“You gotta break some eggs to make an omelet.”

I’m not opining about the high cost of eggs, although omelet lovers across the country are in mourning right now. I’m talking about the idea that sometimes, you have to break things to make something better.

Meet some “eggs” that are currently being scrambled and broken in order to “make a better omelet”:

-Farmers who signed contracts with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to improve infrastructure, who paid up front to put in fences, plant different crops, and install renewable energy systems with the promise that the government would provide them with financial assistance. Unfortunately for them, the assistance they were promised is no longer coming.

-Children who are being sex trafficked in Cambodia and the Philippines. People and children in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, as well as a host of other countries, who are or have been impacted by lead poisoning, AIDS, bird flu, Ebola, malaria and other diseases and plagues. Now, all of them will just have to continue to suffer abuse, to get sick and, for some, simply to die.

-People who might have benefitted from National Institute of Health-funded medical research and trials designed to find cures or treatment options for cancer and other diseases. Those sick folks are, quite simply, out of luck.

-Hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans immigrants authorized to legally live and work in the U.S. because returning home posed a danger to them, are now being forced out. About 10,000 refugees who were scheduled to travel to the US have had their bookings cancelled, including Afghan refugees who aided the U.S. military during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador and Guatemala, so-called “Safe Mobility Offices” where migrants could have applied to enter the U.S. legally, have been shuttered. Bye, bye.

You could be an egg that’s about to be scrambled, too. That is, if you’re a government worker or receive any kind of check from the government, like Social Security. Because Elon Musk and his team of boys have accessed the systems that contain the private information of all federal employees. This includes bank codes, address and insurance information, retirement accounts, and employment records for all 2 million government workers. It also includes payment information for anyone who receives a government check. And this private information grab, done by boys with no experience in how our government actually works (some of whom aren’t even old enough to buy a beer), could inadvertently be introducing viruses into federal systems, opening the door for our foreign enemies to do even more damage. To all of us.

There are dozens, thousands, millions more “eggs” being drastically and unnecessarily scrambled and broken right now. And the truth is, sooner or later, we’re all going to be an egg. Because almost every facet of the government is going to be significantly affected by the mass resignations and culling of the federal work force. Activities like traveling, renewing passports or filing for a tax return could be delayed or disrupted. Operation of national parks and museums, administration of benefits like Social Security, Medicare, veterans’ care and food stamps could also be affected. Regulators and inspectors for food, water, drugs and workplace safety are leaving the government, or being shown the door. Experienced federal workers will be replaced with people whose main qualification is that they’re loyal to the president. Maybe loyalty programs are what they’ll use to replace DEI initiatives?

I guess we’re all going to be getting a lesson in how our government works (or used to work) and how it impacts all of us in our daily lives.

A friend who likes what’s going on recently told me to “focus on the big picture.” I think it’s because the details of who’s getting hurt are too hard to bear.

If, like my friend, you think this is all necessary collateral damage in some quest to make government more efficient and effective, think again. What chef, in making an omelet, would take a sledgehammer to a carton of eggs, and then pick through the shell and cardboard shards in order to turn out a perfect, or even a tastier omelet? What CEO would fire every single employee in her zeal to root out a minority of employees who cheat on their expense accounts or show up late to work every day?

What’s happening now isn’t about making government run more like a business or become more effective and efficient. Project 2025—the playbook that Trump disavowed during the campaign–is now being implemented to a tee, and by the very people who created it. Their plan has been clear from the start. They seek to destroy government, the very entity that is the foundation of a functioning democracy. And what will we get in its place? I don’t know. Ask Elon Musk, or the other billionaire tech bros who are taking a sledgehammer to our government. Don’t ask Congress, who have apparently abdicated their role as one of the three separate but equal branches of government, as put forth by our Constitution. They either like what’s happening, or they’re too scared to do their jobs, which include reigning in presidential power when it unnecessarily hurts the people who elected them and who they’ve sworn to protect.

President Trump has tasked the job of making a new “omelet” to billionaire men and their boys, those titans of tech who have amassed unprecedented power and wealth and surely have enough of both. They must have our best interests, and not their own, at heart. Right? So of course, this new and better “omelet” they’re going to be cooking up for us will be delicious. Or—will we be picking shells and cardboard out of our teeth? Maybe even choking on it, if we’re even offered a bite in the first place?

Note: As of this posting, the Trump administration is facing numerous lawsuits to halt many of the actions described in this essay. Whether or not the administration follows the rule of law and obeys the rulings handed down by the courts, or decides to disregard the law, remains to be seen.

Image by Steve Buissinne from Pixabay