Last week I happened upon a very bad tweet and it ’s been haunting me ever since , fill up me with a quiet and persistent rage I can only release through the artistry of the written word .
From the deranged mind of Silicon Valley’sBalaji Srinivasan — member of the board of Andreessen Horowitz and CEO of some Bitcoin startup — comes this unfortunately myopic way of looking at the world .
Here ’s the thing : Only an incredibly out - of - mite person would wish this tweet . Being part of the 1 % , more often than not , renders you out - of - touch sensation with the residual of us . I attempt to be take of all standpoint — but really Balaji ? Where do I even get down ? First , let ’s contextualize how batshit gaga Balaji Srinivasan is . Like a sure person intent on bankrupting this very troupe , he haskooky ideasaboutliving forever . Back in 2014 , Srinivasan made newspaper headline because he was very outspoken about his belief that Silicon Valley shouldsecedefrom the rest of society . Specifically , he offered upthis plan , vehemence mine :
Just like the Amish inhabit nearby , peacefully , in the past – imagine a society of Inverse Amish that lives nearby , peacefully , in the future . A position where Google Glass wearer are normal , where self - driving elevator car and legal transfer drones are n’t trammel by law , and where we can experiment with new technologies * without * have unreasonable disruption to others …
I believe that regularisation be for a reason . And I think that raw technology will keep coming up against live rulesets . I do n’t believe the solution is either to change the rulesets ( which , again , be for a ground ) OR to give up on new applied science . I conceive alternatively we take a third solution : a direction to way out ( whether to the swarm for purely digital technologies , or to a Special Innovation Zone or ultimately a startup nation ) , show / disprove these new engineering science among a ego - pick out , opt - in radical of risk - tolerant early adopter , and describe back to the mothership on what works and what does n’t .
This is a guy who intend a chemical group of millionaires and billionaires should be able to lead lives unrestricted by annoying “ laws ” and “ regulation , ” imbibe Soylent in their own Special Innovation Zone where no one gets bullied for wear Google Glass . Balaji wants to live outside these restrictive societal norms , so , to reiterate , it makes sense he also declare these beliefs :
https://twitter.com/embed/status/753773388452073472
The tweet does n’t bind to those pesky principle of “ logic . ” But then again , the Silicon Valley elites are too rich and innovative to care about such petty things .
Uber does n’t stop any argument about regularisation . Apps like Uber , if anything , get people very talkative about said “ regulating , ” even if they were design to evade it . lately , Ubersettled two lawsuitsto ensure its machine driver would stay contractors ; this way , the caller wo n’t be obligated to do overnice thing for its driver , like pay minimum earnings or societal security . Uber is n’t a solution to regulation ; it just found a gap in the system and is rich enough to take advantage of the people who make the troupe all its money .
The Bitcoin claim is far more ridiculous , mostly because no one outside of the technical school Earth founder a tinker’s damn about Bitcoin . Heck , Florida does n’t evenconsider Bitcointo be substantial money . It ’s far from any answer to monetary insurance . late , hackersstoleover $ 72 million in Bitcoin . And still , Bitfinex , the humankind ’s largest Bitcoin exchange , wo n’t even give you the option to stack away your Bitcoin offline for you , meaning if you want to keep your Bitcoin safe from hackers , you ’re on your own . clear , this shit wo n’t be replace lawful money anytime soon . And again , if anything , make this novel medium of currency has instigate more conversations about monetary policy .
Here ’s the heart of why I hate this tweet : We should argue about regulation and pecuniary policy . These are important conversation . Talking about problems with people who do n’t agree with you is in reality a really good and of import affair . Rich citizenry might not care this because rich people do n’t have to be frequently subjugate to multitude who differ with them if they do n’t want to be . I get it , billionaire , regularisation suxxxxx because it hinders your pursuit of capital , or as Silicon Valley bros call it , “ institution . ”
There ’s this predominant ideology in the technical school world that these startup daddies can fix any job by building something “ new , ” by innovating and techfluencing and whatever the cant of the 24-hour interval is . ( synergism ? ) masses like Balaji Srinivasan think they ’re renegades and underdog because they ’re create unexampled engineering . technical school is n’t inherently innovative nor is it a solution to the humans ’s problem . specially if the tech set are so intent on avoiding “ argument ” about policy . When it come down to it , the people at the top of Silicon Valley are n’t focus on necessarily “ bettering ” society ; they ’re trying to happen fresh ways to get as much money as possible . The only difference between them and business organisation man ? They tire hoodies rather of suit and are “ nerds ” because they can encrypt .
At the ending of the day , if your app is built on using , it ’s not truly modern .
Silicon Valley
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