Musk's chainsaw fueled by American need for chaos
The next day, Musk replied to the post, 'Some people just want to watch the world burn,' an iconic line from the 2008 Batman film 'The Dark Knight.' Alfred, the Wayne family's faithful butler, says the line to Bruce Wayne – Batman – to describe the motivations behind the Joker's chaotic acts of violence.
Musk – and Alfred – was right. Some people do, in fact, say they think that society should be burned to the ground. It's part of a psychological measure political psychologists created called 'need for chaos.'
New data from the Center for Political Communication at the University of Delaware suggests that those people – the ones who want society to burn – are the ones with more, not less, trust in Musk.
They also report more trust in the Department of Government Efficiency, the government entity Musk advises, which the Trump administration claims it created to cut government waste and fraud.
Yet, critics point out that Musk and DOGE's seemingly indiscriminate approach to spending cuts risks damaging the infrastructure necessary for American innovation.
This desire to watch the world burn doesn't come out of nowhere.
Somewhat like the Joker, whose perpetual sense of victimhood – 'You wanna know how I got these scars?' – drove his need for chaos and destruction, people can develop a need for chaos in response to a sense that they are losing.
When political psychologists introduced this concept of 'need for chaos' in 2021, they described it not as a psychological trait, but as a character adaptation that occurs when some people experience a cultural and political situation that makes them feel like they are losing status and power.
For some people, this feeling triggers a desire to 'burn it all down' – 'it' being society, institutions, the world – maybe to rebuild it all anew, or maybe just to see it all destroyed.
Only a small percentage of the US population – less than 15% – tends to score high in need for chaos. But even so, understanding this minority is important to gaining insight into this political moment.
For example, people who score high in need for chaos exhibit greater support for political violence and a willingness to knowingly share hostile and false information online. And in our data, those higher in need for chaos report holding more trust in Musk, DOGE and Trump than people who score lower in the need for chaos measure.
We are political psychologists who study the link between psychological traits and political beliefs. Last month, the University of Delaware's Center for Political Communication ran a national survey that we designed to understand where the public stands on various political issues and how those beliefs relate to psychological traits, including need for chaos.
In our national study of 1,600 Americans conducted between February 27 and March 5, 2025, by YouGov, we asked respondents how much they agreed or disagreed with the following statements:
• 'I fantasize about a natural disaster wiping out most of humanity such that a small group of people can start all over'
• 'I think society should be burned to the ground'
• 'We cannot fix the problems in our social institutions; we need to tear them down and start over'
• 'I need chaos around me – it is too boring if nothing is going on'
Similar to prior work by author Kevin Arceneaux and his colleagues, our data shows that a very small number – fewer than 20% of the sample – agrees strongly or agrees somewhat with each item.
However, looking at the need for chaos among groups of varying ages, education levels and media habits, we find the highest need for chaos scores among people under age 40, those with less education, and those who pay the least attention to politics.
Our new data also shows that while people highest in need for chaos report having more trust in Musk, DOGE, and President Trump, these chaos-seeking folks report having less trust in 'people in general,' journalists or the federal government. These findings hold even when statistically accounting for other factors, among them party, race, gender, education and ideology.
Musk's penchant for wielding chainsaws as a symbol of DOGE's work provides some insight into why chaos seekers may like what they see in Musk. It's not clear exactly what Musk's aim is with his work at DOGE, as he eliminates the jobs of hundreds of thousands of government workers.
What is clear, however, is that by many accounts, the mass firings and the gutting of agencies, like the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the US Institute of Peace (USIP), are sowing chaos. And a significant portion of Americans want just that.
Dannagal G Young is professor of communication and political science, University of Delaware and Kevin Arceneaux is director of the Center for Political Research and professor of political science, Sciences Po
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
HKFP
8 hours ago
- HKFP
Macau ex-lawmaker arrested in city's first nat. security law action
A former Macau pro-democracy lawmaker became the first person to be arrested under the city's national security law, with authorities alleging on Thursday that he had ties to foreign groups endangering China. The Chinese casino hub, which has its own legal system largely based on Portuguese law, enacted national security legislation in 2009 and widened its powers in 2023. Macau's judicial police said a 68-year-old local man surnamed Au was arrested and handed over to public prosecutors on suspicion of 'establishing connections… outside Macau to commit acts endangering national security'. Local media identified the man as Au Kam San, a primary school teacher who became one of Macau's longest-serving pro-democracy legislators before deciding not to seek re-election in 2021. The man allegedly provided 'a large amount of false and seditious information to an anti-China group' for public exhibitions online and abroad since 2022, and 'stirred up hatred' against the Macau and Beijing governments. He is also accused of spreading false information to various groups, which allegedly disrupted the city's 2024 leadership election and caused foreign countries to take hostile action against Macau, police said in a statement, without naming the groups. A stalwart of Macau's tiny opposition camp, Au spent years campaigning on issues such as social welfare, corruption and electoral reform. Online news platform All About Macau reported that judicial police took away the ex-lawmaker and his wife Virginia Cheang on Wednesday. Cheang told the outlet outside the public prosecution office on Thursday that she was listed as a witness and that she did not know why her husband was detained. AFP was unable to reach Au for comment. Chill on dissent The former Portuguese colony reverted to Chinese rule in 1999 via a 'One Country, Two Systems' framework that promised a high degree of autonomy and rights protections. For years it was regarded by Beijing as a poster child in contrast with neighbouring Hong Kong, which often saw boisterous protests. The high-water mark of Macau activism came in 2014 when some 200,000 people rallied to oppose granting perks to retired government officials, an event that Au helped to organise. One pro-establishment Macau lawmaker told a newspaper in 2020 that the city was threat-free, as shown by the fact that the 'national security law had never been used… in 11 years'. But when Beijing cracked down on Hong Kong after months of huge and sometimes violent pro-democracy protests in 2019, similar curbs were extended to Macau. The casino hub expanded the scope of national security laws in May 2023, which officials said was meant to step up prevention of foreign interference. Former top judge Sam Hou Fai became Macau's leader in December after a one-horse race. City officials this month disqualified 12 candidates from the legislative elections set for September, saying they did not uphold Macau's mini-constitution or pledge allegiance to the city. The dozen hopefuls include sitting lawmaker Ron Lam, who said last week that the grounds for barring him were 'ridiculous'.
