4 ms·

> To put it more plainly, for the past 10 years venture capitalists have had near-perfect laboratory conditions to create a lot of money and make the world a mu

> To put it more plainly, for the past 10 years venture capitalists have had near-perfect laboratory conditions to create a lot of money and make the world a much better place. And yet, some of their proudest accomplishments that have attracted some of the most eye-watering sums have been: 1) chasing the dream of zeroing out labor costs while monopolizing a sector to charge the highest price possible (A.I. and the gig economy); 2) creating infrastructure for speculating on digital assets that will be used to commodify more and more of our daily lives (cryptocurrency and the metaverse); and 3) militarizing public space, or helping bolster police and military operations.

Apocryphon 4y ago
Another summary from the author: > Ruined housing market & transit systems, wagged war on labor law, accelerated the militarization of public space & the border, and intensified gambling. https://twitter.com/bigblackjacobin/status/1635304210421149696 https://twitter.com/bigblackjacobin/status/16353042104211496...
- twblalock 4y ago
  As if it’s the responsibility of VCs to provide housing and transit? That’s ridiculous.
  - Apocryphon 4y ago
    VCs funded businesses that exacerbated problems in those sectors. So this is more of a critique that VCs caused problems, not chiding them for not providing solutions. But sure, corporate social responsibility is a concept that has long predated the current ESG trend. We once had a society that at least paid lip service to noblesse oblige.
    - brightlancer 4y ago
      A problem is that when a rich individual or a for-profit corporation donates money or otherwise engages in charity, there's a very loud contingent of writers who will respond that the individual or corporation should've never been able to accumulate such money, that charity is a scam to protect the rich, and what we should do is raise taxes on everyone to provide these things for everyone via government. It's important to understand that noblesse oblige was transactional: it staved off the masses from revolting and even generated some good. When charity puts a target on your back, folks won't engage in charity.
      - Apocryphon 4y ago
        As with so many other issues in the modern climate, all of that hinges on people assuming that the opinions of some wonk or columnist scold really matters to the majority of people. And refraining from simply because of fear of finger-wagging from scolds, is cowardice.
        brightlancer 4y ago
        I don't think it's an assumption at all; the opinions of the masses are shaped in large part by the media they consume. While few might read Salon or the New Yorker, it is passed around elite circles and it makes its way to CNN and MSNBC as well as reality shows and TikTok influencers. They don't fear scolds; they fear pitchforks and, more realistically, _taxes_. You can call it cowardice but it's entirely rational.
  - guywithahat 4y ago
    Not only that but it’s a failure of the city zoning laws to allow enough construction. They would have loved to fund more housing if the city allowed it
coolbreezetft22 4y ago
I've become so disillusioned with the tech industry over the past several years...just so much hubris and smugness and obnoxious "tech bros" who publicly pontificate on all sorts of unrelated topics with absolute certainty. Nothing but useless and unprofitable money-making schemes like crypto/blockchain/NFT/metaverse garbage/yet_another_delivery_or_rideshare_app. Looks like this year we get AI and foundation models.
- mancerayder 4y ago
  10x Developers! Big Ideas! Change the world! Disrupt! People in the Bay Area seem to live in buzzword land.

Apocryphon 4y ago

Another summary from the author: > Ruined housing market & transit systems, wagged war on labor law, accelerated the militarization of public space & the border, and intensified gambling. https://twitter.com/bigblackjacobin/status/1635304210421149696 https://twitter.com/bigblackjacobin/status/16353042104211496...

twblalock 4y ago
As if it’s the responsibility of VCs to provide housing and transit? That’s ridiculous.
- Apocryphon 4y ago
  VCs funded businesses that exacerbated problems in those sectors. So this is more of a critique that VCs caused problems, not chiding them for not providing solutions. But sure, corporate social responsibility is a concept that has long predated the current ESG trend. We once had a society that at least paid lip service to noblesse oblige.
  - brightlancer 4y ago
    A problem is that when a rich individual or a for-profit corporation donates money or otherwise engages in charity, there's a very loud contingent of writers who will respond that the individual or corporation should've never been able to accumulate such money, that charity is a scam to protect the rich, and what we should do is raise taxes on everyone to provide these things for everyone via government. It's important to understand that noblesse oblige was transactional: it staved off the masses from revolting and even generated some good. When charity puts a target on your back, folks won't engage in charity.
    - Apocryphon 4y ago
      As with so many other issues in the modern climate, all of that hinges on people assuming that the opinions of some wonk or columnist scold really matters to the majority of people. And refraining from simply because of fear of finger-wagging from scolds, is cowardice.
      - brightlancer 4y ago
        I don't think it's an assumption at all; the opinions of the masses are shaped in large part by the media they consume. While few might read Salon or the New Yorker, it is passed around elite circles and it makes its way to CNN and MSNBC as well as reality shows and TikTok influencers. They don't fear scolds; they fear pitchforks and, more realistically, _taxes_. You can call it cowardice but it's entirely rational.
- guywithahat 4y ago
  Not only that but it’s a failure of the city zoning laws to allow enough construction. They would have loved to fund more housing if the city allowed it

coolbreezetft22 4y ago

I've become so disillusioned with the tech industry over the past several years...just so much hubris and smugness and obnoxious "tech bros" who publicly pontificate on all sorts of unrelated topics with absolute certainty. Nothing but useless and unprofitable money-making schemes like crypto/blockchain/NFT/metaverse garbage/yet_another_delivery_or_rideshare_app. Looks like this year we get AI and foundation models.

mancerayder 4y ago
10x Developers! Big Ideas! Change the world! Disrupt! People in the Bay Area seem to live in buzzword land.