​The Basement Isn’t Going to Clean Itself—And Neither Is the Government

Everyone loves to talk about cutting waste—until it’s time to decide what’s actually "waste."

If you’ve ever tried to clean out your parents’ or grandparents’ basement, you know exactly how this goes. You walk in with a clear mission: get rid of the junk. But suddenly, everything has a story.

Me: "Grandpa, why do you still have this rotary phone?"
Grandpa: "What if the power goes out? That thing never fails!"
Me: "You don't even have a landline anymore."
Grandpa: "Well, I might get one again."

Meanwhile, the basement is packed to the ceiling, and nothing actually changes. And here’s the truth—if they were going to clean it out, they would have done it already. But they won’t. They’re too invested. To them, none of it is waste.

Now, imagine trying to do this on a national scale.

When Elon Musk and DOGE push for efficiency—whether in government, industry, or tech—people act like it’s as simple as trimming a budget. But defining waste is the hard part. The people running the system built it, just like your grandparents filled that basement. They’re never going to be the ones to clean it out.

That’s why an outside perspective matters. Sometimes, the only way to move forward is a binary approach—yes or no, keep or toss—without emotional attachment to what once was. That’s how Musk approaches technology: Does this add value or not? Not, Could it be useful someday? Not, Did it serve a purpose in the past? Just, Is it necessary now?

The basement isn’t going to clean itself. And neither is the government.