Violent metaphors abound for what’s happening in Washington: Elon Musk and his allies have taken a “slash-and-burn” approach to government policy, using a “sledgehammer” to dismantle government institutions. Their strategy aims to eliminate perceived waste and excess while maintaining the fundamental structure. The declared objective is to rid the federal workforce of what they label as the scourge of wokeness and “DEI” — diversity, equity, and inclusion — a term now synonymous with anything that Musk and other MAGA insiders oppose. This extends to USAID, the National Institutes of Health, and the National Endowment for the Arts, all branded as DEI. Even the FBI Academy’s woke word cloud is deemed DEI. Major broadcasters are accused of pushing DEI ideologies on their audiences, while public school educators are alleged to be indoctrinating impressionable students. The proposed solution? Defund and dismantle everything deemed DEI.
The war on DEI serves as a smoke screen; it provides a rallying point for various conservative factions, giving them a common adversary to blame for their concerns. This unification includes recent converts like Musk, who seeks to reshape policy under this banner.
