America's Call to Excellence
Vivek and Elon lead by example toward a future full of foible!
There they DOGE again…
With the inauguration still roughly three weeks away, the leaders of a concept of an agency of administrative austerity set off a round of infighting between the Silicon Valley set and the Maga ‘Mericans. At issue: Innovation needs more Indians—specifically those doing the good work of toiling under the watchful tutelage of Elon’s panoptical managerial style thanks to the H1B visa.
The details surrounding the spat are tedious. I won’t focus on them here. Instead I want to zoom in on part of Vivek’s contribution, which can be found in a long….long effort post that might say more about his high school traumas than anything else:
“Our American culture has venerated mediocrity over excellence for way too long (at least since the 90s and likely longer). That doesn’t start in college, it starts YOUNG. A culture that celebrates the prom queen over the math olympiad champ, or the jock over the valedictorian, will not produce the best engineers.”
This statement begs certain questions. Why the outdated, binary relationship between academic excellence and popularity? We are about to pass the first quarter of the 21st century. 20th century memetics referencing antagonism between the athlete and the scholar are especially anachronistic when coming from someone representing the vanguard of industry. Besides, I can think of one specific valedictorian with an athletic build that is currently so popular that his courthouse look is moving units.
Yet, what is the product of this elusive excellence sought by Ramaswamusk? Surely the avant-garde of AI, the bleeding edge of tech, has something to show for all the discrimination?
I am aware that I can be a bit of a malcontent. Which is why I save space for excellence when it is realized. None less than Paula Scher and Pentagram recently (and transparently) demonstrated how emerging tech remains a tool in service of design. Those woeful souls who disagreed? To be blunt: they didn’t understand the assignment.
“…Midjourney thing is a point of sensitivity because a lot of illustrators are afraid they're going to lose work. But look, I'm married to an illustrator. And nobody's ripped anybody off more than my husband. And this project didn't take work away from anybody. There wasn't a job there. My firm and my team were hired to do this job, we weren’t given budget to hire illustrators.”
However, the attention Pentagram received is the exception that proves the rule. As Scher herself explained. “[in]…working with the government, the biggest problem is its own bureaucracy.”
Thank heavens for DOGE! Vivek and Musk can replicate each other’s work in their shared valiant and noble quest to cut the red tape and shape our government’s bloated, lazy, mediocre body into something trim, sporty, sexy, and—according to Ramaswamy—not at all skilled with numbers.
But wait…it appears there may be another wheel on this bicycle. Has the dynamic duo opened the relationship?
Prior to discovering Elon’s “Dark Brandon” (or, is it his very own John Barron?), I had doubted the value of RTO. But, as one of RTO’s most vocal advocates has demonstrated, keeping your head down in the office makes less time for idle hands and very obvious South African accents on Twitter Spaces.
The diagnostic is always much easier than the prescriptive. Complaints never patched a breaking highway. So, in the spirit of solutions, I am providing our affluent agents of administrative athleticism a jobs post they may use to source only the best. It’s not something I just cooked up either. This is solid selection based on my decades of experience in design:
DOGE is hiring!
We are excited to announce the Department of Government Efficiency’s efficiency department is looking for top talent to fill our need for (possible) co-director III.
Note: this is a mandatory on-site role. Remote work not available. Applicants must live within commutable distance from the office.
Only top .1% talent need apply.
Job duties include:
Staying up late and up-to-date on the best practices of government efficiency.
Being an all-around rockstar ninja whiz with mastery in the following manuals:
Maintaining a collaborative mindset open to critical feedback at all points in the project timeline.
Demonstrating ability to pivot quickly in cross-functional situations to address the urgent needs of multiple stakeholders.
Acting as an unyielding brand guardian with strict brand discipline when representing both the agency and the client in all outside-facing scenarios.
A cheery, cooperative disposition. (We spring for cheese pizza every other Friday!)
Qualifications:
Bachelor’s degree required. Master’s degree preferred.
At least 10 years experience with the tech industry as either a leader or advocate for tech. Strong preference given to established billionaires. (Inherited wealth especially admired.)
H1B work visa. Petulant, “legacy” Americans need not apply.
Compensation:
45K annually. PTO available after 90 days and performance review exceeding expectations.
Complimentary water available during designated break times.
Unisex bathroom available outside. (Walk to nearby construction site 1/4 mile west of office entrance. They have a port-a-potty there.)
Great read.