He's as skilled at branding as those he ostensibly decries. There were many perfectly good* words to describe this phenomenon - degradation, ossification, sclerosis and more. Instead we've got this ugly neologism, the literary equivalent of a poop emoji. I agree with a lot of Doctorow's ideas, but I don't care for his commodification of dystopia. It feels like using goths to sell cigarettes.
* Not 'cromulent'