In a recent article, [Lit Mag News](https://litmagnews.substack.com/p/q-whats-your-reaction-to-the-nea) summarized an unusual trend of online support within the poetry community for DOGE’s cancellation of federal grants to prominent literary magazines. The abrupt revocation of NEA funding from many prominent lit mags, such as *American Short Fiction*, *ZYZZYVA*, *Electronic Literature*,* n+1*, and *The Paris Review, *was easy to see coming, given the wave of grant cancellations leading up to it. And as it came amidst [hundreds of cancellations](https://substack.com/redirect/3104218d-6f15-4cd1-88e3-23e9093f7a5b?j=eyJ1IjoiMWNldzN4In0.FHtn2I8kX-pixi11F-mn4XANdkpgXEwPwdtxhqP_htQ) for lesser-known arts organizations, it’s jolting to find writers willing to openly applaud the cuts. Elite journals are the gatekeepers of literary prestige, and if you’re reading this, you’ve likely never had a piece accepted by one of them, and not for a lack of trying. These mastheads boast substantial budgets built on long-running, diverse income streams. In addition to the grants, they draw from subscriptions, advertising, contests, and submission fees. It’s that final line-item that draws the most ire. If these journals only published fee-based writers, and made everyone wait in the same 9-month long queue, that would be one thing. But they also have a VIP list. Those writers skip the line and the fee because they—or their agents—know the right people. Such double-dealing is bound to create resentment, and in our 47th presidential era, trust in meritocratic institutions is not exactly in vogue. It’s ([with apologies to Frost](https://archive.dartmouthalumnimagazine.com/article/1963/3/1/robert-frost-on-extravagance)) about the grievance, not the grief. During the COVID lockdowns, many of us lonely writers sent out a flurry of submissions while trapped in our basements and apartments. The combination of isolation and rejection is a toxic one. Still, it’s heartbreaking to see an otherwise progressive-minded person, such as some of the indie publishers quoted in the piece—the kind who would readily decry the loss of grants to science and medicine—touchdown-dance the same thing when it happens to literature. Many of us have long wondered why so many Americans gleefully vote against their own self-interest. Wonder @blur Quaesisti a me, Lucili, quid ita, si prouidentia mundus ageretur, multa bonis uiris mala acciderent. Hoc commodius in contextu operis redderetur, cum praeesse uniuersis prouidentiam probaremus et interesse nobis deum; sed quoniam a toto particulam reuelli placet et unam contradictionem manente lite integra soluere, faciam rem non difficilem, causam deorum agam. @blur 2. Superuacuum est in praesentia ostendere non sine aliquo custode tantum opus stare nec hunc siderum coetum discursumque fortuiti impetus esse, et quae casus incitat saepe turbari et cito arietare, hanc inoffensam uelocita tem procedere aeternae legis imperio tantum rerum terra marique gestantem, tantum clarissimorum luminum et ex disposito relucentium; non esse materiae errantis hunc ordinem nec quae temere coierunt tanta arte pendere ut terrarum grauissimum pondus sedeat inmotum et circa se properantis caeli fugam spectet, ut infusa uallibus maria molliant terras nec ullum incrementum fluminum sentiant, ut ex minimis seminibus nascantur ingentia. @blur 3. Ne illa quidem quae uidentur confusa et incerta, pluuias dico nubesque et elisorum fulminum iactus et incendia ruptis montium uerticibus effusa, tremores labantis soli aliaque quae tumultuosa pars rerum circa terras mouet, sine ratione, quamuis subita sint, accidunt, sed suas et illa causas habent non minus quam quae alienis locis conspecta miraculo sunt, ut in mediis fluctibus calentes aquae et noua insularum in uasto exilientium mari spatia. @blur 4. Iam uero si quis obseruauerit nudari litora pelago in se recedente eademque intra exiguum tempus operiri, credet caeca quadam uolutatione modo contrahi undas et introrsum agi, modo erumpere et magno cursu repetere sedem suam, cum interim illae portionibus crescunt et ad horam ac diem subeunt ampliores minoresque, prout illas lunare sidus elicuit, ad cuius arbitrium oceanus exundat. Suo ista tempori reseruentur, eo quidem magis quod tu non dubitas de prouidentia sed quereris. 5. In gratiam te reducam cum dis aduersus optimos optimis. Neque enim rerum natura patitur ut umquam bona bonis noceant; inter bonos uiros ac deos amicitia est conciliante uirtute. Amicitiam dico? immo etiam necessitudo et similitudo, quoniam quidem bonus tempore tantum a deo differt, discipulus eius aemulatorque et uera progenies, quam parens ille magnificus, uirtutum non lenis exactor, sicut seueri patres, durius educat. 6. Itaque cum uideris bonos uiros acceptosque dis laborare sudare, per arduum escendere, malos autem lasciuire et uoluptatibus fluere, cogita filiorum nos modestia delectari, uernularum licentia, illos disciplina tristiori contineri, horum ali audaciam. Idem tibi de deo liqueat: bonum uirum in deliciis non habet, experitur indurat, sibi illum parat.