Friday, March 17, 2017

Silicon Valley: A Brilliant Leftist Success Story

This post is not intended to be tongue and cheek.
It is not meant to be mocking and derisive as I normally am towards the left.
And there are no spoilers at the end of this post, where I pull the rug out from underneath them.

This post, in all sincerity, is a tipping of the hat, a golf clap, and admission to a genuine and brilliant achievement of the left that the right cannot hold a candle to.  It is to admit an amazing success of the left that I did not realize until just this past week.  And I would even say it raises the possibility that what the left aims to achieve is possible and feasible (though it means brainwashing entire generations and eliminating individuality, independent thought, and simple self respect).

And that achievement is Silicon Valley.

Hate California all you want.  And loathe the epicenter of smugness called San Francisco.  You cannot deny that Silicon Valley is one of the few remaining and modern day American success stories.  Admittedly the story dates back to the 1970's with the PC revolution, but today it is a reinvented success story with the internet and social media revolution.

Like the Bakken oilfield a young man (or woman) with the right skills can go out there and make six figures.  And also like the Bakken oilfield their skills WILL NOT go to waste as if it were some 1990's internship scam.  And furthermore, while not every social media platform is guaranteed to be profitable, let alone truly advance society, the titans that have come out of Silicon Valley thus far have drastically improved the quality of life, entertainment, and happiness of the world, not to mention (I theorize) kept US GDP positive since the housing collapse.

Silicon Valley, its leftist politics aside, has been a large net positive for the US and the world.

But one thing kept nagging me, as I'm sure it nagged you.

How can the people of Silicon Valley vote so left, so consistently, all the time?  Shouldn't they be conservative?  Or at least libertarian?  Why are they - be it the billionaire CEO on top, or the "lowly" entry level programmer making "only" $120,000 on the bottom - willingly voting away half their salaries, effectively enslaving themselves to people who just plain don't want to work?  Don't they know?  Don't they care?  Or do they know something we non-leftists don't?

The truth is none of the above.

What we're witnessing in Silicon Valley is not a lapse of judgement or faulty logic, nor is it a superior knowledge of socio-economics and politics us fly-over country plebs aren't hip to.  Quite simply, all the left has done was successfully brainwash two full generations in socialism.

And they have done so masterfully.

Like a nutmeg tree, the left has been patiently growing the Millennial and Gen X crop of leftists for the past 30 years.  They have done so through the soft underbelly of the United States, namely the public schools and academia, because the nuclear family and US military were too strong.  But slowly and surely, the seeds the left have sown in the 60's and 70's are paying off today.  And Silicon Valley is their pinnacle achievement.

Note that to be "old" in Silicon Valley is to be 35+.  Not 50.  Not 60.  That's the proto-crop of Baby Boomers who were experimental and inevitably went right when Reagan came into office.  But in perfecting their technique and having the Baby Boomers fully outsource the rearing of their own children to day care and the state schools, the left came to fully own the environment and primary media by which children were raised and educated.  This included reading, writing, and arithmetic, but also included subtle (and not so subtle) leftist bias, "the ozone layer," "the rain forests," "kids starving in Africa," which evolved today to things like "privilege," "31 flavors of gender," "sexism," "the pay gap," "global warming" and "your carbon footprint."  And if they weren't fully indoctrinated by then, college would cement their brainwashing, if not forcing it down students' throats as a prerequisite to graduate, graduate with honors, or mandatory pre-req classes.

The result (for at least the STEM graduates bound for Silicon Valley) were highly skilled children who were programmed to value the commune over the individual.  So not only would they produce a lot, but they'd be willing to vote themselves into slavery for half their working days.  You can see this in the charts again where more and more money Silicon money is donated to democrats as the millennials enter the work force (or Silicon Valley's millennials having orgasms OVER A VERITABLE SOCIALIST WHO WANTED TO TAX THEM AT 75%)  But what I find jaw-droppingly-amazing beyond that was how the left MASTERFULLY brainwashed these kids to think they're "independent minded" on top of it.  Like an auto-immune deficiency virus, this brilliant stroke of brainwashing ensured any attempts to instill GENUINE independent thought (heck, just a different thought) would be impossible since the host/slave themselves would not believe it possible they could be duped because "they're so smart and independent minded." 

