The Apocalyptic Administration

One of the constant refrains, I hear from people who aren’t bought into the madness that has overtaken the United States, is “Why are they destroying this? Don’t they care about the outcome?” And the answer, all too obviously, is “No, they don’t care.” Which leads to the second question: “Why don’t they care?” It’s their own lives on the line; even the very rich and powerful have reason to care; look at what has been done to the oligarchs of Russia. So, why…?

Factions of the Apocalypse

There are three apocalyptic factions running this administration, plus a greedy faction and a narcissist faction, and none of these give a fig for consequences. The apocalyptic factions are:

1. Premillennialist Christians like Mike Johnson, Peter Hegseth, and Russ Vought. This faction believes that, through their support of Israel, they will bring about the Christian apocalypse. Because of this, they do not care what destruction they cause in the present moment; they believe that their God will whisk them away to heaven before he comes down and smashed things up, to replace the imperfect world with a new and perfect one.
2. TESCREALISTs like Elon Musk and Sam Altman, who believe in Vinge’s singularity, a technological apotheosis, which somehow bears a remarkable resemblance to the Christian rapture. (The apple does not fall far from the tree.)
3. Climate change survivalists who own a great deal of fossil fuel reserves, want to keep on being rich, and figure their wealth will protect them from the consequences of global environmental destruction. Again, they do not care what is destroyed now; they believe that destruction is inevitable and they will prosper through it.

On the greed and narcissism side we have:

1. Narcissists like Donald Trump (obviously), but also Kristi Noem and RFK Jr. This faction doesn’t care what is destroyed as long as their hunger for destruction and their gigantic egos are fed.
2. Greedies. These are figures like Pamela Bondi who are simply in it for the money. Really in it for the money, and don’t care what harm they do on the way.

Death Cultists

In the end, any apocalyptic cult is a death cult. An apocalyptic cult fervently beileves the world will end and be replaced by something better; and that is why they don’t care about consequences. The cultists could, perhaps, take a lesson from the Jews, who have been waiting for the moschiach (messiah, in the Latinized version) for a very long time. It is never wise to assume the apocalypse will come in your generation, as indeed theologians warn; the wheels of time pass you by and your children are left to deal with the consequences of your fecklessness. This whole mess is probably going to self-destruct. But how much damage will it do in the process?