South China Morning Post
11 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Ukraine's lawmakers vote to restore anti-corruption agencies' independence
Ukraine's parliament approved a bill to restore the independence of key anti-corruption agencies, responding to mounting pressure from protests and Kyiv's foreign backers on President Volodymyr Zelensky. Lawmakers voted 331 in favour of the bill in the 450-seat legislature in the Ukrainian capital on Thursday. It must now be signed by the speaker of parliament and president before it can take effect. Protesters gathered in a nearby park watched the vote in the first live television broadcast from parliament since Russia's invasion in 2022. Kyiv had then banned the livestreams for security reasons in a move criticised by the opposition as non-transparent. Ukrainian lawmakers vote for a new bill to restore the independence of the country's anti-corruption agencies, at the parliament session hall in Kyiv on Thursday. Photo: AP The vote overturns a controversial law which was rushed through parliament last week, placing the National Anti-Corruption Bureau, or NABU, and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office, or SAPO, under the control of the General Prosecutor's Office, a body mistrusted by many Ukrainians which is led by a loyalist to the president. Zelensky proposed the new bill to quell a backlash which saw thousands take to the streets in the first mass protests since Moscow launched its full-scale war on Ukraine. The earlier move to throttle the two anti-corruption bureaus also faced censure from Ukraine's foreign backers, on whose financial support the war-ravaged country depends. NABU and SAPO were created on the insistence of international donors a decade ago. The European Union's top official for enlargement, Marta Kos, praised the reversal of last week's 'damaging' law in a post on social media platform X after the vote. 'Today's law restores key safeguards, but challenges remain,' she said.
AllAfrica
20 hours ago
- AllAfrica
Trump burning a diplomatic bridge to Malaysia
President Donald Trump's pick to be the United States' next ambassador to Malaysia has raised more than a few eyebrows in the Southeast Asian nation. Right-wing influencer Nick Adams, a naturalized American born and raised in Australia, is, by his own account, a weightlifting, Bible-reading, 'wildly successful' and 'extremely charismatic' fan of Hooters and rare steaks, with the 'physique of a Greek God' and 'an IQ over 180.' Such brashness seems at odds with the usually quieter business of diplomacy. The same could be said about Adams' lack of relevant experience, temperament and expressed opinions – which clash starkly with prevailing sentiment in majority-Muslim, socially conservative Malaysia. Whereas the US usually sends a career State Department official as ambassador to Malaysia, Adams is most definitely a 'political' nominee. His prior public service, as councilor, then deputy mayor, of a Sydney suburb ended abruptly in 2009 amid displays of undiplomatic temper. Yet far more problematic for his new posting is his past perceived disparaging of Islam and ardent pro-Israel views – lightning rod issues in a country that lacks diplomatic relations with Israel and whose population trends strongly pro-Palestinian. So it was little surprise when news of Adam's nomination on July 9, 2025, prompted angry pushback among the Malaysian public and politicians. Whether or not Malaysia would officially reject his appointment, assuming Adams is confirmed, remains uncertain, notwithstanding strong domestic pressure on Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to do so. But regardless, the nomination marks a turning point in US-Malaysian diplomatic relations, something I have been tracking for over 25 years. In my view, it communicates an overt U.S. disregard for diplomatic norms, such as the signaling of respect and consideration for a partner state. It also reflects the decline in a relationship that for decades had been overwhelmingly stable and amicable. And all this may play into the hands of China, Washington's main rival for influence in Southeast Asia. The US and Malaysia have largely enjoyed warm relations over the years, notwithstanding occasional rhetorical grandstanding, especially on the part of former longtime Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and U.S. President Bill Clinton talk at the White House in 1996. Ralph Alswang/Consolidated Photo: News Pictures / Getty Images via The Conversation Having successfully battled a communist insurgency during the mid-20th century, Malaysia remained reliably anti-communist throughout the Cold War, much to Washington's liking. Malaysia also occupies a strategically important position along the Strait of Malacca and has been an important source of both raw materials such as rubber and for the manufacturing of everything from latex gloves to semiconductors. In return, Malaysia has benefited both from the US security umbrella and robust trade and investment. But even before Trump's announcement of his ambassadorship pick, bilateral relations were tense. The most immediate cause was tariffs. In April, the U.S. announced a tariff rate for Malaysia of 24%. Despite efforts to negotiate, the Trump administration indicated the rate would increase further to 25% should no deal materialize by August 1. That the White House released its revised tariff rate just two days before announcing Adams' nomination – and just over a month after