The result is a drastic improvement over the Bolshevikian communism of the Soviet Union.  First, unlike Soviet communism, the left is at least smart enough not to ban private property and tax people at 100%.  It's kills people's incentive to work, it kills any desire to invest or innovate...and heck, it just kills people, so there's no wealth for the left to confiscate.  But if you can get the government to be an effective 40% shareholder in corporations, train students to be workaholics, but brainwash them to WILLINGLY fork over half their life's work, the amount of money, wealth, and income that can be transferred is unimaginable.  Second, if you substitute independent thought and a respect for the individual with leftist religious hokum, you can distract Jang or Steve, slaving away 80 hours a week in a cube and 20 hours a week in a commute in Silicon Valley, from just what veritable slaves they are.  Why he's not "supporting an illegal alien family of four."  He's "a good person because he's driving a Prius."  Why she's not "paying for he lazy sisters grant money to pursue a degree in Women's Studies."  She's "a good girl because she recycles."  And why he's not working weekends only to bail out student loans, single mothers, and bankster scum.  No, he's "a good man because he wore a pink pussy hat on his head."  I cannot emphasize this enough, the false leftist religions have completely supplanted economic production and agency in the minds of Silicon Valley slaves.  It means more to them to champion things like "diversity" and other politically correct pet leftist causes than think about the work life balance they have, not to mention the difference between gross and take home pay.

But even getting 400,000 of America's highest paid and hardest working workers to willingly prostrate themselves for the rest of the country to live off is not the final cherry on this brilliant leftist success.  That is what I like to call "The Safety Valve of Buyers Remorse."

Like miserable, ugly, spinster feminists who wasted their entire lives in feminism and women's studies, nobody in Silicon Valley is going to admit they were wrong about this fake religion that has stolen half their life's toil. It's too harsh a pill to swallow.  Even if, through some miracle, they would start to wake up and ACTUALLY EXERCISE INDEPENDENT THOUGHT, I doubt the human mind or their egos would let them admit they had effectively been slaves for half their lives to the leftist political and parasitic classes.  Furthermore, by the fact they're socialists they value their leftist religion/ideology more than they do their own labor and selves.  And since that false religion has served as the source of value, agency, meaning, and purpose in many of these kids' lives, taking that away would leave them with an unbearable nothing.  Sure, you'll get one or two genuinely independent minded rarities to acknowledge and endure this epiphany, but most will continue to lie to themselves and stay within the false religion.

Sadly, this is "The Safety Value of Buyers Remorse," and is what will forever keep Silicon Valley's most productive enslaved.  Just like a feminist won't admit she deep down inside wanted a husband, just like a career woman won't admit deep down inside she wanted children, too much has been invested in terms of time, career, education, money, resources, thought, and youth for Silicon's best to admit they should've gone fishing instead.  Too much value and purpose has been placed on "going green" or virtue-signaling for whatever approved political cause the left told them to.  It would be admitting the best years of their lives were wasted and they were indeed duped by their leftist professors, teachers, and politicians.  And so on the leftist Silicon Valley Plantation they will stay working for their true masters.

So I do indeed tip my hat to the left.  Like corporate America, you managed to snag the top talent of two full generations AND got them to enslave themselves willingly AND you programmed into them a poison pill that will make them yours forever.  That is some wicked crazy amazing work and needs to be noted, highlighted, applauded, and jotted down in the history books.  You not only improved upon your original communist template, but proved with simple (though long term and consistent) brainwashing you can get entire generations of humans to vote against themselves, vote against the individual and work instead for the commune "greater good."

And for you hard working Silicon Valley slaves, enjoy the decline my friends.  Enjoy that freaking decline.
_______________________________________
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27 comments:

tpkeefe said...

If "old" is 35+, then this is poetic justice for the Baby Boomers that helped to build Silicon Valley, because these are the old-time engineers (HP, Cisco, Intel) that were shown, have been shown, and continue to be shown the door by the younger crowd because the old-timers' skills are "outdated." Also, since most of the old-timer engineers have been men, this is a double whammy.

evilwhitemalempire said...

Silicon Valley is about a handful of smart guys (nerds) bringing economic prosperity to a region.
Then the bums move in to take advantage of that.
That is most likely how and why California became the leftist sink hole it is today.
Look what's happening to Florida? Similar process.

