For one thing that is not the right question.
When I wrote my recent essay “The Meaning of Life (Or At Least the Meaning of Work),” my intent was to pull away from all of the current controversies between the pro- and anti-technology camps, and consider the larger picture.
In fact, I have personal history as well as dear friends and family both inside the digital technology industry and among those who blame that industry for our worst social problems here in the Bay Area — especially the high cost of housing.
Since the affection I feel for these people is never conditional on their political positions, I love them all and I hope they will let me sit this dispute out.
If you think about it, casting blame for street crime, homelessness, high rents and home prices, traffic jams, drug addiction and pollution is a trap that our deeply divided society lures way too many citizens into.
We don’t like certain outcomes so somebody must be to blame — that’s the way our minds work. And it doesn’t help matters at all when politicians in both parties play the blame game ruthlessly, battling over each little inch of political turf as if they were engaged in hand-to-hand combat inside an actual war zone like Ukraine.
When it comes to my own background, I have been a pro-technology voice for a quarter century. My long-term readers and friends know that among traditional journalists I was an early adapter and enthusiast at the dawn of web-based journalism in the 1990s.
I’ve written at great length and positively about my time with HotWired, Wired Digital and Salon, as well as many other digital startup ventures and initiatives. And I remain an advocate for strong web-based journalism to this day.
My last substantial job before retiring was to help build a credible web channel for northern California’s public media company KQED, to complement its legacy TV and radio services. Our team succeeded.
But most relevant to the debate over tech’s current influence in San Francisco were my years blogging for 7x7 and BNET about the emergence of Web 2.0. I recognized the significance of social media companies (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.), and gig economy startups (Lyft, Airbnb, Uber, Getaround, Nextdoor, etc.) early and often.
I also enthusiastically encouraged the decision by those companies, as well as tech giants Google, Microsoft, Yahoo and others to relocate from the peninsula to San Francisco, knowing that it would help transform what in the post-2008-recession years was a sleepy town into a booming metropolis.
That is indeed what has occurred. San Francisco’s population exploded and with that came the worsening of a cluster of social problems, which are now the focus of family arguments, negative political campaigns and absurd recall efforts.
Meanwhile, if you know anything about me, or traditional journalists in general for that matter, you know that instead of taking sides in disputes like this one, we often speak of “holding two opposing ideas” in our heads simultaneously. This comes from years of training and experience investigating complex subjects.
It also is because we have a stake in seeking the truth and not necessarily in being right.
Therefore, I neither blame technology (nor tech workers) for San Francisco’s social problems, nor exonerate them from the responsibility to participate in their adopted municipality’s efforts to address them.
These days, my many friends on the Bay Area left seem to want to blame tech companies and workers in a knee-jerk fashion for what is happening in the city (and many other places) but I fear this is imperfect thinking. The technology industry has improved our lives immeasurably in ways we all now take for granted. We have more powerful communications tools in our pockets today than human begins ever had during our long evolution and more wonders are on the way.
We have a legion of tech startups to thank for that.
Besides, our social problems have many complicated causes beyond anything the latest wave of migrants flocking into our 49-square-mile corner of earth can reasonably be held accountable for.
By the same token, simply by being residents, often with more resources than their neighbors, the tech workers who have streamed into the city bear responsibility to get involved and study the gnarly details of these social problems, and contribute new, constructive ideas to the search for solutions.
Staying back, staying aloof, blankly denouncing government institutions, praising free market solutions, retreating to Darwinian logic is not a healthy contribution. The Libertarian copout so common among techies is an example of incomplete thinking.
San Francisco’s historic commitment to human rights and progressive change is a wonderful thing and rare for a major city. Joining in those traditions of San Francisco is both an opportunity and a privilege — for everyone.
It would be a pity to live here and miss it. So to all of my beloved lefties and techies — listen up.
Please end the blame games. When it comes to the pro-and anti-tech camps, I’m not standing with either of you. The only camp worth joining is one we can all be in together.
Today’s Headlines (32):
Russian Blunders in Chernobyl: ‘They Came and Did Whatever They Wanted’ — Tank treads ripped up the toxic soil, bulldozers carved trenches and bunkers, and soldiers spent a month camped in — and dug into — a radioactive forest. (NYT)
Ukrainians shocked by 'crazy' scene at Chernobyl after Russian pullout reveals radioactive contamination (CNN)
More flee east Ukraine after deadly train station strike (AP)
Exodus from Ukraine’s south and east as Kremlin readies fresh assault (WP)
Ukraine Urges Citizens to Flee Ahead of Expected Russian Assault in East (WSJ)
Zelenskyy calls train station strike a war crime, blames Putin, pilots for hitting civilian targets (USA Today)
War Crimes Watch: A devastating walk through Bucha’s horror (AP)
Mykolaiv region on edge amid fear of a new Russian offensive (WP)
Land Mines on a Timer, Scattered Over a Ukrainian Town (NYT)
VIDEO: Scenes of Normalcy Return to Kyiv After Russian Forces Retreat (Reuters)
Johnson pledges aid to Zelensky in Kyiv meeting (BBC)
Sanctions fail to curb Moscow’s violence (The Hill)
Intel: Putin may cite Ukraine war to meddle in U.S. politics (AP)
Battles may be tougher for Ukrainians as war shifts to wide-open terrain in east (WP)
Putin’s long shadow hangs over an unpredictable French election (Financial Times)
China Is Accelerating Its Nuclear Buildup Over Rising Fears of U.S. Conflict (WSJ)
A sour and angry America poised to punish Dems this fall (Politico)
Pro-Trump Rally Planner Is Cooperating in Justice Dept.’s Jan. 6 Inquiry — Ali Alexander, who was a key figure in the “Stop the Steal” movement, said he had received a grand jury subpoena and would assist the expanding investigation. (NYT)
State Department: WH gift records for Trump, Pence missing (The Hill)
Text From Donald Trump Jr. Set Out Strategies to Fight Election Outcome (NYT)
Some Threats Just Keep Coming in Waves — COVID seems like a new problem, but Americans know how to raise and lower their guard when circumstances change. (Atlantic)
Los Angeles Covid Cases Up 78% In Past Four Days, Although Hospitalizations Show No Sign On Uptick (Deadline)
Shanghai’s Omicron Outbreak Corners Chinese Leader (WSJ)
4 takeaways from our investigation into the FDA's byzantine food arm (Politico)
A worrisome new bird flu is spreading in American birds and may be here to stay (NPR)
Meteorological mystery: What’s causing sensors to detect high air pollution along one area of California’s coast? (SFC)
VIDEO: ‘We’ve Made It,’ Judge Jackson Says on Supreme Court Confirmation (NYT)
US arrests Japanese yakuza leader over alleged missiles-for-heroin plot (Guardian)
Surprise W boson measurement could rewrite particle physics (Space.com)
Researchers may have discovered a galaxy barely younger than the Big Bang (Engadget)
Disney Announces Next Movie Will Feature Princess With Never-Before-Seen Ethnicity (The Onion)
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