I believe different people literally see the world different and there should be an option to remove icons if they prefer this way. It used to be this option at least in some programs.
But of course this person doesn't like it, and it wants everyone to follow his taste.
The intent is there.
It's an incredibly complex distributed system with millions of actors and interactions, entrenched powers, regulatory capture, Citizens United, etc. It has to be defended and garbage collected.