Dirtnapninja said...

They vote left due to social signalling.

The left has positioned itself as the party of progress and technocracy. So young aspiring technocrats are going to vote Democrat as a way of signalling their social allegiance to progress and technocracy.

As the Democrats morph into the ANC-lite party, this will change.

Anonymous said...

Well described. But it goes even deeper but there is some hope. Having worked in the tech field for many years I spent some time in SanJose. I chose to fly in on moday and fly home on friday. During these years I was constantly recruited to move there. Significant promotios, signing bonouses, two year COL adjustments, day care subsidies etc... Fortuneatly for me a colleague 20 years my senior pulled me aside and saved me from drinking the koolaid. He explained the taxes, housing, commutes and most importantly the mercanary your job is your life environment. He explained the reason there were so few 40 - 60 year old is the dumber ones washed out and the smarter ones relized it is not a rewarding program in the long term and they get the hell out. He advised me to check out the living situations of my co workers out there. Between unbeliveable commutes and crushing taxes on top of insane prices for substandard housing it was an eye opener. So I suffered the commute and away time made bank stayed where I was and raised my children in a much better place. Punched my ticket early and life is good.

So where is the hope in this? Ther is a minority of conservatives who go along to get along. Furher most of these kids do like money and for some reason the first time they write uncle sam a $100k(seems like the magic number) check for their annual tax bill and they get shifted to quarterly filings there is an aha momement. Some continue exploring their passions and others have a major reset and begin to plan their escape. Of this second group you often end up with capable articulate and influential conservative voices of which I know many.

So do you think the california gold rush era had some rough activities. Well this is the same stuff just packaged differently. Silicon valley is a stampeed to the next good claim. Why are there people from all over the world? Because it happens at all big gold rushes. I won't even go into the foriegn worker component just know it is vile in its impact but I will conceede many of the foriegner see it more clearly as the california gold rush it is. When the play is over or they have their fortunes most bail without much thought as to what they are leaving behind.

Faithless Cynic said...

Captain! This gets my vote for your best article ever. Modern communism does not need secret police and a firing squad, just the shame of your " comrades "

Anonymous said...

We wouldn't even recognize Silicon Valley if it were subjected to the same oversight and regulations as finance or energy (or many other industries for that matter). Despite the brainwashed workforce, Silicon Valley is still a great example of the success of a libertarian approach to commerce.

Fluoric said...

"Too much value and purpose has been placed on "going green" or virtue-signaling for whatever approved political cause the left told them to."

That's incredibly spot on. I grew up in Silicon Valley during the mid 70's & 80's. The place was booming. Plenty of good housing, roads, resources (like water/energy). A good portion of my friends had vacation homes in Tahoe.

Fast forward to now.

Roads conditions are worse than Mexico (as far as congestion and quality). Water rates are doubling over the next 5 years. My household of 4 was just slapped with a notice that we're paying added premiums since we use too much electricity (in reality we subsidizing low income households - our energy bill rose to $775 during Dec.). I pay $975 a month in property tax so my daughter can be taught by her public school teachers about the dangers of a Trump presidency (still going on). Our state also buys votes in the form of employment (UC is the largest employer in the State) or in the form of free housing (Section 8 for new immigrants or lazy multi-generational citizens).

I can't talk about politics outside of my circle of friends. If I do so in a public place I risk violence (just ask Michael Savage). I paid $45 for a fishing license but anything worth catching is "not in season." Campgrounds are impossible to book and about as expensive as an Air BnB.

I also haven't seen a new road built in 40 years aside from connecting a unfinished freeway from the early 70s.

In order to avoid necessary debt and to suppress indoctrination, my daughter will do 2 years of JC and then finish her education outside of State.

I feel bad for all the new engineers that my Company hires from out of state. Aside from renting and paying for beer, they don't have anything left over for their future. As one of them recently told me (he's just quit and is leaving CA after 2 years here): "you guys all your toes in the sand and your heads up your asses".

Fluoric said...

"Too much value and purpose has been placed on "going green" or virtue-signaling for whatever approved political cause the left told them to."

That's incredibly spot on. I grew up in Silicon Valley during the mid 70's & 80's. The place was booming. Plenty of good housing, roads, resources (like water/energy). A good portion of my friends had vacation homes in Tahoe.

