Silicon Valley Stays Quiet As Washington Implodes 299
dcblogs writes "In a better time, circa 1998, Cypress Semiconductor founder and CEO T.J. Rodgers gave a provocative speech, titled 'Why Silicon Valley Should Not Normalize Relations with Washington D.C.' This speech is still important to understanding the conflict that tech leaders have with Congress, and their relative silence during the shutdown. 'The metric that differentiates Silicon Valley from Washington does not fall along conventional political lines: Republican versus Democrat, conservative versus liberal, right versus left,' Rogers said. 'It falls between freedom and control. It is a metric that separates individual freedom to speak from tap-ready telephones; local reinvestment of profit from taxes that go to Washington; encryption to protect privacy from government eavesdropping; success in the marketplace from government subsidies; and a free, untaxed Internet from a regulated, overtaxed Internet.'"
Re:If only... (Score:4, Interesting)
The Anti-SOPA stance was a good day.
But by and large, I think these organizations have been too quiet. If they have not normalized relationships with Washington, then why did it take a leak by someone from Washington for some of these organizations to admit what vast information has been shared?
And it's ludicrous to not-normalize relationships with Washington. That's where the laws are defined. There should be pro-privacy politicians with the backing of these companies. With Citizens United, shouldn't tech organizations have the strong advantage of getting the word out about what kind of society we want to create?
The stance of burying heads in the sand is no better than those fools who talk of secession, or try to create their own militia societies. The brain drain occurring today in Russia, is likely to reoccur here in the United States due to gerrymandering if we stay disengaged.
Silence until NSA spying hurts sales (Score:5, Interesting)
They'll stay silent until America's reputation, and the NSA spying specifically, starts to impact sales. Until then, Silicon Valley's lobbying policy seems to be "pray they don't affect us".
Since TFS doesn't list it, here's Why Silicon Valley Should Not Normalize Relations With Washington, D.C. [cato.org] from the libertarian think tank Cato Institute.
It isn't any different elsewhere (Score:3, Interesting)
There are those who have fallen for the false, artificially created dichotomy of Republican-Democrat and those who have realized that the real problem is politics as an industry.
What really needs to be done is to wipe out the concept of two parties both of which are so ossified in untenable positions that the combination is destroying the Republic.
1. Term limits for Congress. 12 years.
2. Campaign Finance Limits. 100 dollars per candidate/person.
3. Eliminate Gerrymandering. Districts must be drawn that are representative of the state's demographics.
4. Eliminate the electoral college.
WASHINGTON NOT IMPLODING (Score:5, Interesting)
Stage management. Drama. Theatrics.
In the end? The powerful will be more so - you will pay more, and get less.
Mission accomplished, and your expectations diminished, as planned.
Re:Bah ... (Score:2, Interesting)
You forgot Somalia.
You're right, we don't have a free market. But pessimism isn't going to fix that, and inaction isn't going to result in a better situation. We're not going to end up in a socialist utopia, but state-run capitalism that rewards the elite, yet treats the worker as mere chattel.
reclaim 'libertarian' (Score:4, Interesting)
In common usage, yes they sure as hell are ;) this is measurable...
However I agree that using proper definitions, yes Libertarian ideas are wholly independent (and in conflict with) most of what Republicans do.
I always liked the Political Compass [politicalcompass.org]
It identifies 'authoritarian/libertarian' and 'left/right' dichotomies on a two axis scale (instead of just a binary)
Sure it has its weaknesses, but its a great converstation fixer when things go off the rails over definitions...
I'm a 'left-leaning libertarian' according to academic definitions...
Your problem: You have bought into Republican/Tea Party propaganda that to be "libertarian" means to oppose whatever Democrats do
All libertarians...except strongly totalitarian leaning...should logically support the Democrats right now on a ***POLICY basis***
policy basis...look at what the GOP actually proposes as law...go ahead...on virtually every issue voted upon, the Democrat side is the more rational side of the two
I would love to reclaim the word "libertarian" from the maw of the GOP/Fox brainwash machine...
Re:Don't pay your taxes (Score:0, Interesting)
Nobody likes jail, but the question is, will you stand up for freedom? Or will you cower like a fucking slave? You think Rosa Parks wasn't inconvenienced by her actions? Now's your chance to prove what you're worth.....pussy.