
Silicon Valley dreams of secession - grey-area
http://www.salon.com/2013/10/28/silicon_valley_dreams_of_secession/
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pron
I watched the video. At first I thought, yeah, it's just old robber-
baron/intellectual elite hubris, and the first thing that came to mind (as I'm
sure it did for many other viewers of the talk) was that episode of the
Simpsons where the "council of learned citizens" – later renamed as "the
council of Alphas" – came to power and ruled Springfield until Stephen Hawking
rescues the people of the town from the utopia-turned-dystopia of the elite.

But in order to compare this sentiment (that, if given as a talk in that
forum, is probably not just in the mind of that particular speaker) to other
historic notions of powerful elites, we need to examine the details.

On first viewing, I noticed a few things. First, he expresses a desire to rule
(it's obvious though perhaps only in the subtext), though not to subject the
general population to his superior governance, but rather to leave them
behind. Second, he treats Silicon Valley's (SV as a symbol, of course)
superiority as fait accompli rather than a continuous struggle for power.
Third, he considers himself a pioneer and "frontiersman", though (I think) he
does not take life-threatening risks as others considered frontiersmen did.

I wonder if anyone can compare these points (and others – I'm sure I have
missed quite a few) to other historic elites and their self perception.

I think that, if taken as a historical document, there is much to study in
this talk.

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subsystem
I find the fact that he was invited to present at startup school far more
interesting than the message itself.

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VladRussian2
"Anarchy is the mother of order". Each new generation gets that virus for a
time. Summer of love. Summer of code.

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innino
Yeesh, what sensationalist garbage.

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thaumasiotes
I planned to respond to this,

"Sensationalist garbage? I'd be in favor. <etc.>"

and then I read the article. Unfortunately, it is sensationalist garbage. I
don't know why you were downvoted.

The author's point of view seems to begin and end with "using violence-related
metaphors in your speech, makes you a bad person".

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innino
He thinks Silicon Valley is cool AND made a geeky reference to a cult film?
BURN HIM!!

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vinceguidry
> In part, that’s because Srinivasan is not easy to dismiss.

Speak for yourself.

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mcphage
Who Is Balaji Srinivasan?