Fast forward to now.

Roads conditions are worse than Mexico (as far as congestion and quality). Water rates are doubling over the next 5 years. My household of 4 was just slapped with a notice that we're paying added premiums since we use too much electricity (in reality we subsidizing low income households - our energy bill rose to $775 during Dec.). I pay $975 a month in property tax so my daughter can be taught by her public school teachers about the dangers of a Trump presidency (still going on). Our state also buys votes in the form of employment (UC is the largest employer in the State) or in the form of free housing (Section 8 for new immigrants or lazy multi-generational citizens).

I can't talk about politics outside of my circle of friends. If I do so in a public place I risk violence (just ask Michael Savage). I paid $45 for a fishing license but anything worth catching is "not in season." Campgrounds are impossible to book and about as expensive as an Air BnB.

I also haven't seen a new road built in 40 years aside from connecting a unfinished freeway from the early 70s.

In order to avoid necessary debt and to suppress indoctrination, my daughter will do 2 years of JC and then finish her education outside of State.

I feel bad for all the new engineers that my Company hires from out of state. Aside from renting and paying for beer, they don't have anything left over for their future. As one of them recently told me (he's just quit and is leaving CA after 2 years here): "you guys all your toes in the sand and your heads up your asses".

recidivist said...


Same Blue Pill, new environment: Convince the Beta that self-sacrifice (enslavement to the collective) is the key to personal reproductive success.

JK Brown said...

"I found crucial to what is distinct between libertarians and valley folk that Silicon Valley’s ideology is pro-market but it is not pro-liberty. Liberty is not a value. They are highly, highly, collectivist. They believe that every single person has a positive obligation to society and the government can help people or coerce people or incentive into making a unique contribution."

http://www.aei.org/publication/what-does-silicon-valley-seem-to-love-democrats-and-dimiss-the-gop-a-qa-with-journalist-greg-ferenstein

The above seems very feudalistic to me. Rather than the lord of the manor, it is the "king" government, but still you are a villein.

Karl said...

The "Decline" that the leftists in Silicon Valley are "Enjoying" is self-inflicted.

Their decline over 3 election cycles where they have lost huge ground nationwide in congressional representation and state-leadership is due to more communication among voters. The primary reason for these losses - besides their failed ideals - is social media. The Internet is forever, and commie Democrats are having their stupid quotes and stupid games thrown back at them on YouTube, FB and other services that are owned and managed by fellow Democrats.

Hence this week's news that Google was going to start censoring truth in order to perpetuate liberalism. This will last one or two more election cycles before all organized liberalism is wiped off the face of the Earth.

Silicon Valley social media is to Democrat Party power what SDI was to the Soviet Union.

cappy fan! said...

But But But Captain..,.

Silicon Valley is also awful to zee women's...according to that crap rag, Atlantic Monthly:

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/04/why-is-silicon-valley-so-awful-to-women/517788/

Max said...

The funny thing though is that while we have silicon valley, the people that dont work there are pushed out of San Francisco and later out of California (Housekepper, Trade Jobs etc.). The rich however depend on them so that they can work for 80h+.
In my opinion this is not sustainable in the long run without major changes to the Silicon Valley way of working.

And I am not only talking about people earning 50k per year, I am also talking about people making 6-figures. Living in SF and the Bay Area in general is that expensive.
I think this is something that at the moment a lot of people around the world learn in London, Munich, Paris, New York, SF etc.

Joanne Jacobs said...

I've lived in Silicon Valley since 1970. Many techies are libertarians and even more are apolitical.

Legal immigrants play a huge role in high-tech, so there's strong support for immigration. (And the affluent hire illegals to do the yard work and watch the kids.)

The super-rich feel they should fund good works.

But a whole lot of Silicon Valley is about making money.

I don't think the Valley is a left-wing bastion.

Hrw-500 said...

Remember that quote "Take him to Detroit!" from the movie "Kentucky Fried Movie" where the vilain Dr. Khan ordonned then the CIA agent should be sent to Detroit as a fate worst than death?

I wonder if in 1 or 2 decades down the road, we might will said "Take him to Silicon Valley"? ;-)

Anonymous said...