Ibrahim held apparently cordial discussions with US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore – only added to Malaysia's grievance. Malaysia may reap some benefit from the new US trade policy, should Trump's broader agenda results in supply chains bypassing China in favor of Southeast Asia, and investors seek new outlets amid Trump's targeted feuds. But Malaysia's roughly US$25 billion trade surplus with the US, its preference for 'low-profile functionality' in regard to its relationship with the US and the general volatility of economic conditions, leave Malaysia still vulnerable. Moreover, trade policy sticking points for the US include areas where Malaysia is loath to bend, such as in its convoluted regulations for halal certification and preferential policies favoring the Malay majority that have long hindered trade negotiations between the two countries. The punishing tariffs the White House has threatened leave Malaysia in a bind. The US is Malaysia's biggest investor and lags only China and Singapore in terms of trade volume. As such, the government in Kuala Lumpur may have little choice but to sacrifice domestic approval to economic expediency. Nor is trade the only source of angst. The White House's pressure on American institutions of higher education is effecting collateral damage on a host of its ostensible allies, Malaysia included. Although numbers have declined since the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s, the US has remained a popular destination for Malaysians seeking education abroad. In the 1980s, over 10,000 Malaysians enrolled in US colleges and universities annually. Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, numbers stabilized at around 8,000. But after, enrollments struggled to recover – reaching only 5,223 in 2024. Now, they are falling anew. In the first Trump administration, the visa approval rate for Malaysian students remained high despite Trump's 'Muslim ban' exacerbating impressions of an unwelcoming environment or difficult process. Now, economic uncertainty from trade wars and a struggling Malaysian currency, coupled with proliferating alternatives, make the comparatively high expense of studying in the US even more of a deterrent. Yet what propelled Anwar's administration to announce that it will no longer send government-funded scholarship students to the US – a key conduit for top students to pursue degrees overseas – was specifically the risks inherent in Trump's policies, including threats to bar foreign students at certain universities and stepped-up social media screening of visa applicants. Clearly, Malaysia's government believes that deteriorating relations with the US are not in its best interests. Yet as the junior partner in the relationship, Malaysia has limited ability to improve them. In that, Kuala Lumpur has found itself in a similar boat to other countries in the region who are likewise reconsidering their strategic relationship with the US amid Trump 2.0's dramatic reconfiguration of American foreign policy priorities. When sparring with China for influence in Southeast Asia, the US has, until recently, propounded norms of a Western-centric 'liberal international order' in the region – promoting such values as openness to trade and investment, secure sovereignty and respect for international law. Malaysia has accepted, and benefited from, that framework, even as it has pushed back against U.S. positions on the Middle East and, in the past, on issues related to human rights and civil liberties. But amid the Trump administration's unpredictability in upholding this status quo, a small, middle-income state like Malaysia may have little option beyond pursuing a more determinedly nonaligned neutrality and strategic pragmatism. Indeed, as the U.S. sheds its focus on such priorities as democracy and human rights, China's proffered 'community with a shared future,' emphasizing common interests and a harmonious neighborhood, cannot help but seem more appealing. This is true even while Malaysia recognizes the limitations to China's approach, too, and resists being pushed to 'pick sides.' Malaysia is, after all, loath to be part of a sphere of influence dominated by China, especially amid ongoing antagonism over China's claims in the South China Sea – something that drives Malaysia and fellow counterclaimants in Southeast Asia toward security cooperation with the US. That said, Anwar's administration seemed already to be drifting toward China and away from the West even before the latest unfriendly developments emanating from Washington. This includes announcing in June 2024 its plan to join the BRICS economic bloc of low- and middle-income nations. Now, the more bridges the US burns, the less of a path it leaves back to the heady aspirations of the first Trump administration's 'Free and Open Indo-Pacific' framework, which had highlighted the mutual benefit it enjoyed and shared principles it held with allies in Asia. Instead, Malaysia's plight exemplifies what a baldly transactional and one-sided approach produces in practice. As one ruling-coalition member of parliament recently described, Adams would be the rare US ambassador with whom Malaysian politicians would be loath to pose for photos. And that fact alone speaks volumes about diplomacy and evolving global strategic realities in the MAGA era. Meredith Weiss is professor of political science, University at Albany, State University of New York This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
