To understand the roots of Elon Musk’s DOGE we must look back to the philosophies which preceded and inspired the original Technocracy movement.

As the MAGA movement celebrates the efforts of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and the unmasking of government waste, it should be noted that Musk’s talk of efficiency is reminiscent of the little known Efficiency Movement which predated the more well-known Technocracy movement.

To better understand Musk’s potential motivations and inspirations we must follow the path of the Technocracy movement and the philosophical movements which inspired it.

A Brief History of Technocracy

In the early 20th century, a movement began to develop around a political theory known as Technocracy, a system wherein management of governments is handled by technical experts, often involving technology-focused solutions. Early proponents of Technocracy claimed that the concept would lead to better management of resources and the protection of the planet.

However, this system of governance by technological experts and their technology would also involve a loss of privacy, as well as centralization of power and the management of all human behavior. Although the term appears to have been largely forgotten, the technocratic philosophy and influence can be seen everywhere in our modern digital world.

One of the most influential proponents of Technocracy was a man named Howard Scott, a writer who founded the Technical Alliance in New York City in 1919. Scott believed that business owners lacked the necessary skills and data to reform their industries, and thus control should be handed over to engineers. In 1932, Scott and fellow technocrat Walter Rautenstrauch formed the “Committee on Technocracy” at Columbia University. The group would eventually splinter, with Scott leading Technocracy Incorporated, and technocrat Harold Loeb in charge of the Continental Committee on Technocracy.

Interestingly, Elon Musk’s grandfather, Joshua Haldeman, was a research director for Technocracy Incorporated of Canada and national chairman of the Social Credit Party.

In 1938, Technocracy Incorporated released a publication that outlined its vision for a Technocracy (emphasis added):

Technocracy is the science of social engineering, the scientific operation of the entire social mechanism to produce and distribute goods and services to the entire population of this continent. For the first time in human history it will be done as a scientific, technical, engineering problem. There will be no place for Politics or Politicians, Finance or Financiers, Rackets or Racketeers…

Technocracy states that price and abundance are incompatible; the greater the abundance the smaller the price. In a real abundance there can be no price at all. Only by abandoning the interfering price control and substituting a scientific method of production and distribution can an abundance be achieved. Technocracy will distribute by means of a certificate of distribution available to every citizen from birth to death. The Technate will encompass the entire American Continent from Panama to the North Pole because the natural resources and the natural boundary of this area make it an independent, self-sustaining geographical unit.

Technocrats publicized their vision of a centrally-planned world via books, speeches, clubs, and political parties. This resulted in a brief period of popularity in the US and Canada in the years following the Great Depression. As politicians and economists searched for a solution to the financial calamity, the technocrats imagined a world where politicians and business owners were replaced with scientists, engineers, and other technical experts, who would manage the economy.

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