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"Silicon Valley" is not a monolithic actor, and certainly not a scam on some general level. There are scams within Silicon Valley, just like there are Madoff on

"Silicon Valley" is not a monolithic actor, and certainly not a scam on some general level. There are scams within Silicon Valley, just like there are Madoff on Wall Street, and car dealerships charging too much for repairs in most small towns. Re: Uber - Why anyone would complain about Softbank and the Saudis subsidizing urban transport for years is beyond me. Take it while it's cheap...

troupo 3y ago
> Why anyone would complain about Softbank and the Saudis subsidizing urban transport They are not subsidizing urban trasport. They are subsidizing a monopoly built out of gig workers.
sonicshadow 3y ago
Deal with the consequences later is what I like to say.
JohnFen 3y ago
> "Silicon Valley" is not a monolithic actor, and certainly not a scam on some general level True to a degree, but there is absolutely a Silicon Valley mindset and ethos that is very common. And that mindset is largely accepting of scammy behavior and often even celebrates it.
- blueyes 3y ago
  There are multiple cultural streams within Silicon Valley. Anyone who lives there could tell you that. Again, not a monolith. One of those currents easily tips into scams, and they are the least respectable. Other currents are focused on deep tech and life sciences. The first powers everything you do online, and the second will probably save your life at some point. Any society that equates technical innovation with "scams" will stagnate. It is in all of our interests to remember that and not lapse into easy pessimism. Silicon Valley is much more than scams.
JumpinJack_Cash 3y ago
> > SV not a scam on some general level Except it kinda is. The big improvement in quality of life for people in the last 3 years have been mRNA vaccines, they brought normality back in the world. Developed in Boston and Germany. In the 2010s the real revolution which made everybody in the world safer was fracking. Forget social media and all that crap, fracking has saved trillions to the US economy given how costly the Middle East military campaigns proved to be. And yet in the press (tech, financial and otherwise) there is just the Silicon Valley, because it's a 2 way street, people in Silicon Valley go out of their way to get press space to explain to mere mortals how they are saving the world when there is vivid action attacking the problems in all kind of places, sometimes world saving kind of action (as per the case of mRNA)

troupo 3y ago

> Why anyone would complain about Softbank and the Saudis subsidizing urban transport They are not subsidizing urban trasport. They are subsidizing a monopoly built out of gig workers.

sonicshadow 3y ago

Deal with the consequences later is what I like to say.

JohnFen 3y ago

> "Silicon Valley" is not a monolithic actor, and certainly not a scam on some general level True to a degree, but there is absolutely a Silicon Valley mindset and ethos that is very common. And that mindset is largely accepting of scammy behavior and often even celebrates it.

blueyes 3y ago
There are multiple cultural streams within Silicon Valley. Anyone who lives there could tell you that. Again, not a monolith. One of those currents easily tips into scams, and they are the least respectable. Other currents are focused on deep tech and life sciences. The first powers everything you do online, and the second will probably save your life at some point. Any society that equates technical innovation with "scams" will stagnate. It is in all of our interests to remember that and not lapse into easy pessimism. Silicon Valley is much more than scams.

JumpinJack_Cash 3y ago

> > SV not a scam on some general level Except it kinda is. The big improvement in quality of life for people in the last 3 years have been mRNA vaccines, they brought normality back in the world. Developed in Boston and Germany. In the 2010s the real revolution which made everybody in the world safer was fracking. Forget social media and all that crap, fracking has saved trillions to the US economy given how costly the Middle East military campaigns proved to be. And yet in the press (tech, financial and otherwise) there is just the Silicon Valley, because it's a 2 way street, people in Silicon Valley go out of their way to get press space to explain to mere mortals how they are saving the world when there is vivid action attacking the problems in all kind of places, sometimes world saving kind of action (as per the case of mRNA)