High efficiency is a good thing. Being efficient means achieving your goal with little or no waste of time, money or energy. I think we all can support anyone who can find ways to achieve government goals with greater efficiency. I certainly do. But the term ‘efficiency’ is being misused in the name of the new department headed by Elon Musk. Instead of finding and implementing measures to boost true efficiency, it is just a cover-up to eliminate the goals and programs that certain groups of people have never liked. And it is doing so outside the normal processes of tripartite government. Do you recall “Newspeak” and “Doublespeak” in George Orwell’s novel 1984? It was the language of the authoritarian government of Oceania designed to limit the ability of the populace to think critically. Among other things, it relied on using terms in ways that hid the true intent. “Ignorance is strength” was an example of doublespeak. “Efficiency is elimination” is also doublespeak.

Doug Hall

Chichester