Rewriting the Californian Ideology
americanaffairsjournal.orgI liked how this piece cuts through nostalgia and maps out (or at least gives a sketch of) where the valley actually is today. A few highlights that stood out to me:
- The sharp contrast between the '90s "Jeffersonian", hacker-libertarian spirit and today's more "Hamiltonian", state-capacity mindset, and how they're tied to the geopolitical and technical shifts that nurtured each era.
- The clear taxonomy of the new "tribes" (EA, abundance, American dynamism, New Right, tech ethicists, network-staters) and the axes they vary across -- human nature, progress vs preservation, role of the state. Nadia did a similar breakdown of climate activist tribes in "Mapping out the tribes of climate" a few years ago that I thought was interesting as well.
- There are some data nuggets that upend cliches, e.g. nine VCs controlling ~50% of 2024 fundraising, and tech elites being less anti-government than either party’s base.
- The insight that valley thinking now shapes national politics (e.g. J.D. Vance), showing tech culture's reach beyond product launches.