As a take on how these workers were conned into not realizing their mistake and cutting their losses one must realize the power of the ego. Here is a clip from the movie Revolver. The ego is the greatest conman of all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWj7oWlVtag

Anonymous said...

Many of the techies I know are a bit more conservative and say bullshit to most of the buzzfeed trigger terms they hear circulating the degenerative cesspool. I'd say they're not hardcore conservatives as much as they are libertarian. But wtf do you expect baby boomers in silicon valley are pretty much useless now besides their insight because how fast technology advances. Always love seeing old hicks come in to my work place because it reminds me that everyone is retarded in their own sense.
Old liberals make it their job to be offended and to help others that dont bother to help them selves while the old conservatives cant deal with shit changing or be bothered to keep up with change.

Anonymous said...

Yes, double income career oriented boomers outsourcing values inculcation to "caregivers", publik skrewel & later the academentia industry prepared their offspring to become perfected receptors of socialist nonsense. Every one a winner, even if they don't play.

Noted when discovered that one is headed in precisely the wrong direction a 180 degree about face is the appropriate response. This approach has been pre-empted with the socialist claptrap of lean forward and we're NOT returning to the past! Thus another unshakeable reproach to shame those whose belief system is found in jingo, chant & slogan.

Further, recognize that the "miracle" of Silicon Valley has NOTHING to do with value created, rather it is a monopoly created through the fraud of "intellectual property rights", which is nothing more than legal fiction. Nothing libertarian about that at all. Strip away the IP monopoly & SV is emptied in a month, along with the foolishness inherent in acquiring vast wealth for essentially nothing - kinda like government in that respect.


itor

Rob De Witt said...

Nice rant, deeply observed and richly deserved - but that should be tongue in cheek, not tongue and cheek. Think about it.

And yes, I'm so old you wouldn't believe it.

Swrichmond said...

You lost me at "drastically improved quality of life". Do you believe Facebook drastically improves quality of life? My God...

Google is spying on you. Their revenue model depends on it. Demand for tech "products" is completely dependent on deficits and borrowing. Anymore, tech is simply the latest bubble, blown by the central bank. Success story? Was the housing boom a success story, or was "Timberwolf...One shitty deal"? Is Wall Street a success story, or are they just sanctioned looters? The internet and pc revolution was a success story. Social media? I view social media as computing power looking for a reason to exist, desperately trying to find and launch the next big thing. Iphone7! With new improved emojis! Woo hoo!

Zero sum game. No real wealth is produced. Pure consumerism, no productivity gains. Dead end.

Alaska Paul said...

A very good article, very enjoyable and in your face true.

I am a fifth and last generation Californian. My ancestors came over the Oregon Trail and settled in Northern California. They were farmers, ranchers, miners, and even a US Marshal. I left 45 years ago and never looked back. After the 60s in Berkeley, I had enough.

I think that Silicon Valley is the goose that laid the golden egg. For everyone shouting green and sustainability, it is not sustainable. The State of California, with the socialist paradise and hive for illegal aliens it has become, will need an exponential amount of tax revenue to sustain its fantasies. People at the economic bottom will work for peanuts. People in the middle will struggle to stay above water. People at the top will live in armed security gated communities. There is not enough money in the world to slake the thirst of the socialist government, and it will be insolvent. The decline will go along linearly, then it will collapse. And then it will get ugly.

You probably want to watch this decline and collapse figuratively through heavy lenses, for your own safety. That's the way I see it.

Anonymous said...

You, sir, have hit the nail on the head. Veritas tried to move me out to "the home office" back in 2000. I said "no thanks" because I was able to see the bottom line: a net negative for me financially; and a miserable existence in enemy territory and utterly surrounded. I'd have gone loco.

I stayed in systems engineering until 2015, working for various companies - some start-ups and some well established - and am now effectively retired at the age of 50. I could have coasted comfortably on a low budget for a pretty long time, but I've never liked being bored, so I started a new "career" to cover my family's monthly dibs. It's working out well, and I wouldn't change a thing as I look at it now -- but oh how close I came a few times.

