The Path to Political Autonomy

How to Overcome the Elite Stranglehold

1. A Society Built on Our Terms:

Societies stand at a tipping point. Legacy structures struggle with unchecked migration. Governments wrestle with elite factionalism. Economies shimmer with possibilities yet remain haunted by recessionary ghosts. The question stands—can individuals and communities still wield agency and shape their own destinies?

This article explores how we can seize systemic agency—the power to reshape policy, dismantle ineffective institutions, and safeguard our collective interests. But true transformation requires more than just fleeting outrage or scattered reforms. It demands strategy, persistence, and precision. Think of this article as your guide to unshackling society from the status quo, whether in the UK, the US, or beyond.

“We are little people my friend. And the likes of us cannot change the course of wars that span the globe. We can only live our lives and accept what fate presents to us. We can’t change that fact. If it is so we must accept it. What alternative is there?”

—James Swallow | Liars Due

Some readers might shrug, pointing to centuries of attempts at “fixing” broken systems, each adding more bureaucracy. “There is no task more delicate, no path more perilous, nor outcome more uncertain than leading the charge for change," warned Niccolò Machiavelli. "The old guard will resist fiercely, clinging to their power, while those who stand to gain will offer only hesitant support."

And yet, beyond that truth, so much of success relies on sheer bloody mindedness. In Britain, for example, the Reform Party is gaining momentum, promising to “reverse the tide of migration that is fragmenting communities and overwhelming public services.” At its helm, Nigel Farage pushes his party to “grow up” and take the fight seriously.

Across the Atlantic, Trump’s second administration storms Washington, wielding a cleaver against entrenched bureaucracies. The newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Elon Musk, targets agencies like USAID, NOAA, and the FAA for sweeping cuts. Senate Democrats, led by Chuck Schumer and Brian Schatz, label DOGE a “shadow government” and, in a move dripping with irony, “declare they’re pulling the fire alarm.”

The signs are clear—the ground is shifting, and radical change is on the horizon. But what truly matters is the process. After all, what do ‘change agents’ actually do, and how do they manoeuvre through resistance? How do they build momentum, and defy the odds? Here we notice, once again, that the most compelling part of any insurgent campaign isn’t the bold beginning or the triumphant end—it’s the fight in between. The real question is: How did they pull it off?

2. Conceptual Underpinnings:

In simple terms, systemic agency rests on the idea that power lives not just in lone figures, but in the interwoven frameworks of law, bureaucracy, finance, culture, and technology that shape our social fabric. To reclaim control, we must forge meaningful alliances, expand opportunities, and bend these rigid structures towards our aims.

Everyday citizens can vote, protest, or launch new businesses. Yet true transformation demands a deeper reconfiguration: we must realign the big cogs—legal architecture, bureaucratic hierarchies, funding channels, cultural narratives, and technology platforms—so they serve our shared vision.

Simple enough, right? But the thing is—bureaucracies and vested interests rarely yield willingly. Old institutions survive by suffocating change. Corporations, bound to shareholder profits, routinely undermine the public good. Non-profits parade altruism while advancing ideological agendas. The public sector endures frequent—and often fierce— battles to protect the status quo.

How do we overcome these obstacles? “Vision alone is not enough," Sanderijn Cels reminds us in Agents of Change: Strategy and Tactics for Social Innovation. To reshape the world, we must be more than dreamers—we must be tacticians, strategists, and builders.

“Minute after minute. Possibility upon possibility. Path after path. All variables you’re unable to see from where you stand at this moment. I can see the coast, Rah. I know what awaits me there. But I cannot see all the infinite vicissitudes between here and there.”

—Aaron Dembski-Bowden | Master of Mankind

Trump’s newly minted DOGE has wasted no time shaking up Washington. Dogged by critics, the department has begun auditing core public sector agencies, tearing into decades of unchecked spending. Detractors label it an “un-elected secret group,” yet the White House has given DOGE full authority to root out waste and inefficiency. The fiasco swirling around lawmakers and bureaucrats speaks volumes—the old guard does not take kindly to being exposed.

At the same time, Nigel Farage exhorts Reform Party activists to “be on the ground everywhere” borrowing from the Lib Dems’ hyperlocal strategy to establish new branches in places like Stalybridge and Hyde, where complacent incumbents have ruled unchallenged for years. Both efforts follow the same logic: Resistance is inevitable. That’s a given. From the outset, they must be prepared for the backlash. More than that, they need to wield a plan that’s every bit as formidable as the forces opposing them.

3. Mandates for Change, Motivations for Action:

Why do we push so hard to upend the familiar? Critical thinkers and even those with a smidgen of common sense will agree that the old guard has run society off the rails. Tectonic shifts within the societal landscape have choked growth, destroyed youth opportunities, and morphed entire neighbourhoods into lawless ghettos.

