Great post and I totally agree. I do wonder whether in some cases, especially with people who work for think tanks and nonprofits, the pro-silicon valley message isn't actually a consequence of their economic incentives, rather than their distance from them. Worth thinking about who is funding these initiatives, perhaps? I'm thinking about the parallel case of education: the Gates Foundation has funded absolutely massive amounts of research--there is really nothing else like it--that, to the untrained eye, codes extremely "left wing" but in reality it's done an enormous amount to undermine confidence in the public school system and promote school choice and charters as ideologies. It's ostensibly leftist but in its concrete effects, especially on teachers and their unions, very Silicon-Valley-libertarian... which doesn't feel like a coincidence given where the money comes from.
Great point. I thought about touching on funding but don't really know much about it. Am hoping David Golumbia's posthumous book (coming next month from Minnesota) will teach me more.
Great post and I totally agree. I do wonder whether in some cases, especially with people who work for think tanks and nonprofits, the pro-silicon valley message isn't actually a consequence of their economic incentives, rather than their distance from them. Worth thinking about who is funding these initiatives, perhaps? I'm thinking about the parallel case of education: the Gates Foundation has funded absolutely massive amounts of research--there is really nothing else like it--that, to the untrained eye, codes extremely "left wing" but in reality it's done an enormous amount to undermine confidence in the public school system and promote school choice and charters as ideologies. It's ostensibly leftist but in its concrete effects, especially on teachers and their unions, very Silicon-Valley-libertarian... which doesn't feel like a coincidence given where the money comes from.
Great point. I thought about touching on funding but don't really know much about it. Am hoping David Golumbia's posthumous book (coming next month from Minnesota) will teach me more.
Thank you for being frank in these vapid times, Derek. Refreshing.