There is no small measure of irony in the fact that, as the American corporation — that perfectly evolved species of ravenous capitalism — grows, it resembles nothing so much as the Soviet Union circa 1954.

Last week, I spent an hour of my life in a summary meeting of the internal data security Core Team ahead of a report to the Steering Committee ahead of a report to the central Project Prioritization Committee. The PPC will then create Steering and Core teams to define the long-term plan, which will then report back to the PPC, which will then create Steering and Core teams to implement the plan.

No, seriously.