I never payed $4k/month for a crappy little 1800 SqFt. ranch on a 10th of an acre "in the valley". I've never experienced 'mandatory carpooling' on "Smog Alert days" - another name for the stupid tax of a $400~$1,000 ticket for not having passengers in your car (but the Prius'es and Leaf's are exempt because "they're green" dontchaknow?) I never sent my kids to a communist indoctrination center (public school). In Cali, even the private schools are indoctrination centers because of the state's 'Mandatory Curriculum', as well as the Teachers Unions who have veto-power on the hiring of *any* teacher, even at a private institution.

Sure, I worked with the people who chose that life, but I did not become one of them. I thank God that I made the right choice.

Yeah, the Valley is the crowning achievement of the Proud left. Let them have it. Where will their money be coming from in another decade, when the full impact of the global *Hundred Year Ponzi* is weighing fully on the world's economies, and the various layers of gubbermint are fresh out of both money and excuses --
Hungry people are not going to be obsessed with the next twitter-like app. Those whose families and communities have been repeatedly ravaged by war, terrorism, and disease will not care about the latest game console.

For the Cloud people, and the techies in particular, their end is in their beginning. It is that way for all of us, but we see it so much more clearly in others.

Bankers have penthouse windows, when their day arrives. For the techies, it'll be "assisted suicide" while sitting peacefully under the tree where the spotted owl nests. Neither cares about the messes they leave behind. Seriously, for all the Left's fuss about preserving the environment and stopping "climate change" they are just as bad as anyone else - they just "express their callous carbon footprint differently" every time they don't contemplate the fuel and cost of getting their latest Amazon fix delivered Overnight for no reason other than that they "can't wait to have it".

I could be rude, and add a string of expletives at this point, to express how I feel about such duplicitous people, but I'd rather leave it to your imagination, and keep my palate clean.

All empires fall. It is most often Just that they do so, and I see no difference here.

Hard times create hard men.
Hard men create good times.
Good times create soft men.
Soft men create hard times.
And so it goes,
until it doesn't go any further...

Stephen J Carter said...

I've mostly stopped reading American news, plus I unplugged the cable TV & only watch dvd's. It's abso-friggin-lutely amazing how much my whole world improved after that. Really, folks, unplug & enjoy the decline.

But what I wanted to say was there's something deeply sick about the American Left. The Left in Europe, Canada, Australia etc is irritating, ineffectual, mildly pathetic & self-righteous as hell. But in the US the Left is on a slow-motion rampage & out to destroy as much as they till they get their way - a permanent state of HUAC hysteria. This on top of being massively corrupt. People here (Thailand) & across Asia just tune out the whole US clownshow now.

Silicon valley folks usually political & just go along thoughtlessly with the dominant prevailing ideology - the Left. Though Jobs wad no friend of the Left.

We're approaching a huge escalation in Europe on all fronts, the migrant & economic issues especially. Everything will likely be upended & the running street battles will hit the Left hard. People are very fed up of being fucked over by the Left. Silicon valley drones will likely 'wake up'.

If the US can survive the Left's McCartyesque demented hysteria the US could hugely benefit as the rest of the West spirals down in civil war-like street fighting & economic ruin.

Anonymous said...

Silicon Valley is a quagmire. If you think for yourself you will be asked to leave since you are not a good culture fit.

The culture of the companies reinforce the brainwashing. They offer, "benefits" like free daycare, haircuts, dry cleaning, meals, etc.... To give you fewer reasons to go home and have a life. The less you leave the office, the more you work. The higher cost of living in the area makes it difficult to think about leaving. It is almost double most other areas. But many just see the dollars without thinking about the spending power of each dollar.

Honestly, most of them are not the best of the best. There are a few. Most are at best mediocre and told they are the best. This just solidifies the buy-in.

Also, all the perks instill a sense of entitlement. It effectively ruins their work ethic and ability to work anywhere else.

Cliff said...

Mr. Flouric;
Great comments. We should meet and talk sometime (IRL - as the kids say).
35 year veteran of the tech scene here is Silicon Valley.
There is a remnant and we need to find each other and stick together.

Cliff said...

Mr. Flouric and other Silicon Valley folks;
Great comments.
We should meet and talk (IRL) for mutual support.
There is a remnant here,and there is a way to survive.
I'm a 25 year veteran of the tech world.

Fluoric said...

Hey Cliff - I live over in Scotts Valley and grab a beer with friends at Jia Tella's (restaurant/bar) once or twice a week. Drop on by. The owners name is Jason, mine is Carl.

Cheers