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> As technologists, how can we work to rebuild regional and local political and economic sovereignty? I think you hit the nail on the head. Unfortunately, tech
by titzer 6y ago
> As technologists, how can we work to rebuild regional and local political and economic sovereignty?
I think you hit the nail on the head. Unfortunately, technologists are naturally focused on scaling solutions up to the entire world. We want to use technology to push hard real world problems behind a screen, behind keyboards, and behind servers. This creates a contradiction in our thinking that cannot be resolved. It cannot be resolved because the political climate is created by exactly that phenomenon of scale, by pushing people and their problems behind screens and servers and making them dance at the touch of our keyboards.
You really want to fix things? Stop thinking about technology and making money and help out in your local community.
Don't take this to mean you, personally. Just someone else. Someone else should work in their local community. We can still write code and make money.
Oh wait. Dang it again.
- Fellshard 6y agoUnfortunately, the very idea of locality and federation of power is itself one of the dividing lines - clever, that, really. The people who believe all things must be fixed from the top down, and the people who believe things can only be fixed from the bottom up.
- ravel-bar-foo 6y agoI'm not sure that line cleaves along political affiliation, but I'm willing to be convinced. I know both Democratic party insiders who have pivoted to local political activism following the presidential election, and Republican businessmen who are adamant that taking a stand in local politics is the way forward for their movement.
- Fellshard 6y agoIt's certainly not perfectly along the fault line, but enough so to make it difficult to persuade.
- bordercases 6y ago"We" is a helluva drug. Same with "you". What about "I"?
- clcaev 6y ago> You really want to fix things? Stop thinking about technology and making money and help out in your local community. These are not mutually exclusive; on the contrary, they are complementary. Moreover, with the notion of "calm companies" who move deliberately and fix things, it's though local economic engagement that social problems are resolved though mutual interdependence and individual prosperity.
- foofoo4u 6y agoIt reminds me of an Australian 60 Minutes episode that was about the energy crisis in the country. I don't know if its been resolved yet, but at the time of the filming, which wasn't too long ago, Australia was facing a severe energy issue in which the cost of electricity became astronomical. A significant portion of people's income was being spent on energy alone. And this seems to be a highly contentious issue in the country. A significant portion of the episode was about solving the problem by utilizing Solar Energy technology from Elon Musk. This bothered me, because it was emblematic of the silicon valley mindset. Which is to obsess over solving the world's problems with technology. Many problems can be solved with good policy alone. Having the right laws, the right incentives, the right talent, and the right balance of power is the most effective way to solve issues. The discussion about technology should come after not before a discussion about proper policy takes place. Sure, maybe the solar tech in this case will help lower costs. But that's probably only because it is an efficiency appended to something that shouldn't be inefficient in the first place. Another way to frame this is: there are many other countries out there with similar infrastructure to Australia that do not have the same issues thanks to better policy.