More and more I'm convinced there is some "acceleration-alist" angle to the cuts, the intentional egging on of the PRC, the racial animosity. They want to meet Jesus and think the fastest way to do that is to have the End Times happen in the near future.
edit: they want the 4 horsemen buffet: War, Famine Pestilence and Death. They want to create war by antagonizing the PRC. They want famine by wrecking the trade that puts a large amount of cheap food on our tables and feeds the World. They want pestilence by eliminating scientific research. They want death by disrupting biomedical advances and turning people against proper hygene and vaccines.
If something else fits, if there is a more cogent narrative...tell me.