Topics
Latest
AI
Amazon
Image Credits:Getty Images
Apps
Biotech & Health
mood
Image Credits:Getty Images
Cloud Computing
Commerce
Crypto
Enterprise
EVs
Fintech
Fundraising
Gadgets
punt
Government & Policy
Hardware
layoff
Media & Entertainment
Meta
Microsoft
Privacy
Robotics
surety
Social
infinite
Startups
TikTok
conveyance
speculation
More from TechCrunch
effect
Startup Battlefield
StrictlyVC
Podcasts
picture
Partner Content
TechCrunch Brand Studio
Crunchboard
adjoin Us
Venture chapiter behemoth Andreessen Horowitz has announced its intent to begin buttonhole the U.S. authorities , and their plan is as tone - deaf and obtuse as this summer’sdreadful “ Techno - Optimist Manifesto . ”Essentially , they will give to anyone — literally anyone — who “ hold an optimistic technology - enabled hereafter . ”
This is what ’s called being a single - take voter , and while co - father Ben Horowitz ( who penned the web log position ) seems to conceive harbinger themselves as such give their lobbying a child - like purity , it ’s quite the antonym .
The fact is that they are full-bodied ideologues harbinger their design to pay any politician who will advance their schedule , whatever that pol ’s other views . It really is that simple !
That tech is more important than people is fundamental to their approach . They would indicate that they ’re pro - hoi polloi by way of being pro - tech , for example as they write , “ Artificial Intelligence has the voltage to elate all of mankind to an unprecedented timber of living . ”
Therefore , being pro - AI is being pro - multitude , right ? And in fact , if you remember about it , if AIcouldlead to a 100x improvement in the human condition long term , it justifies taking actions that produce worse outcomes in the scant term . For instance , brook politicians who fight back basic civil rights just because they have a more hands - off tech regulation proposal .
Would Andreessen and Horowitz support a politico propose a internal miscarriage ban , for instance , or far-flung banning of “ ignite agenda ” book , if that person say they ’d trust AI companies to do what ’s best for everyone ? Well , agree to a16z ’s statement of function here , that abortion poppycock is none of their business ! They ’re “ non - partisan , one publication voters . ”
But that ’s just talk through one’s hat , right ?
In the first place , the approximation that this one issue is non - partizan is laughable . Forced - birth advocates would probably say they are non - partizan , one - issue voter too . It ’s not about politics , it ’s about the rightfulness to life , after all . That only one political political party has cynically tied this and other “ traditional values ” to every other policy marriage offer for decades is irrelevant !
No , no — you do n’t get to justdeclarenon - partiality in a blog mail . Tech regulation has become a partizan egress like everything else . The debates on net disinterest , on Section 230 , on TikTok , on disinformation in social media , and on a16z ’s pet techs AI , cryptocurrency and biotech — all drumbeater ! That is simply the nature of government now . Evennotparticipating in lobbying is in a way a partizan decisiveness because it signals that you are not willing to take a side .
But that non - partisan language is just the usual dressing for this kind of declaration . Everyone claim it because it ’s a meaningless quality and ca n’t be essay or disproved . The problem with a16z ’s philosophy here is that it is a wolf in sheep ’s clothing : a nakedly deregulatory and pro - capital agenda superficially drape with the spoken communication of empowerment .
You have to guess that some cigarette industry executive write a similar web log post in the ’ LX : We are a non - partizan , exclusive - issue voter on the misguided regulatory regime below the belt preventing Americans from enjoying the great gustatory modality and health benefit of our all - natural tobacco product .
Same for plastics , solid food additives , leaded gas , everything else . All they cared about , and all Andreessen Horowitz handle about , is clearing the panel of a troublesome obstruction to enrichment .
If they in reality worry at all about people and how government or this lobbying feat might affect them , “ people ” plausibly would have been bring up as more than abstract concepts that might theoretically get “ uplifted ” or harm in an imaginary future .
It ’s unrealistic to think that by donate to a politician who fend for their deregulatory visual modality , a16z will not also be digest the other insurance that people actually vote on right now . Things like voting right hand , procreative care , training . This obvious conflict of interests is conveniently avoid . Is any emplacement , any proposal queasy enough for them to move back support , or will they stick around by their principle , if they can be described as such ?
They ca n’t expect us to think that their understanding of lobbying and politics is this primitive . There are impudent masses at that business firm . We must take their statement at face value that they really do n’t worry about anything but growing the sphere they clothe in . But what they are declare is not , as they evoke , an idealistic pro - humanity stance , but a cynical self - interested position that is basically anti - people .
But a16z does not worry aboutpeople — it cares abouthumanity .
And humankind will surely be grateful when , as we go into this gold age of applied science , we embark a black age of civic and societal policy , right?Women like Kate Cox may not have bodily self-direction , but at least they will have the blockchain .
