On this edition of Your Call, Noam Cohen discusses his book, The Know-It-Alls: The Rise of Silicon Valley as a Political Powerhouse and Social Wrecking Ball.
He argues that the tech billionaires who fueled Trump’s rise and emerged as a powerful political force in his second term are governed by a cruel vision of society, where every individual is struggling in a hyper-competitive market without the protection of unions, government regulations, social-welfare programs, or even basic decency.
Noam Cohen writes: "These men are a particular type, the product of two intertwined cultures: computers and venture capitalism. To be one of the Know-It-Alls…is to combine a hacker’s arrogance with an entrepreneur’s greed. The social harms these Silicon Valley leaders introduced—whether through the destruction of institutions, the replacement of deep social bonds and obligations with superficial digital ones, or the eager manipulation and surveillance of the public to extract profits—are integral to their vision of the future and can be traced to one of these two sources."
What does the future hold as tech billionaires continue to support Trump? What can everyday people do about this?
Guests:
Noam Cohen, former tech columnist for The New York Times, and author of The Know-It-Alls: The Rise of Silicon Valley as a Political Powerhouse and Social Wrecking Ball
Resources:
The Guardian: America needs a movement to curb billionaires’ power
The Guardian: Tech Oligarchs reshape humanity while billionaires of old seem quaint
Bloomberg: Ultrawealthy Consider $500 Million Fund to Influence California Politics
