This past year in Silicon Valley was not a rosy one. Issues from sexual harassment to wealth inequality to racial discrimination to outsourcing showed their ugly heads. There are also issues like fake news, tax cheating and even AI worship. So what’s going on? This is the Silicon Valley moral meltdown: How bad is it?
If you ask venture capitalist and activist Frida K Klein, then she would say it’s real bad. In fact, she asked, “Does anyone even have a moral compass…”. Ouch! But she would know; she began her tech career in Boston in the 1980s. Back then, IT service didn’t control our lives like it does now. There lies part of the problem.
The other part of the problem, at least according to Klein, is greed. I understand where she’s coming from. Back in the 1980s and 1990s, information technology led the way in forward thinking. But since tech is the dominant norm, there is hardly a need for forward thinking. It’s just a race to dominate by any means necessary. Then there is ignorance. Yes, tech leaders are among the most intelligent in the world. But I see common sense is lacking. Because it’s obvious, to me, the future work force is more diverse than ever before, especially the iGeneraton (those born after 2000). But yet Silicon Valley leadership insists on being lily white and mostly male. Ignorance at best, but is there a more sinister motive here?
I agree with Frida K Klein. We are having a Silicon Valley moral meltdown. In fact, some tech companies are leaving Silicon Valley because of this. But they’re not the first one to go through this. Every industry before it had these struggles. Now it computer servicing’s term. It’s Silicon Valley’s turn. Will they learn? Will Silicon Valley ever learn?