Robert Bates, research director at the Centre for Migration Control in the UK, warned back in August 2024: “While the Government fixates on a supposed ‘fiscal black hole,’ it’s ignoring the clear economic havoc caused by mass migration. There is no justification for issuing so many long-term visas when more than a million unemployed migrants in Britain are already on benefits. This is the textbook definition of a Ponzi scheme.”

And let’s be clear—this “ongoing meltdown of societal cohesion” isn’t some unforeseen accident. It’s the deliberate by-product of a massive get-rich-quick scheme, orchestrated by quangos of private and public interests. Taken together, these cartels systematically target the wealth of western societies and the people who built and maintain them.

In Washington, outrage centres on “rootless elites” and “transnational oligarchs” siphoning resources into opaque global projects with no accountability. Musk’s DOGE team has exposed “gross inefficiencies” and suspicious outflows at USAID in particular. Agents of Change reminds us, “If you want something from others, you need a compelling proposal.” Trump’s response is blunt: funnel money back to Americans, reject universalist open borders, and keep globalist agencies away from taxpayer funds.

“Strategy without tactics is the longest way to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.”

—Sun Tzu | The Art of War

Meanwhile, Reform Party strategists in Rotherham and Oxford are pushing just as hard, vowing to “defend children from brutal acts of foreign predation” and “remove complacent councillors.” They see unchecked migration as a direct threat, “subverting Britain’s cultural landscape and endangering vulnerable groups.” Many who once voted Labour or Tory now believe “putting British people first” is the only real fix for housing, welfare, wages, and public safety.

But beyond ideological and moral imperatives, there is a third driving force: pure pragmatism. Bloated deficits spiral out of control. Overseas entanglements drag nations into endless wars of attrition. Lobbyists infiltrate and manipulate public institutions. If we fail to rewrite these systems, the consequences will be unpredictable—and uncontrollable. That’s why reclaiming systemic agency isn’t just an ideological mission—it’s both an idealistic and a pragmatic necessity.

4. Key Barriers to Systemic Agency:

Despite the clamour for sweeping reform, we can’t pretend the path is straightforward. Institutions develop inertia. Factional interests—funded by deep pockets and boosted by much of the media—refuse to let go. To reclaim sovereignty, we must tackle these barriers one by one.

"The administrative state was built over decades," Cels explains. "Built to resist change. Built to outlast presidents. Built to preserve power." Anyone proposing “bold leaps forward” quickly collides with its labyrinthine regulations. “Innovation, after all, is experimentation,” Cels continues, “and therefore hard to record as a regular expense.”

The truth is, like it or not, factional interests will fight fiercely to keep their cushy set-ups. They relish a world where national prerogatives fade, enabling capital and labour to roam for the highest returns.

Chuck Schumer’s hastily launched website—intended to collect “evidence of DOGE corruption”—was immediately overrun by reform supporters. But what’s revealing is how fast a straightforward audit of USAID devolved into cries of “creeping fascism.” Expose corruption, and the system calls it authoritarianism. Challenge entrenched power, and they frame it as an attack on democracy. Pull back the curtain, and they scream as the sunlight floods in.

By 6 AM, Treasury's career officials began arriving for work. They found systems they thought impenetrable already mapped. Networks they believed hidden already exposed. Power structures built over decades revealed in hours.

Their traditional defences—slow-walking decisions, leaking damaging stories, stonewalling requests—proved useless against an opponent moving faster than their systems could react. By the time they drafted their first memo objecting to this breach, three more systems had already been mapped.

—EKO | Overide

It’s also true that we need to recognise the fractured terrain we’re operating in. Even within a single country, power is scattered across thousands of local councils, non-profits, and activist groups—each with its own agenda. The Trump administration learned this first-hand: dismantling even a portion of the globalist infrastructure takes more than executive will. It requires the ability to navigate an internal constellation of agencies, each with competing mandates and fiercely guarding its own fiefdom.

That’s why DOGE’s success isn’t just about intent—it’s about speed and precision. It moves faster than the old guard can react. “By Inauguration Day, over 1,000 pre-vetted personnel stood ready—each armed with clear objectives, mapped legal authorities, and direct lines to support networks,” reports one substack writer.

The old system relies on red tape. DOGE cuts straight through it. They never saw it coming—and by the time they did, it was already too late. One career EPA director, tears streaming: “Everything we built…” A USAID veteran, hands shaking: “They’re inside all of it…” A Treasury lifer, closing his office: “They move faster than we can think.”

The lesson is stark in its simplicity: Anyone seeking to reshape the political landscape must come fully armed—not just with vision, but with strategy. They must pinpoint strategic positions. They must map legal authorities. They must forge support networks.

