Real Fear

There is blood in the water and the statolatrists and Deep State bureaucrats are afraid.

President Trump is acting on his campaign promises and causing a lot of “I can’t believe he is doing what he said he would!” moments on both sides of the aisle. On the right, there is cheering for an elected official who is going after his stated objectives without parsing words and actions that just look like progress. On the other side, there is genuine panic because they know if he is successful, it means an end to business as usual – potentially forever.

I have noticed there really are no attempts to defend the actual failures – these are being minimized as inconsequential and trivial event though what has been found is big enough to eclipse the GDP of some countries. The attacks are directed at the people responsible for rooting them out and fixing them, not the problems themselves. Going back to Saul Alinsky’s Rule 13, from Rules for Radicals: “Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it” and that is what they are doing to Elon Musk and his team.

Some days it feels like President Trump has already been at this for a year. It is not a stretch to say that if a President had come this far in his first year, it would be a great start, so to only been in office for a month for there to be this much significant progress is unheard of. In my mind, the most important part so far has been exposing real data to the public, data that prevents the spin from the usual suspects trying to defend the indefensible. Of course, it doesn’t stop the insane rhetoric because when the left is losing, they lie, the obfuscate, they hyperbolize. These are reflexes as autonomic as breathing.

Real, palpable fear is being expressed here. In the same way Anthony Fauci declared that he was “the science” during Covid, we have a political party that has declared themselves “the democracy”, so any attack on government is an attack on them.

I’ve also made the point that there truly appears to be people who literally worship government as a god – and the actions of the current administration amount to an attack on that god.

Some people treat the government as an infallible god because they see government as the ultimate authority that provides security, order, and resources - akin to how religious believers look to a deity for guidance and provision.

Many people treat government as a god because it provides security, stability, and essential services. When individuals feel vulnerable, they may look to the state for protection through law enforcement, military defense, and social programs. In societies with strong welfare systems, dependence on government services like healthcare, education, and social security can reinforce this trust, making the state seem like an indispensable provider. This reliance can lead some to believe that the government, much like a deity, will always act in their best interest.

Faith in authority also plays a key role in elevating government to a god-like status. Some people instinctively trust political leaders and institutions, believing them to be wise and benevolent. Governments that promote strong ideological narratives can take advantage of this tendency, fostering a sense of unquestioning loyalty. Totalitarian regimes, for instance, often replace religious faith with state worship, portraying themselves as the ultimate source of truth and morality. Similarly, historical traditions where rulers were seen as divine persist today, as some leaders are still treated as infallible figures.

Collectivist thinking and the decline of traditional religion contribute to this phenomenon. Political ideologies that emphasize the collective over the individual often encourage people to see the government as the embodiment of society’s will. In increasingly secular societies, where religious belief is less influential, people may replace devotion to a higher power with trust in government, science, or technology. While government plays an essential role in society, blind faith in it—like blind faith in any institution—can lead to dangerous consequences such as loss of personal freedom and unchecked power.

This doesn’t necessarily mean all government trust is misplaced - governments do play an essential role in society, albeit a constitutionally minimized role in American society. However, blind faith in government, just like blind faith in any institution, can lead to dangerous outcomes like tyranny, loss of personal freedom, and uncritical acceptance of harmful policies.

Free people can respect government authority while maintaining skepticism and holding their leaders accountable – and for the first time in an extraordinarily long time, what Trump, Vance, and the entire cabinet are doing is exactly that. Elon Musk is just providing ammunition.