A “vibe shift” is under way in Silicon Valley, Michael Gibson, a VC and former vice president of grants at the Thiel Foundation, told me. Eight years ago, the notorious entrepreneur Peter Thiel was the odd man out when he announced his support for Trump. The rest of the Valley appeared to have been horrified by the candidate—particularly by his draconian and racist views on immigration, on which the tech industry relies.

This year, J. D. Vance, a Thiel acolyte and former VC himself, is Trump’s running mate. Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, co-founders of the legendary VC firm Andreessen Horowitz, came out in full support of Trump in a podcast episode released just before Joe Biden dropped out of the election.

(Earlier this month, Axios reported that Horowitz informed Andreessen Horowitz staff members that he and his wife, Felicia, will donate to support Harris “as a result of our friendship” with the candidate. “The Biden Administration,” his note continues, “has been exceptionally destructive on tech policy across the industry, but especially as it relates to Crypto/Blockchain and AI,” mirroring language from the podcast during which he and Andreessen endorsed Trump.)

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  • @psmgx
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    381 month ago

    Karl Marx told us this would happen. Wealth ultimately will cut deals with other wealth, even evil, dubious foreigners, before giving up an ounce of it. They see themselves as the new aristocratic class, and unless you are willing to push harder than they are, they’ll get their way. The last 40 years have been that happening slowly, now it’s happening fast.

    • @Xeroxchasechase
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      61 month ago

      So… are millions of Americans in the street protesting and fighting to avoid it?

      • @shyguyblue
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        201 month ago

        No, they bought the lies the tech bros can afford to spew, so they are voting for this garbage…

        • Avid Amoeba
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          171 month ago

          On their information platforms which are now people’s primary sources of reality.

          • @grue
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            1 month ago

            “This is extremely dangerous to our democracy” – chorus of Sinclair-owned “local” TV news anchors

            • Avid Amoeba
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              1 month ago

              Point for the Sinclair garbage farm - at least generates a shared alternate reality. 😂 Also there are thousands of actual human beings that work there and directly generate this reality. So the chance you’re gonna get dissent from the corporate line is significantly higher than when there’s an algorithm in charge.