Tech autocrats are usurping politics worldwide. The entrepreneur Elon Musk, who is to be given a central position in Donald Trump's cabinet, is just a symptom of a development that has been underway for some time. It relates to the criticism that democracies are acting too slowly, and that a caste of civil servants has emerged that no longer has the common good in mind.

Self-made billionaires therefore want to usurp freedom of action out of a certain sense of superiority – for the good of society, as they say. They are also shaking up established ideas: Unbridled markets are seen as a value in themselves, monopolies are praised as the paragon of capitalist success, while state planning and bureaucracy would only slow down growth. Didn't Karl Marx warn against this?

In the USA, this way of thinking found expression in the so-called Techno-Optimist Manifesto by US billionaire Marc Andreessen. It continued with extreme statements by investor Peter Thiel, in which he spoke out in favour of monopolies („Competition is only for losers“). And it is personified by Elon Musk, who is now preparing to implement at least parts of this school of thought. Half of the bureaucracy is to be cut out of the authorities, regulations are to be abolished, so that the growth of large corporations can no longer be contained by property rights.

The development is also a reaction to the degrowth movements and environmental movements, which are generally rather hostile to capitalism. The latter want to make the state more accountable, so that it enforces greater sustainability through redistribution and a planned economy, as well as holding companies to account. Some are even calling for an eco-dictatorship.

The currently still rather sectarian movement of US billionaires, who see Trump as their saviour, would find it difficult in Europe, due to the heterogeneous societal structures and socialisation. However, the actions arising from this way of thinking will also put pressure on politicians in this country, because they will appear in the form of the new US administration. And some people here may well appreciate Trump's shirt-sleeved doer attitude in comparison to the ponderous democracy of the European type.

After all, the highly regulated market economies in Europe are already finding it difficult to cope with the current problems. Their processes take too long, solutions to problems are watered down by compromises and often do not bring the expected relief; in many places, political responsibility is unclear. In Germany, for example, the federal, state and local governments, coalitions and authorities are passing the buck to each other. This is already driving voters into the arms of populist parties – and some businesses to other countries. And now „friendly fire“ is also coming from the USA.

A reorganisation of democratic processes is therefore more urgent than ever: Germany needs a government reform that brings less bureaucracy, faster processes, more transparency and clear responsibilities. Proposals have long been on the table: for example, it makes no sense to want to regulate global digital processes at a federal level. Nor does it make sense for the federal and state governments to continue to blur responsibilities. Or that a perfectionist „justice bureaucracy“ – also achieved by citizens through legal actions – is wearing down every new idea. And it is unacceptable that infrastructure planning here takes decades, while abroad it only takes months.

Only if a major, radical reform of the state is successful, which streamlines, accelerates and amalgamates political processes, faith in liberal democracy as a secure source of prosperity will return. Then it should also find it easy to block political usurpers from the tech milieu, because it knows it has the support of millions of people who are counting on it.