It’s important to pay attention to the language of Elon Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency,” and notice that three of the four words in the name are purposeful illusions. DOGE is not a department, and it is not focused on government efficiency.
Remember all the things the tech industry told us were true, but that were not true? Uber was for “sharing” rides, a pleasant notion — who can be against sharing — that lulled the media as well as regulators in states and cities across the country and the world into not noticing or caring that “ridesharing” created an on-demand taxi service that attempted, for years, to evade the many rules and regulations that had built up over the decades for good reason, whether to ensure rider safety or reduce traffic. Airbnb was for “hosting” people — “guests” — in your home, also lulling regulators into complacency while significant portions of global cities’ housing supply turned into de facto hotel rooms, again, without attendant regulations. Ingenious use and abuse of the English language has enabled many of Big Tech’s biggest successes.
Now, even people who oppose the actions of Musk’s “department” are falling into the same trap of using big tech’s words.
Continue reading the entire piece here at The New York York Times (paywall)
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Nicole Gelinas is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and contributing editor at City Journal. Follow her on Twitter here. Nicole is the author of Movement: New York’s Long War to Take Back Its Streets from the Car, available now.
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