Google dismissed accountability concerns by asserting dynastic continuity of its founders’ views

Evidence

In the absence of standard checks and balances, the public was asked to simply “trust” the founders. Schmidt would voice this theme on their behalf whenever challenged on the subject. For example, at the Cato Institute in December 2014, Schmidt was asked about the possibility of abuse of power at Google. He simply assured the audience of the continuity of the firm’s dynastic line. Page had succeeded Schmidt as CEO in 2011, and the current leaders would handpick future leaders: “We’re fine with Larry… same circus, same clowns… it’s the same people… all of us who built Google have the same view, and I am sure our successors will have the same view.” — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 323

Categorization

• CANDY: The ‘same circus, same clowns’ Schmidt quote is a vivid, shareable line about how tech leaders shrugged off governance concerns.
• XREF: connects to: Google responds to resistance with staged superficial compliance rather than genuine reform — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 441; Google executives dismissed resistance as ignorance and equated critics with authoritarians — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 448; Google’s founders openly dismiss law as outdated and seek self-governing test zones — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 336 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Google’s founders openly dismiss law as outdated and seek self-governing test zones #corroborates (0.85) — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 336
• Google’s founding culture was a radical technical meritocracy contemptuous of mundane business #expands (0.80) — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 881