An Open Letter to the Tech Community
Like many around the US and the world, I’m surprised and concerned that we’ve elected as president a man who has made divisive comments throughout his public life yet lacks the experience we’ve come to expect of the office. But now that it has happened, we need to band together both to protect minorities, women, the LGBTQ community, the environment, and other targets of his vitriol, and to ensure that something like this never happens again.
It’s easy to criticize and mock certain voters for living in an echo chamber of cable news and online forums, but we tend to do the same — not just in what we read but in where we live. Look at the stark divide in the electoral map between cities and everything in between. Not only does this arrangement keep most of us from ever interacting with people who have different opinions and worldviews, it makes it easy for partisan bodies to draw districts in such a way that all but guarantees their party of choice control of legislatures.
I imagine many of you had the same first instinct I did — to leave the country, or otherwise hole up for the next 4 years and hope this blows over. But after recovering from the initial shock, it’s become evident that the situation here isn’t going to change on its own. It would be naïve to claim that there weren’t elements of bigotry to this election, and while that was undoubtedly a major factor for many voters, many more were reacting, understandably, to the loss of their jobs, the deterioration of their communities, the unraveling of their lives. That’s going to engender fear and anger in anyone, and when a skilled salesman comes along offering a solution, it’s only natural for those affected to buy what he’s selling.
We have seen now that the most ominous promises of his campaign were both serious and literal. We can no longer pretend that his policies will be better than we feared, or that his advisors will provide a moderating voice to the basest of emotions that seem to drive him. It is beyond argument at this point that we are dealing with an authoratarian who seeks to crush anyone who stands in his way, convention, law, or human decency be damned. I worry what course of action he will seek to take if and when his policies fail to relieve the economic hardship facing so many of our fellow citizens.
Yet this isn’t, and can’t be, about defeating one man. This has to be about improving the present and future for the country as a whole. We need to commit to helping to revitalize America from the inside out. We need to leave the comfortable bubbles our coastal cities have become. We need to go into communities that have lost jobs and financial security as a result of a rapidly changing world. We need to take our knowledge and prosperity to those who have been left behind. When so many of us here can barely afford to buy a home, how can we expect those from less affluent areas to come here? We have to go them. We have the power to make a positive impact in communities across the country, rebuilding America from the inside.
I’m calling on my friends and colleagues to leave San Francisco, Boston, and other cities to go work with the people in small towns in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and the rest of middle America. I’m calling on CEOs and VCs from Andreessen to Zuckerberg to allow their employees to work remotely from these towns, and to consider establishing offices in these areas. Most importantly, I’m calling on all of us to stop ignoring the hardship that has fallen on much of this country, and to start helping to change it for the better.
There will be times of discomfort; of talking to people whose views with which we disagree; even times of hearing opinions we may find abhorrent. But it will be a two-way conversation, and it is important to listen because our country is worth it. We must be agents of hope for for those left behind, lest our country fall into the hands of charlatans carrying a message of bigotry. This is the greatest challenge our country has faced in most of our lifetimes. Let’s rise up to meet it.
Looking to do your part? One way to get involved is to read the Indivisible Guide, which is written by former congressional staffers and is loaded with best practices for making Congress listen. Or follow this publication, connect with us on Twitter, and join us on Facebook.
