I think it's pretty dirty. Recent contributions that impress me the most typically come from western europeans / canadians who got solid educations on the taxp

I think it's pretty dirty. Recent contributions that impress me the most typically come from western europeans / canadians who got solid educations on the taxpayer's dime back home. SV wants their know-how without having to foot the tax bill for it. Meanwhile, the rest of the US is littered with marginal state and private institutions that leave local kids with big debts for small skills. This is a typical SV f*-everybody move though. Europeans get screwed by paying for an education that benefits the US. Americans get screwed for paying megabucks all these years for the military-industrial complex that SV grew out of, but the jobs are reserved for the anointed of the earth, and the profits are stockpiled in Ireland/Netherlands/Bermuda.