The DOGE initiative presents a cautionary tale about the dangers of outsourcing governance to those who neither understand nor respect public institutions. At its core, the narrative steelmans the idea that private-sector efficiency could streamline government—a seductive promise, especially for those frustrated by bureaucratic inertia. Yet the reality exposed a pattern of systemic incompetence and self-dealing, where claimed savings were illusory, and real harm was inflicted on vulnerable popul...