But more than anything, they must seize the initiative. They must embrace a sovereign mindset, not as passive petitioners, but as those who assume authority over the changes they demand. And that, more than anything, is why we need transformative leadership. Not managers. Not caretakers. But leaders.

5. Leaders Who Defy Stagnation:

Leaders start by asking hard questions. Have you probed their motives, biases, and blind spots? Are you braced for backlash from entrenched powers? Do you grasp the system enough to propose real alternatives? Have you assembled the resources for true change in a bureaucratic maze?

Many times, real change demands blazing your own trail. Nathan Halberstadt, a young management consultant, set out to do good—until he collided headfirst with the corrosive globalist ideology entrenched at Boston Consulting Group. “I fell for the allure of well-tailored slogans and glittering credentials,” he admits, “which obscured the unambitious conformity and moral bankruptcy of the safe management-consulting path.”

BCG lured him with high pay, fast career growth, and intellectual buzzwords. But that veneer soon cracked. “Later, I was staffed on my first project, which boiled down to facilitating mass migration into the United States. We spent months helping our clients streamline the distribution of free benefits to migrants, among other related efforts.”

Realising how ideological these consulting firms had become, Nathan chose to walk away. He closes his recent article with a warning and a rallying cry: “Cutting ties with these damaging firms isn’t enough. We need new leaders to champion a successor model to the managerial regime—one built on ownership and civic virtue. Young Americans must lead this effort, scorn the triviality of decaying legacy institutions, and find the courage to align with emerging ones that build an alternative future.”

Nathan Halberstadt discusses USAID, DEI and the consulting complex that took over the US government with Unheard.

With Nathan’s words buzzing in my mind, I turned to Agents of Change and found its core leadership principle: “Above all, leaders must secure legitimacy and support in their authorising environment, build sufficient operational capacity, and make a compelling public value proposition.” The book breaks down these challenges one by one, while insisting that real success depends on aligning them all.

Step One: Build Legitimacy and Support

Take Nathan Halberstadt—he’s now Chief of Staff at New Founding, a venture firm backing American businesses and entrepreneurs. Instead of staying in the corporate world, he’s using his background to fight DEI/ESG mandates and the growing bureaucratisation of American business culture.

Mark Moore at the Harvard Kennedy School argues that gaining legitimacy requires engaging a wide network of power players—those who wield authority, grant legitimacy, and decide whether to support or block an initiative. But don’t expect an open door. Entrenched interests, backroom deals, and ideological conformity dominate many institutions. Plenty of people will try to derail change. Yet, for those serious about real transformation, winning institutional support—or at least tolerance—is non-negotiable.

Step Two: Securing Operational Capacity

Building legitimacy is only part of the equation. Change doesn’t happen without the machinery to execute it. Simply put, innovators need resources. They need funding, personnel, and infrastructure to turn vision into reality. Lofty ideals mean little without the practical means to implement them.

Take Elon Musk’s DOGE—it didn’t announce sweeping reforms overnight. Instead, it quietly audited agency finances, giving staff a clear understanding of which levers to pull. By leveraging existing legal authorities, DOGE infiltrated old frameworks, using its position to audit payment systems and identify waste. Once inside, the pace and scale of their cutbacks became impossible to ignore.

Step Three: Building Collaborative Structures

If you want resources—time, money, information, or authority—you need a compelling proposal. Something that reassures people their effort won’t be wasted and their investment will pay off.

Consider Reform UK. Instead of just making national policy arguments, they focus on local recruitment, building branches in 300-plus constituencies and targeting formerly safe Labour seats. They deploy new activists on the ground, following a hyperlocal strategy that lets small wins compound over time.

Aligning Strategy, Capacity, and Vision:

The idea, in theory, is that success requires aligning three dimensions of change:

• Political: Securing legitimacy and support.

• Managerial: Assembling capability and capacity.

• Imaginative: Framing the mission as a moral imperative.

Above all, you must craft a public value proposition so compelling that your authorising environment embraces it—and so practical that your operational capacity can sustain it. You can’t just tackle one piece of the puzzle and ignore the rest. You must see the full battlefield and integrate every element to achieve lasting transformation.

6. Making Systemic Change Stick:

It doesn’t stop with isolated victories. True systemic change requires embedding success into policy, culture, and daily life.

Consider Tony Blair’s sweeping executive reforms before leaving office in 2007. He didn’t just pass policies—he restructured governance itself, launching the Supreme Court and creating a vast network of quangos like Ofcom and Ofwat. These institutions were not just policy tools—they were staffed by ideological loyalists who carried forward Blair’s neoliberal agenda long after he left office.

