I.T. News – November 14, 2024

Trump’s techno-libertarian dream team goes to Washington

Vox. November 11, 2024.

[It implies that Donald Trump has assembled or is accompanied by a group of technology-focused individuals who share a libertarian philosophy and are heading to Washington (likely to influence policy or serve in advisory roles). This group might work to advance policies that favor tech innovation, reduce regulatory oversight on tech businesses, and protect individual freedoms in digital spaces.

Implications:

Policy Influence: This "dream team" may seek to shape governmental policies around technology, potentially advocating for limited regulation on issues like data privacy, digital currencies, and innovation.

Free-Market Emphasis: Their approach might focus on allowing the tech industry to grow with minimal governmental restrictions, aligning with libertarian values of minimal interference.

Potential for Innovation or Controversy: The presence of a "techno-libertarian dream team" could lead to both innovative advancements and debates around issues like privacy, corporate accountability, and the role of government in tech.

In this context, the phrase suggests a high-powered, idealized group of tech-savvy libertarians stepping into the political arena with significant influence.]

In the weeks after Donald Trump’s 2016 victory, many top tech leaders found themselves at a meeting in Trump Tower, frowning and quite obviously full of dread. Now, the same executives sound enthusiastic when they say they’re looking forward to working with the next president.

After Tuesday’s election, the congratulations from the tech elite to Trump came in fast. The day after he secured the White House, everyone from Tim Cook to Mark Zuckerberg posted their well wishes for Trump’s second term. Even Jeff Bezos weighed in, hailing Trump’s “extraordinary political comeback and decisive victory.” This, from a man who has been in more than one public feud with Trump.

The newfound praise does not, however, signal a political realignment in all of Silicon Valley. Tech executives as well as rank-and-file workers overwhelmingly supported Kamala Harris in the election, which shouldn’t be too surprising: She’s been involved in Bay Area politics for many years and has deep ties with the tech and venture capital industries. That allegiance continued the trends of the Obama era, which was marked by a bit of a love fest between Washington and Silicon Valley. Barack Obama, who won the White House in 2008 with the help of Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes, embraced the ethos of startup culture and celebrated tech companies as a positive force in the United States. He developed personal relationships with executives like Zuckerberg and championed tech-friendly policies.

Now, that era is over. In its place is something darker and dominated by a small but very loud group of techno-libertarian Trump fans whose ranks include not only Elon Musk but also the industry’s most influential investors, most of the PayPal Mafia, and the vice president-elect.

Does that mean the tech industry has taken a turn to the right? Is Silicon Valley Trump country now?

“It is neither left nor right, Democrat or Republican,” Margaret O’Mara, an American history professor at the University of Washington, told me after the election. She pointed out that the tech industry culture in Silicon Valley has its roots in post-Vietnam baby boomers viewing personal computers as a form of liberation.

“They didn’t feel like they had anything in common with political conservatives, but they shared a libertarianism that ran its way all the way across the political spectrum,” O’Mara added. “It’s kind of a funny libertarianism”

You get a sense of Silicon Valley’s anti-bureaucratic worldview in everything from Apple’s famous “1984” ad, which quite literally suggests tearing down the establishment, to Google’s celebrated 20 percent rule, which lets employees work on side projects of their own choosing.