jwz

Some Andreesen-Horowitz Crypto-Bro bloviates on a vision of Fascist San Francisco.

I hesitate to even give oxygen to a story like this, but it's just so fucking whack-a-doodle. It sounds a parody, or an April Fools joke, or a stand-up comic doing a...
https://jwz.org/b/ykOm

Some Andreesen-Horowitz Crypto-Bro bloviates on a vision of Fascist San Francisco

I hesitate to even give oxygen to a story like this, but it's just so fucking whack-a-doodle. It sounds a parody, or an April Fools joke, or a stand-up comic doing a tour with "triggered" in its name, but apparently people like Balaji Srinivasan and Garry Tan are saying shit like this out loud and not getting laughed out of the room. Balaji Srinivasan, ladies and gentlemen: Like some ...

Apr 4, 2024 at 7:11pmjwz.org
Show threadjwzApr 27, 2024
More on this monster: https://newrepublic.com/article/180487/balaji-srinivasan-network-state-plutocrat
The Tech Baron Seeking to Purge San Francisco of “Blues”

If Balaji Srinivasan is any guide, then the Silicon Valley plutocrats are definitely not OK.

The New Republic
Show threadDon WhitesideApr 27, 2024
@jwz it’s like Being There, the fascist director’s cut.
Show threadChema Hernández GilApr 27, 2024
People like this are turning their back not just on liberalism, but skipping and running towards feudalism and a caste-based society. Fucked up.
Show threadDJ Fragile ToolchainsApr 27, 2024
@jwz this is not a joke right? 🤯
Show threadjwzApr 27, 2024
@plaindocs It is not, as far as I can tell, a joke.
Show threadDJ Fragile ToolchainsApr 27, 2024
@jwz 🤦‍♂️
Show threadAngieApr 27, 2024
@jwz Wow!! What a load of bs!!
Show threadPeter ButlerApr 27, 2024
@jwz Poe’s law. Yikes 😬
Show threadklausfiend has movedApr 27, 2024
@jwz He seems nice. /s
Show threadlesdmarkApr 27, 2024
@jwz What these smooth brains don't realize is what happens to them in their vision of the world when they are no longer in the "in" group. Someone needs to ask the techbros if they are ok. History may not repeat but like the quote says "it often rhymes".
Show threadAaron TurnerApr 28, 2024
@jwz so shocking and on brand he works at Coinbase.
Show threadmadopalMay 2, 2024

@jwz Putting aside the obvious craziness, I love the idea that it's not even considered that people might not wear arbitrarily colored shirts.

It's Evil Bit As A Society
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evil_bit

Evil bit - Wikipedia

Show threadjwzMay 2, 2024
@madopal It kind of tracks, though: all of his friends exclusively wear polo shirts with company logos on them. In his world, fashion exists only to advertise class allegiance.
Show threadmadopalMay 3, 2024
@jwz Gentlemen, you can't wear the wrong colored shirt, this is a Libertarian Town!
Show threadsuldrew 🚲🏳️‍🌈Apr 4, 2024
@jwz it's kooky in 100 different ways. and did this guy know about the civil war?
Show thread⛈️ Information ⛈️Apr 4, 2024
@jwz He is the sort of guy that really needs to experience antifascist action in person tho. He's desperate for relevance and some kind of fash mode because he, more than anyone else at a16z, got absolutely fucked by his unflinching desire to fund every scummy crypto play. He needs to find a government buyer for all these failed products within a few years or he's probably punted off the org to save face.
Show threadCheDNApr 4, 2024

@jwz Gray does not seem properly aligned with his goals. Brown seems a better fit - they can

𝑎𝑑𝑜𝑝𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑣𝑖𝑠𝑢𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑠𝑖𝑔𝑛𝑖𝑓𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒, 𝑝𝑒𝑟ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑠 𝑏𝑦 𝑤𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑏𝑟𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑟𝑡𝑠

Show threadslyborgApr 5, 2024
@DrollTide @jwz When your initials are B.S. brown definitely is the natural fit.
Show threadJonathan HendryApr 4, 2024

@jwz

They just don't make Roderick Spodes like they used to.

Show threadSolarbird Apr 4, 2024

@jwz christ I know, right? I saw it yesterday and was just… do I even talk about this? If so, _how_ do I even talk about this?

I still don’t know.

Show threadHTTP 1.1/418 TeapotApr 4, 2024

@moira @jwz SEASTEADING! GO SEASTEADING, TECH-BROS!
[what was the something awful seastead-fiction anthology? “On golden waters”, I think?]

On that topic, Kritzer’s “Liberty’s Daughter” was a fun YA read about a teenager in a seasteading libertopia. Hijinks ensue, as one might expect.

Show threadEarthlingApr 27, 2024
@jwz Yes, they’re loons, but we need to take the threat of these guys agenda seriously. Their crazy ideas are backed by crazy amounts of money, and they are determined to buy their way to power. Look at who or what Gary Tan, Mike Moritz (the San Francisco Standard), Balaji, etc are endorsing and don’t vote for it.
Show threadKeith IveyApr 27, 2024
@jwz Maybe allowing individuals to have as much money (and thus as much political power) as cities full of ordinary people isn't a path to a sustainable society.
Show threadd1Apr 28, 2024
@jwz fuck me... the podcast episode... https://pdst.fm/e/chrt.fm/track/993DGA/traffic.megaphone.fm/RINTP9800754610.mp3?updated=1713896749
Show threadjwzApr 28, 2024
@decentral1se I don't listen to audiobooks that could have been blog posts.
Show threadJeremy 🇨🇦Apr 28, 2024

@jwz is weird seeing how blown into fascism this guy is. I remember first reading the red/blue/gray tribe shit back on less wrong:

https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/GLMFmFvXGyAcG25ni/i-can-tolerate-anything-except-the-outgroup

Somehow this is now brown-shirt code for some kind of superiority? This man has never been told he's an asshole by anyone he's cared about in his entire life.

I Can Tolerate Anything Except The Outgroup — LessWrong

In Chesterton’s The Secret of Father Brown, a beloved nobleman who murdered his good-for-nothing brother in a duel thirty years ago returns to his ho…