong person, but that it is being applied blindly without regard to whether it hits the wrong people, on the assumption that there is waste without even looking for it and worst of all on the assumption that agencies implementing policy they have a personal disagreement with are all “waste, fraud and abuse”. And to top it all off, most of these firings are illegal through executive overreach, union busting, lack of any sort of due process or human respect, and implemented through a national security breach violating government privacy and security policies.