Silicon Valley's Problem • Hacker News Board

Re: Silicon Valley's Problem

#11

Post by kunle » Mon, Dec 31, 2012, 6:50 PM UTC

fleitz wrote: post #6

The underpinning idea in US governance is the idea that if you don't like the society you live in you can build a new one a little further out west. Until seasteading becomes feasible SF/the internet is as west as it gets. Amazingly, or unsurprisingly to libertarians, we can build our own society with out government telling us what to do. What is wrong with people solving their own problems rather than lobbying gover…

> What is wrong with people solving their own problems rather than lobbying government to provide a half-assed solution for them?

Nothing is wrong with it. It's ideal. That being said, the main issue with lobbying is that if you're not doing it, someone else is, and they're generating an outcome that impacts you. Even if you were a purist who truly didn't want to lobby the government, everyone else's rent-seeking puts you at enough of a disadvantage, that you'll eventually have to do it, just to maintain your status quo (not to mention moving forward).

Re: Silicon Valley's Problem

#12

Post by rayiner » Mon, Dec 31, 2012, 6:50 PM UTC

fleitz wrote: post #6

The underpinning idea in US governance is the idea that if you don't like the society you live in you can build a new one a little further out west. Until seasteading becomes feasible SF/the internet is as west as it gets. Amazingly, or unsurprisingly to libertarians, we can build our own society with out government telling us what to do. What is wrong with people solving their own problems rather than lobbying gover…

It's particularly hilarious because the west coast wouldn't exist without massive federal investment over decades. From getting people out there to irrigating what is mostly a desolate wasteland, places like Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Southern California are creatures of federal investment.

Re: Silicon Valley's Problem

#13

Post by RyanZAG » Mon, Dec 31, 2012, 6:52 PM UTC

Meh.

The Silicon Valley rich are famously stingy philanthropists and a defense I’ve heard more than once is that the tools they spend their time building are inherently good. “Why donate money when people can just download my app and instantly have a better life?”

Maybe I have a different view on the this from most on HA as I live in Africa, but products like cheaper cellphones have had a far more massive effect for the masses than a few philanthropists donating some money to charities. Charities in general have almost no effect on the ground.

Charity is not the way to make the world better. The only way to make the world better is by building methods for more people to take part directly in the global economy - and as Americans are now realizing, this isn't necessarily going to be a good thing for Americans who will only gain more competition.

Re: Silicon Valley's Problem

#14

Post by eaurouge » Mon, Dec 31, 2012, 7:02 PM UTC

Silicon Valley != San Francisco. In fact, the idea of San Francisco being a part of Silicon Valley is a very recent one. The article makes some good points. But if you're going to write about Silicon Valley, the first thing you must do is understand what it is.

Re: Silicon Valley's Problem

#15

Post by rprasad » Mon, Dec 31, 2012, 7:03 PM UTC

The solution to the SV problem is not to lobby the government or to try to set up some libertarian outpost in the desert.

Just move out of SV. The air is different outside of SV. People don't care about apps, or financing rounds, or VCs.

Want a truly different perspective? Move to Detroit, a struggling city with a half-abandoned core, or to Akron, a former industrial megapower that hasn't been relevant in decades. In both cities, new manufacturing technologies and/or processes are needed to vitalize their local industries. In the Central Valley cities of Fresno and Merced, water and air quality concerns impact both the quality of life and the strength of one of California's primary industries. In the southwest, access to water will be the ultimate arbiter of growth in the decades to come. These are all real problems, but they're not problems that you'd ever come across in SV.

Re: Silicon Valley's Problem

#16

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Dec 31, 2012, 7:05 PM UTC

rayiner wrote: post #12

fleitz wrote: post #6

The underpinning idea in US governance is the idea that if you don't like the society you live in you can build a new one a little further out west. Until seasteading becomes feasible SF/the internet is as west as it gets. Amazingly, or unsurprisingly to libertarians, we can build our own society with out government telling us what to do. What is wrong with people solving their own problems rather than lobbying gover…

It's particularly hilarious because the west coast wouldn't exist without massive federal investment over decades. From getting people out there to irrigating what is mostly a desolate wasteland, places like Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Southern California are creatures of federal investment.

[deleted]

Re: Silicon Valley's Problem

#17

Post by dreamdu5t » Mon, Dec 31, 2012, 7:19 PM UTC

There is no Silicon Valley problem.

She assumes that everyone shares her progressive/leftist view of government.

Why is it Silicon Valley's responsibility to "fix government" and not hers?

Re: Silicon Valley's Problem

#18

Post by WiseWeasel » Mon, Dec 31, 2012, 7:19 PM UTC

My impression is that the tech culture pervading SV is built on a foundation of decentralized problem solving on a global scale, finding people who share an interest in the solution to some problem they're faced with, and working towards that solution with them. Intermediaries such as NGOs and governing bodies are not valued, because their operation isn't transparent or accessible. National borders and the government agencies they contain are becoming increasingly irrelevant as we are able to work and play with people regardless of locality, and the influence of national organizations is seen as a liability for more global-minded projects. The author seems to place a great deal of faith and value in institutions which have failed to keep pace with the workings of modern human society.

Re: Silicon Valley's Problem

#19

Post by cbracy » Mon, Dec 31, 2012, 7:20 PM UTC

RyanZAG wrote: post #13

Meh. The Silicon Valley rich are famously stingy philanthropists and a defense I’ve heard more than once is that the tools they spend their time building are inherently good. “Why donate money when people can just download my app and instantly have a better life?” Maybe I have a different view on the this from most on HA as I live in Africa, but products like cheaper cellphones have had a far more massive effect for…

Leave aside that I don't think the analogy to African aid is quite relevant here, I agree with you. Charity alone isn't necessarily helpful nor does it define the good a person has done. But the lack of philanthropy in SV is indicative of the attitude and culture I'm trying to describe: individualistic, not integrated into a diverse community, divorced from a sense of civic responsibility.

Re: Silicon Valley's Problem

#20

Post by akkartik » Mon, Dec 31, 2012, 7:21 PM UTC

fatbird wrote: post #8

Love this: Their goal is to make themselves as appealing—or threatening—to a big player as possible so they can get bought out for a few hundred million dollars and then devote the rest of their lives to a) building Burning Man installations, b) investing in other people’s widgets, or c) both. They really don’t care that much about making the world a better place, mostly because they feel like they don’t have to live…

Also:

"Why donate money when people can just download my app and instantly have a better life?"

She's talking almost directly to Steve Jobs. http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/08/29/the-mystery-of-steve-... The quote is a caricature of a more nuanced position, but articles like this are equally nuts: http://blogs.hbr.org/pallotta/2011/09/steve-jobs-worlds-grea...