by karaterobot on 4/26/24, 2:46 PM
If I had any illusions that big tech could run the world better than anybody else, I'd be more sympathetic to this position. I'd love to see a tech company try to function in a world where they can't just lay people off, or pivot in another direction, or sell off assets. In the real world, governments need stability, continuity, and at least some level of concern for people rather than OKRs. Tech companies are successful at making money—some of them, some of the time—but there is absolutely no evidence that they'd be good at doing anything else. They're optimized around a different set of rules, and a different game than governments are. It's just hubris and ignorance that would lead them to think they can apply their ridiculous systems to the world outside their gates.
by archagon on 4/26/24, 7:20 PM
Writing something like this should be socially equivalent to soiling yourself in public, and yet a number of higher-ups in the SV/VC space (plus plenty or regular techies) seem to support this guy. It is truly disturbing.
by consumer451 on 4/26/24, 2:16 PM
This is so insane that it’s hard to believe.
by archagon on 4/26/24, 5:48 PM
This is the problem with living in a democracy while working for a feudal corporation. You might get it in your head that a feudal political structure is somehow more efficient, rewarding, or just, and bring this with you to the voting booth.
We desperately need more democracy in the workplace.
by azinman2 on 4/26/24, 3:33 PM
Why is this article flagged? It seems very appropriate to be here.
by johnea on 4/27/24, 8:48 PM
I didn't know Garry Tan, the current Y Combinator CEO, was such a nut job...
The quotes cited are straight up fascism...
by seattle_spring on 4/27/24, 3:26 AM
> The idea, he said, is to do to San Francisco what Musk did to Twitter.
This is such a wonderful, perfect metaphor for who Balaji is and the merit of his ideas.
Please leave SF alone. It’s a city with a ton of problems, but it’d be a whole lot worse as whatever, um, this is.
I honestly genuinely hate that I have to push back against non-tech folks hating on tech people and assuming we’re all like Balaji and Musk. However, the amount of people who support them makes me take a step back and realize that I really might not fit in with the tech community at all. Stuff like this disgusts me.
by dist-epoch on 4/26/24, 2:31 PM
Balaji is a clown, a few years ago he was calling bitcoin a battery, because you can sell it and buy electricity with the money you got.
By this logic everything is a battery, a $100 bill is a battery, ...
by koolba on 4/26/24, 2:14 PM
> Everyone would be welcome at the Gray Pride march—everyone, that is, except the Blues. Srinivasan defines the Blue political tribe as the liberal voters he implies are responsible for the city’s problems. Blues will be banned from the Gray-controlled zones, said Balaji, unlike Republicans (“Reds”).
So a reverse CHAZ?
by consumer451 on 4/27/24, 9:20 PM
Balaji (2021):
> Btw, I rarely post personal news on here, but I moved to Asia awhile back and will be splitting time between India and Singapore .
> Why? They are optimistic on technology, they’ve brought hundreds of millions of people online, and they both speak தமிழ் & have great dosas!
https://twitter.com/balajis/status/1355088787286544384
---
Meta Edit: I would just like to add that this one of the most vibrant recent discussions, with many 5 digit karma posters, and this is not a flame war.
This seems to happen a lot in the last couple years. Some of the most interesting discussions now appear to happen, post-flag. What does this mean for HN?
by delichon on 4/26/24, 2:38 PM
A creative mind that follows many trails spends time in very odd places. I too have some, uh, highly idiosyncratic notions, but that I prefer not to mention. I suspect that people who don't have been following fewer trails. I value these odd characters as scouts that happen to report the occasional bigfoot. If you take them as oracles, yeah they're horrible. If you take them as a source for "anything that good hackers would find interesting", there are pearls in the dross.
by stop50 on 4/26/24, 2:55 PM
Those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
by intellectronica on 4/26/24, 2:15 PM
I haven't been to SF since many years. Is it really that bad? Moving around, especially for rich tech people, especially within the US and the developed world in general, is really easy. If SF is really such a catastrophe, why are so many still there? To me it sounds a bit like some of the tech bros want to get into politics as a hobby and they picked this issue because it's especially salient to them. From far away it looks ... bizarre.
by sublinear on 4/26/24, 2:21 PM
“Balaji is a friend of mine and is neither a dumbshit nor a clown,” tweeted economics blogger Noah Smith last June, defending Balaji from critics.
by coldtrait on 4/27/24, 5:22 AM
I've genuinely never understood a single thing he's talked about ever. I remember he was on Sam Harris' podcast talking about his ideas and none of it made sense to me at all. I don't think I'll get a response, but I'll try anyway. Can anyone point me in the right direction?
by LightBug1 on 4/26/24, 2:43 PM
Concerning considering the amount of tech douche's who worship at the feet of 'Balaji'.
by deepfriedchokes on 4/27/24, 3:51 AM
This is very obviously a joke.