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It's interesting to think about the harm done by Intuit and other companies' lobbying on this file, and compare it to the language that people like Ben Horowitz
by reso 3y ago
It's interesting to think about the harm done by Intuit and other companies' lobbying on this file, and compare it to the language that people like Ben Horowitz have used to describe Bill Campbell, Intuit's chairman in this period.
To hear it from people like Horowitz (in his book), Campbell is one of the best people he's ever met; one step removed from a saint. But the man's actions in stopping free online filing to become a reality in the US have caused incredible harm.
It's easy to confuse a nice person with a good person.
- fakedang 3y agoIsn't that the case with everyone Silicon Valley lionizes? People in tech always want to show how much they work for the "good side", when in reality, they're all part of the machine that causes long term societal harm. I was recently at an event in New York, where they were honoring Kissinger. At least there, no one in the room was playing the part of a saint - everyone knew he was a near equivalent of the devil incarnate, possibly even the old man himself.
- reso 3y agoTo me this illustrates something different than “all Silicon Valley people think they are the good guys”. Eg. Elon Musk is famously not very nice, doesn’t pretend to be nice, and many people have had bad experiences with him directly. But there is a different set of SV people who no one has ever said a mean word about personally, but whose influence on the world is deeply harmful, sometimes bordering on evil, like Campbell’s case here. I think many people can’t tell the difference between a nice person and a good person.