Apple

Democratic Corporatism

Is there such a thing as Too Much Democracy? That’s what The Economist determined about California ten years ago, pointing out that when every voice counts, nothing gets done. We can’t build housing because that would infringe on the rights of owls. We can’t clear fire hazards because that infringes on the rights of oak trees. We can’t build high speed rail because that infringes on the rights of eels. I’m beginning to see the appeal of autocracy.

Direct democracy tends to be the pet paradigm of left-coast utopians who have no idea how government works. Most corporations are authoritarian, but Google, Facebook, and many other tech companies have a culture of radical transparency where every employee has an opportunity to voice concerns. That’s manageable when a company is small and homogenous, not so much when it’s big and global. Facebook execs can’t meet with Taiwan’s president without offending thousands of Chinese employees, and Google can’t sign a defense contract without half the office walking out in protest.

Compare to Apple, a company that dispenses with democratic ideals and embraces tyranny. Remember that time Apple fired an employee after his daughter inadvertently uploaded a video clip of an iPhone X? That’s the type of company that has no qualms entering China.

As Google and Facebook have realized, it’s time to scale back participation. The best way to reduce input from the masses is to keep them in the dark. My former classmate works for Apple designing LCD screens, but he’s not allowed to know what device the screens attach to. The LCDs might display the countdown timer for nuclear warheads for all he knows. Radical secrecy keeps people from questioning corporate strategy.

The US government has mastered this well. After the Vietnam War, the Trilateral Commission determined that we suffered an excess of democracy. People knew too much, and protesters tanked our war efforts. We can’t stop the masses from protesting, but we can stop them from knowing what to protest. That’s why the press is no longer allowed to publish photos of war casualties, or even report on what countries we invade. That’s why we had to prosecute Chelsea Manning.

Democracy thrives in darkness.

Silicon Valley is the New Wall Street

Once upon a time, Silicon Valley was a safe haven for socially subpar tech people. They lived in humble garages in the South Bay and built cool things for the sake of building cool things. The transistor. Apple I. Netscape.

Google HQ, 1998
Google HQ, 1998

The world loved the cool things they built. The geeky kids of Silicon Valley made money, lots of it.

Then the beautiful people showed up. MBAs and smashmouth capitalists. They wanted to build cool things too. Not for the sake of building, but to make money. They didn’t live in garages, because beautiful people don’t hide in garages. They live in high-visibility metropolises at the top of the peninsula.

More than 1,200 of Google’s 47,500 current employees formerly worked for one of the top 10 global investment banks, according to LinkedIn. The top banks also incubated at least 750 current Apple employees, 175 Facebook employees, and 260 Yahoo employees. Travis Kalanick, chief executive officer of the ferociously expanding Uber, has said that between 10 and 15 percent of his hires come from the financial services industry, with a full 5 percent coming from Goldman Sachs alone.

The new businesses don’t make users fall in love with their products. They churn out slick consumables that evoke the emotional connection of a quick handjob in a truck stop bathroom stall.

The Valley really is not so different from Wall Street. The core business model involves gambling with rich people’s money under the guise of wealth management. The startup founders, they’re just junior traders. They work 14-hour days and spend $2000 a month to carve out some sleeping space in a shared building.

Occupy Twitter
Occupy Twitter

And sooner or later, something will pop and the money will vaporize, because that’s what happens when everyone gets greedy. The Wall Street immigrants will return home, the San Francisco natives will get their rent-controlled apartments back, and it’ll only be a matter of time before the next hot spot emerges.

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See Also:
Go West, Young Bank Bro –SanFrancisco