I think (hope) we’re in the process of heading back in a more “we society” direction.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archi ... bs/671519/Although the “average joe” was an effective political prop, the Reagan Revolution’s narrative required a heroic leader. So, as the tide of global economic prosperity lifted most boats, in America we transferred credit for the rise from the laboring masses to the brilliant, opportunistic, or plain lucky individuals directing those masses. The name we found for this modern-day savior was the innovator.
We’ve torn down the old gods and replaced them with an idolatry of innovators. And this religion is most deeply embedded in the culture of technology. In tech, the idea that success is the result of individual achievement, a mark of grit and genius, is an article of faith.
For much of my adult life, this was my own mythology of self—that I’d gone from being the child of a working single mother to shopping for private jets. Clearly, I was self-made. The truth is that I’m American-made. I benefited from being born in a time and place of unprecedented prosperity with a host of advantages, most of them circumstantial.
Much the same is true of Silicon Valley. Certainly, a unique ecosystem exists there, and the human capital that it attracts is inspiring, but what gets less attention is that the foundation of the Valley was built on government projects. The computer chip, the internet, the mouse, the web browser, and GPS were all midwifed with tax dollars, not venture capital. Although the conversion of those technologies into private profits took individual vision, it also took millions of hours of work from thousands of engineers and other wage earners, most of whom were the product of one of the largest government programs we have: public schools.
Our nation once idolized astronauts and civil-rights leaders who inspired hope and empathy. Now it worships tech innovators who generate billions of dollars and move financial markets. To justify that adulation, we made shareholder returns the sole metric of success, and so shareholders are the most successful. We acclaimed the power of technology, and so technology has gained the most power. And we lauded the individuals at the head of those tech organizations for their genius………………
What turns this from bad to terrible, what makes it un-American, is that these advantages are becoming entrenched. The elites are digging in, protecting their growing fortunes from the risks of the very markets they claim to support. Bailouts, tax breaks, and subsidies are the tools of entrenchment. For those at the top, our capitalism has become cronyism: rugged individualism on the way up, but socialism on the way down.