Silicon Valley's hunger problems grow during a time of record profits
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Re: Silicon Valley's hunger problems grow during a time of record profits
#2IIRC : Silicon Valley gives generously to homelessness, food banks, and job training for people who can’t afford to live there, eat, and clothe their children. Right?
Re: Silicon Valley's hunger problems grow during a time of record profits
#3IIRC : Silicon Valley gives generously to homelessness, food banks, and job training for people who can’t afford to live there, eat, and clothe their children. Right?
I have no special knowledge about SF, but in NYC and other places I’ve lived that spending is through a patchwork of disjointed services. Along the way a lot of the money is lost in overhead and captured by contractors.
Re: Silicon Valley's hunger problems grow during a time of record profits
#4Tldr version: Bay Areas's shitty governance continues to be shitty during the pandemic.
Re: Silicon Valley's hunger problems grow during a time of record profits
#5IIRC : Silicon Valley gives generously to homelessness, food banks, and job training for people who can’t afford to live there, eat, and clothe their children. Right?
It's a very complex issue -
1. The current amount of charity is not enough, and there's a growing population of underserved people in these areas. There wasn't enough before COVID exacerbated it, so the demand increased by multiples and supply did not.
2. Many companies receive tax incentives to be where they are (which are often projected to be rosier than reality - see SF Mid-Market), so people expect the companies to "pay it back" in some way. This is ambiguous, doesn't really happen, or it's paltry sums relative to the lost tax revenue.
3. Several well-funded initiatives were stopped by NIMBYs (e.g. homeless shelters for SF should always be in someone else's neighborhood - so liberals will sue to protect their property value, more housing should be anywhere away from them and not block their bay views, more than 3 stories is offensive, or preventing meals for the homeless at a church in a nice neighborhood because people the same people who donated would prefer it doesn't happen near them). Turns out people can be altruistic and selfish simultaneously, which is how you end up with SF. Liberal when it's an idea, conservative once it might affect you.
Most would argue it's not the corporations' responsibility, and communities shouldn't be at the whims of a profit maximizing corporation's generosity (nor their employees). However, people are trying to find help anywhere. The federal government decided it's not their problem, so people are looking to the corporate world to help. Seeing Apple's $57B in profits while food banks are empty a few miles away is Hunger Games-esque, and makes them an easy scapegoat.
Some would say a lesson is that you shouldn't depend on individual or corporate generosity in a crisis, but GoFundMe is the preferred way to pay for medical bills for at least 70m people in the US, so who the fuck knows.
Re: Silicon Valley's hunger problems grow during a time of record profits
#6IIRC : Silicon Valley gives generously to homelessness, food banks, and job training for people who can’t afford to live there, eat, and clothe their children. Right?
It's a very complex issue - 1. The current amount of charity is not enough, and there's a growing population of underserved people in these areas. There wasn't enough before COVID exacerbated it, so the demand increased by multiples and supply did not. 2. Many companies receive tax incentives to be where they are (which are often projected to be rosier than reality - see SF Mid-Market), so people expect the companies…
This was the kind of response I had hoped for. What influence do you think silicon valley has California government on this issue?
Re: Silicon Valley's hunger problems grow during a time of record profits
#7IIRC : Silicon Valley gives generously to homelessness, food banks, and job training for people who can’t afford to live there, eat, and clothe their children. Right?
It's a very complex issue - 1. The current amount of charity is not enough, and there's a growing population of underserved people in these areas. There wasn't enough before COVID exacerbated it, so the demand increased by multiples and supply did not. 2. Many companies receive tax incentives to be where they are (which are often projected to be rosier than reality - see SF Mid-Market), so people expect the companies…
> so liberals will sue to protect their property value
I see this repeated all the time. I’m sure there are hypocrites aplenty but I doubt San Francisco owners are anywhere near as liberal as the city population overall.
Re: Silicon Valley's hunger problems grow during a time of record profits
#8Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's a very complex issue - 1. The current amount of charity is not enough, and there's a growing population of underserved people in these areas. There wasn't enough before COVID exacerbated it, so the demand increased by multiples and supply did not. 2. Many companies receive tax incentives to be where they are (which are often projected to be rosier than reality - see SF Mid-Market), so people expect the companies…
This was the kind of response I had hoped for. What influence do you think silicon valley has California government on this issue?
If they can spend all that money lobbying for industry influence in D.C., couldn’t they spend some for advocating for pro-housing local measures? Their money definitely goes a ways at the national level, why not spend it closer.
Re: Silicon Valley's hunger problems grow during a time of record profits
#9I identify as a leftist. I believe the government, and more generally a nation, has a duty to ensure quality of life for its citizens.
That said, I think this article is grounded in a false dichotomy: "As Silicon Valley has had one of its most profitable years in history, thousands of people who live in walking distance from the headquarters of the world's best-known tech giants are going hungry."
How does distance to the hungry matter? Companies are already donating. They have no duty to. The failure isn't on their end. I'd also extrapolate that the failure isn't on the system currently in place: if they're getting funded and people are still hungry: why are they hungry?
There isn't enough access to jobs, there is too much financial duress, and there isn't a layer of support to help these people. That's entirely on the government to sort. Blaming businesses for not sorting this problem is simply moving the goalposts.
Re: Silicon Valley's hunger problems grow during a time of record profits
#10Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's a very complex issue - 1. The current amount of charity is not enough, and there's a growing population of underserved people in these areas. There wasn't enough before COVID exacerbated it, so the demand increased by multiples and supply did not. 2. Many companies receive tax incentives to be where they are (which are often projected to be rosier than reality - see SF Mid-Market), so people expect the companies…
> so liberals will sue to protect their property value I see this repeated all the time. I’m sure there are hypocrites aplenty but I doubt San Francisco owners are anywhere near as liberal as the city population overall.
There is a great map someone built to show voting by neighbourhood in sf. They are nationally the most liberal homeowners.