Here I responded to the post. I’m laying in bed while I do it. It is literally one of the easiest things in the world. If you can’t manage to do the easiest thing in the world to keep your job, then what are you being paid for? How are you going to do anything that might actually justify your salary?
It’s not just the “easiest thing in the world”, it’s an easy task with a gun pointed to your head. Do you not see this?
Even more than that, the threat of firing by not complying is likely illegal.
It’s a false equivalence to say that people who don’t respond to the email (or do some other jump through the hoop activity) are not justified to have their job, gov or private.
Maybe they’re on vacation, maybe they’re concerned about the legality of the action, maybe they think it’s a phishing email from some department they don’t recognize, maybe they’re doing classified activity, maybe they’re too engrossed in their actual duties, maybe they’re without internet access, maybe they’re on a submarine for the next 3 months.
This email screams incompetence and trying to find a pretense to justify punitive action. It is not indicative of any honest well-meaning changes.
> Concerned about legality: reply that you are concerned about legality
Fired, they want people who aren't going to ask questions.
> Doing classified activity: reply that your work is classified
Fired, they don't care about classification. They are violating it anyway, and you not doing it for them is seen as disloyal.
> “Too engrossed”: over 48 hours of not checking email at all? I doubt any government job is that engrossing.
I don't. A lot of departments do most of their communication through other platforms now anyway, so email is only for interfacing with outsiders. If you do little of that in your daily duty, it's not unreasonable to only check your emails once or twice a week.
Why are you bending over backwards to make excuses for this shitshow of an operation? DOGE is an embarrassment, and I'm shocked that people are actually working hard on HN to try to defend its transparent incompetence.
I sincerely hope you consider adopting a kinder approach to dealing with fellow humans, and dealing with a complex task such as reforming government in a responsible and respectful way. There's no honor is treating people like the way Trump and Musk and DOGE do.
While this thread has been flagged, I hope this message gets to you. Be kind. Be thoughtful. There are honorable ways to accomplish the main goals of Trump/Musk without the vitriol.
I will reserve my compassion for all the citizens who have to deal with a bureaucracy that thinks being expected to answer their email is a violation of their human rights.
Try to understand: It's very difficult to give your stance the benefit of the doubt, unless there is some kind of language issue, or you are neurodivergent (not intended as an insult in the slightest).
Easiness is moot. Yes, the task is easy. It's also very easy to kiss a beringed hand - it takes two seconds. Humans shall be treated as humans, i.e. with a baseline level of dignity/respect, or they shall not give you the same back. To say that Elon treats people in a petty/disrespectful way would be an understatement of spine-tingling magnitude. And, to do so from a position of dubiously earned authority, and with such hostile intent, multiplies the effect. People resist such hideousness by their immutable nature, Americans perhaps more so than average.