This is not a coincidence. As Agents of Change notes, “progress is possible precisely because new practices build on old ones.” Blair’s legacy endured because his changes became fixtures of institutional life—embedded, reinforced, and ultimately made difficult to undo.

a. Scaling Mechanisms—Small Wins, Big Impact:

Change is most effective when it spreads strategically. Reform, for instance, has 37 local councillors and plans to deploy an army of volunteers for May’s elections, with an eye toward securing more MPs by 2029.

Meanwhile, DOGE has begun dismantling USAID—but why stop there? Its model is being expanded across a broad swathe of federal agencies, eliminating waste at institutions like the State Department and Social Security Administration.

The principle is clear: Small wins compound into structural shifts when scaled strategically.

b. Embedding Change in Policy and Culture:

Laws must be rewritten. Budgets must reflect new priorities. But most importantly, cultural and institutional acceptance must be secured. Without this, any reform is vulnerable to reversal under the next administration.

DOGE’s investigators—mocked as “young zealots” by entrenched senators—are already codifying new hiring and oversight protocols, ensuring that their reforms outlast individual leadership cycles. Even critics of Trump’s first term admit he seems far more focused on lasting change this time around.

“I speak of Kings. Givers of Lore. Rulers of Culture. Not merely those who give orders. But those whose decisions keep a civilisation bound together. That was the night I realised that mankind must be ruled. He could not be trusted to thrive without a master. He needed to be guided and shaped. Bound by laws and set to follow the course laid by its wisest minds.”

—Aaron Dembski-Bowden | Master of Mankind

Reform UK is operating under the same logic. Its proposed British Immigration Policy Platform calls for leaving the European Convention on Human Rights, capping non-Western migration, and revising student visas. The goal isn’t just short-term electoral success—it’s to lock these policies into the legal and cultural framework so that they become the new norm.

c. The Power of Testing and Adjusting:

Even the boldest reforms must be tested and refined. Dramatic shifts often alarm moderate stakeholders. That’s why Agents of Change advises that ‘change agents’ should incrementally test and adjust their initiatives, documenting each phase to build evidence.

DOGE, for example, didn’t attack every agency at once. Instead, it zoomed in on “seemingly trivial anomalies” in USAID’s budget, exposing nepotism and bizarre overseas expenses—ammo for a broader offensive.

Meanwhile, Reform activists like Jamie Gregory in Stalybridge focused on child protection failures, tested local response, then expanded their approach once it resonated. These pilot projects prove that the “new way” outperforms the old status quo—and that small localized success can fuel national change.

Building an Unstoppable Coalition:

When vision, proof of concept, and strong alliances come together, they generate real momentum. Sceptics morph into reluctant collaborators. Politicians, sensing a shift in public sentiment, edge closer to the cause.

In this swirl of change, the cogs of bureaucracy grind more slowly in opposition—because an operationally proven, strategically embedded coalition stands ready to push forward.

7. Final Thoughts—Rejecting Timid Reforms for Bold Resolutions:

Let’s bring the pieces together. We began with a fundamental question: Can individuals and communities reclaim agency in a chaotic, interconnected world fractured by complexity and factionalism?

The short answer is yes—but only if we abandon timid “reforms” and commit to true systemic change.

We saw that moral, cultural, and pragmatic motives can drive movements that upend the status quo. We dissected formidable barriers—bureaucratic inertia, entrenched elites, and more—and found that these obstacles, while formidable, are not invincible. DOGE’s stealth infiltration and Reform’s grassroots campaign prove that with the right leadership, stakeholders can be aligned around a shared vision, and robust governance structures can be built to withstand sabotage at every turn.

We then broke down practical tactics:

• Articulate a clear vision.

• Start small and test effectiveness.

• Demonstrate success and lock in wins.

• Scale up with momentum.

• Embed reforms into legal and cultural foundations.

Real-world examples prove this works. Reform UK is surging by deploying hyperlocal strategies. DOGE is dismantling entrenched bureaucracies with a "you can just do things" approach. And if there’s one lesson we take away from these case studies, it’s this: boldness isn’t recklessness. Pushing forward doesn’t mean abandoning structure—it means driving change while staying vigilant against unintended harm.

Now, it’s your turn. Dare to reweave the cultural and political fabric instead of patching its frayed edges. If your nation’s leadership fails, create new leadership. If it stalls, gather your allies. If it capitulates, build alternative power structures. “Never let a good crisis go to waste,” goes the old maxim. Learn to see today’s crises—economic, cultural, bureaucratic—not as obstacles, but as fuel for transformation.

This is not a small thing. Keep in mind the future calls for those who refuse to shrink from the dangers Machiavelli warned of centuries ago. Society does not belong to those who wait. It belongs to those who dare to reimagine—and who do the painstaking work of replacing the rotted timbers. This is your time. Grasp it firmly. Then build. Then defend. Then prosper.

I’ve given you a whole program for change, haven’t I?