Efficiency slices and barges its way through delicate structures, leaving the most vulnerable flailing
A recent Apple update saw people waking up to their emails summarised for efficiency, thus creating light uproar, amusement and a series of small domestic mysteries to be untangled on the bus. A man in America shared a message from his mum, who’d told him, “That hike almost killed me.” Unfortunately, he’d read the summary first: “Attempted suicide, but recovered and hiked in Redlands.” Another Apple user opened his phone to find himself, in summary, dumped: “Not feeling romantic spark; apologises for ending things.”
I find myself today, against efficiency. I find myself against efficiency at a time when inefficiency is framed as, if not yet criminal then certainly immoral. Since Elon Musk attached himself to the Trump campaign, his Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) has been gutting the federal government in the same way he did with Twitter, slashing contracts, getting rid of more than 100,000 federal workers and closing down agencies deemed inefficient. Musk claims his team is working 120 hours a week, for maximum efficiency. Considering he thinks working from home is “morally wrong”, that suggests they’re getting, what, four hours’ sleep?
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