Silicon Valley Represents An Entirely New Political Category


Over the last decade, Silicon Valley has become an extraordinary force in politics, but they’ve bewildered the DC establishment with their shifting and bizarre loyalties.

Tech titans are the arch nemeses of labor unions on a series of fronts, from high-skilled immigration and the taxi industry to free trade and their aggressive funding of non-unionized charter schools.

Philosophically, the people who found internet startups (“founders”) are are best described as idealists: a belief that there is always a better solution that benefits most people and reduces conflict. Politically, founders reject labor unions, sovereignty, regulation, smaller government, and militarism because all of these assume some conflict of interest between citizens, the government, other nations, and corporations.

Internet founders believe the best role for government is competitive and direct funding for non-government agencies to solve social problems, whether it’s these parent-run public charter schools, loans to immigrant entrepreneurs for an alternative energy startup, or scientific research at a public university.







Whereas American politics has traditionally assumed that free market fandom was in an exclusive relationship with libertarian individualism, tech founders are actually quite collectivist. They believe the government, itself, should embrace the unforgiving meritocracy of capitalism by operating like a high-tech company (which is how union-less Silicon Valley-funded charter schools often operate).






“What makes Silicon Valley special? Eternal optimism of the innovative mind”, wrote tech blogger, Om Malik. “I’m maybe the most optimistic person I know. I mean, I’m incredibly optimistic. I’m optimistic arguably to a fault, especially in terms of new ideas,” said notable investor, Marc Andreessen.

This Idealism is not rhetorical fluff; it’s founded on two deep-seated assumptions about the world: change is inherently progressive and there are no conflicts between major groups in society.



But, it’s not just about the future. This optimism also extends to present-day society. While Democrats traditionally believe in a conflict between corporations and citizens, and libertarians fear a battle between the government and citizens, founders don’t recognize any conflicts between any major group in society. Indeed, when Elon Musk explained why he was giving away his Tesla patents, he noted,




At their absolute philosophical core, Silicon Valley’s elite believe that information is a panacea. That is, nearly every problem can be solved through conversation, education, or innovation. To measure faith in information, I asked two questions, ‘Are there any problems a great education system alone can’t solve?’, and ‘how often can military enemies solve their dispute through dialogue alone’.


A lot of writers have scratched their heads trying to classify the Valley’s unusual politics, calling it “quasi-libertarian” and “peer-progressivism”. Back in the 90s, a tech-obsessed faction of the Democratic party called themselves “Atari Democrats”.

I suspect these terms never stuck because nothing ever really captured this novel ideology.

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To be sure, while founders’ ideology is novel in American politics, it does have a few analogues. In modern politics, it’s close to what Political Scientists refer to as “communitarianism“, the belief that communities are often better at solving social ills than government agencies.

This jives with the sharing economy’s obsession with replacing public transit with Uber-like carpooling or easing the housing crisis through Airbnb rentals. Google Chairman Eric Schmidt refers to this as the “religion” of the tech industry.


Historically, these beliefs are more akin to the European Renaissance “Enlightenment Era“, where a faith in information was actually a recognizable ideology. After the French Revolution, the victors smashed churches and erected monuments to Reason (capital “R”).

For centuries, extreme optimism in the wisdom of the crowds has lied dormant. But, it appears that the knowledge economy is giving this old idealism new life. It is quite literally the basis of many billion-dollar industries.




*For a more detailed Q&A about the survey, click here and for a list of chapters in the entire series, click here. And, follow the Ferenstein Wire newsletter for more stories.