Grown-Ass Adult

[Dave Troy @davetroy]

Political operatives doubling down on any aspect of the status quo are in for a rude awakening; this present model of centralization is fragile and doomed. And the public, which is smarter than strategists give them credit for, knows this; they are tired of the boom-bust cycle of tech hypesterism, even as they understand that tech can and often does bring real progress.

FUD about falling behind China also falls flat — so what, they say? Do we want to be like China? Not exactly.

I see tech industry people (longtime peers, in some cases) asking how they can “regain trust” of the public? How about.. not trying to take over the government? not embracing insane cultish ideologies like Effective Altruism? not lionizing Ayn Rand? not manipulating the public, and thinking you’re better than everybody else? This is just for starters.

Roll up your sleeves and start solving practical problems: do better science, make better algorithms, lower power consumption, actually cure cancer (if any of this can), and humble yourselves in actual service to humanity and a shared American project.

Everyone is tired of your nonsense, and the datacenter issue is just the place where that can be most pragmatically expressed. Expect more resistance until you abandon financial gamesmanship and the endless philosophical sophistry. Enough. Get real, do real work, and work with society instead of against it.