Doge – What is DOGE? Biting dog now controlled by Elon Musk was once a meme and crypto coin

Dogecoin


We live in unreal times. Because nothing else explains the rise of Doge, now not just a four-letter word but a four-letter government agency in the US. On Wednesday, the upcoming US President Donald trump announced the formation of DOGE, a government agency that would be headed by tech tycoon Elon Musk and fellow MAGA brother Vivek Ramaswamy. The full name of DOGE — the Department of Government Efficiency — hints at its purpose: run the US government with the same efficiency and ruthlessness that we see in lean and agile tech companies.

We don’t yet know if the DOGE is going to be an official agency or unofficial, like the way party committees are in some authoritarian countries, but what we can imagine is that it is going to be a biting dog of Elon Musk, the single-biggest person behind the MAGA machine that made Donald Trump win. It is possible that with the DOGE Elon Musk may do to the US government what he did to Twitter aka X when he bought it: fire some 70 per cent employees.

At least, this is the impression that one gets from the Donald Trump Statement on the DOGE. “These two wonderful Americans (Vivek and Musk) will pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies – Essential to the Save America Movement,” Trump said. Musk added his own bit to the official announcement. “(DOGE) will send shockwaves through the system, and anyone involved in Government waste, which is a lot of people,” he said.

So amuse, much transform

Of course, several years ago — which now feels like an eternity away — Doge was just a cute puppy and a meme. It was a photo of a Shiba Inu — originally a dog named Kabusu from Japan — looking playful and bemused. When appearing in memes it was accompanied by two-word phrases — one of which was often “so”, “very, and ”much”. Here is an example:

Doge has been a very popular meme in the last 10 years. It has become part of the common parlance, it has been featured in all kinds of places — serious and fun. And no wonder! Everyone loves puppies and some people love them madly. Like John Wick. Vladimir Putin. And probably Elon Musk.

Musk, the world’s richest man has always been into memes. Like so many others in the world of technology who are familiar with communities and culture of Reddit, 4Chan and 9Gag. And he has always been into memes that may come across goofy, and are sometimes corny. Doge has been a favourite of Musk when it comes to memes, so much so that a few years ago he all but adopted DogeCoin, a meme cryptocurrency that was launched as a joke in 2013. Since then Musk has often posted memes and tweets with DogeCoin as its theme, giving it his stamp of approval and helping its value rise.

Even though DogeCoin is a meme cryptocurrency, it currently has market capitalisation of over $55 billion dollars. Because people know that Elon Musk loves the word Doge, in the last one month, and particularly after the US elections, its value has gone up by 240 per cent.

The many faces of Doge

The use of Shiba Inu pup goes even beyond the DogeCoin and Doge memes. Given how popular and recognisable it is — and obviously how goofily cute — the Doge has found a place in stickers, buttons, insignias, seals and stamps, on t-shirts and bags, and even in emblems. And of course it has found a place in so much of what Elon Musk does.

The DOGE as a government agency is not exactly a new idea. Months ago, even at a time when there was no guarantee that Trump would win, Elon Musk stared talking of the Department of Government Efficiency. The name, like he so often does, was picked because it flies in the face of norms and normal sensibilities. It was Elon Musk’s idea of having fun, like that “let this sink in” when he entered the Twitter HQ carrying a washbasin. But as it so happens nowadays what Musk floats as a joke — for example, buying Twitter — often ends up being a reality a few months down the line.

It has now happened with Doge. Once upon a time it too was a joke and cute dog. But chances are that US government officials and bureaucrats who will soon face it will not find it funny.

Published By:

Divya Bhati

Published On:

Nov 13, 2024


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