As the Trump Administration continues its efforts to lay off as many federal employees as possible for reasons unknown, another worrying trend has emerged: transparency. The federal government has always published analytics information from across its many agencies free of charge simply as a matter of principle. After all, why would our own government, which we sustain for the good of ourselves and our posterity, ever need to withhold any information from us unless doing so posed a serious security risk? The answer is politics. The Trump admin, more than any in recent memory, is putting a lid on any information that is perceived to obstruct its policy goals. The most egregious examples amount to outright censorship, as in the case of the CDC removing its pages on HIV. HIV is in fact a real disease that people experience. Thankfully, a court order forced the Trump admin to put back many of the CDC pages it took down.
Even really simple data, however, is being targeted by this administration. The National Park Service hit a record 331 million visitors last year, a testament to the massive popularity of the program among human beings. Yet, the Trump administration released an internal memo directing national park staff to not make any social media posts or other public remarks about this information. Staff have been directed to only disclose the information if visitors ask themselves. This comes in the wake of the administration’s move to cut 1000 positions from the force alongside another 700 resignations from Musk’s “Fork in the road” plan. Reportedly, the National Park Service is being moved to a seasonal staffing model that does not need to provide guaranteed work hours or benefits to employees.
What possible reason is there to hide visitation numbers from the public? It is likely that Trump and the executives on his environmental board have unpopular plans for the land that it manages, so drawing any attention to the parks (despite their record breaking popularity) would interfere with business. Thankfully, the 2024 data appears to still be online, though it remains to be seen if this will be the last transparent release of information of Trump’s term.
Certainly, this aversion to the free flow of information is a symptom of the “Brainrot Era” that Americans have immersed themselves in. Anything that might stimulate critical thought is dangerous to the policy agenda, and must be tucked out of sight. If the Republican plan to turn the USA into the Philippines is to be successful, then we the people must shut the fuck up and take what’s coming to us! Go scroll Reddit or something! Distract yourself! Nothing to see here, don’t look at the man behind the screen…
