Using Technology to Deepen Democracy, Using Democracy to Ensure Technology Benefits Us All

Monday, February 17, 2014

Biddle Tiddles SillyCon Friedmania

Hulk smash stale stache:
The first line in town idiot Thomas Friedman's latest column is maybe the most stupid part: "The most striking thing about visiting Silicon Valley these days is how many creative ideas you can hear in just 48 hours." ... If anything, one of the most striking things about tech today is the ear-popping dearth of creative, new ideas... Yes, if you take literally everything you hear from tech execs at face value, while applying no critical thinking, I can understand why it'd be easy to walk away amazed. The theme park version of any industry is compelling... The Will to Power is real. Friedman says that these software übermenschen... have one thing in common: "They're fixated on creating abundance, not redividing scarcity, and they respect no limits on imagination." ... Abundance of what exactly? ... Cars with pink mustaches on them? Apps? A generation of 20-something Stanford kids making toys for each other isn't the sort of abundance that would justify Friedman's headline -- "Start-Up America: Our Best Hope." ... Silicon Valley: where failure is worshiped, criticism is taboo, networking is done atop mechanical bulls, summer camp is for adults, and words have no meaning. There's plenty of dumb in DC, but only Silicon Valley is producing it in true abundance.
I'm pretty sure that "Our" in Our Best Hope is the, you know, economic royalist "we" -- and Friedman is probably right that the SillyCon Valley offers a plausible bolt-hole for his own ongoing silly con-artistry. When techbros (or worse: libertechbrotarians) start hyperventilating about their disrespect of any! limits! you know they are just reminding us that they fully expect there will always be plenty of underhumans around to clean up their messes for them. Of course, we all know that about them already. It's called, you're an asshole, guys.

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