Securing their Bags

It is important to help these folks secure their bags. Nothing says public-spirited restraint quite like asking the government to manage competitive pressure after your organization has already achieved a commanding position.

The request is difficult to take entirely at face value. Many of the signatories are not powerless employees petitioning remote executives. They are founders, chief scientists, executives, senior researchers, and other leaders of the companies whose choices supposedly leave them with no alternative.

That does not prove every concern in the original statement is wrong. It does mean the incentives and institutional power of the people making the request deserve at least as much scrutiny as the request itself.