> Care to elaborate what perspective the author has been missing
Not really, no. If you have to ask, then it's practically guaranteed to be a painful conversation for both of us. It is fair to ask though, since I brought it up.
So, without writing a book on the topic, here are a few points:
* When Mr. Patterson sent his draft out to be reviewed by ten people (lesson 5!), how many of those people do you think were in the bottom 80% of household net worth? If it was more than 1, I would be shocked. Even one would surprise me, tbh.
* Mr. Patterson has largely been protected from the vast and growing gulf between productivity and wages; from the increasing inequality (now at French Revolution levels), from the economic and social effects of our illegal forever wars. How many homeless people does he even see in a day? How many disabled veterans? ... How do you think a homeless veteran would feel on being advised to "take time to have fun", or "Have good friends and a good family"? How would a single mother working three jobs feel on being advised to "look for opportunities"?!
* Did David think to pay any lip service to the devastation of nature over the last half century? To tech's role in it? To academia's role? Nah, let's just 'appreciate' it, and leave it at that.
* I didn't see any attempt to call out America's increasing war mongering, which has been directly enabled by the very companies and institutions which he says he "loved" working for. Rather, he touts his support for DARPA partnerships as an unambiguous virtue: "Ed Lazowska and I campaigned to change a new DARPA policy that would have cut academic funding nearly in half." That's certainly an opinion one can have, but it doesn't reek to me of self awareness or perspective.
* David touts his bravery with another example: "I organized a letter from 25 Turing laureates on how immigration crackdowns were driving away talent and that we should support candidates who would change that policy" ... That letter was written as an endorsement of Biden, who in fact deported more people than Trump did. Biden's previous admin as VP built the camps holding immigrant kids in wire cages, drinking toilet water and sleeping in foil blankets; a policy which only attracted liberal attention during Trump Admin I and became invisible again under Biden. The Obama/Biden admin expanded ICE by over 3,000%! Etc. There's a profound wilful ignorance there, combined with a smug superiority, that is and has been utterly impervious to the reality of the situation.
And now, after all the facts are in re Biden and immigration, Mr. Patterson cites this letter as an example of his courage. It's wretched; and that's without even considering the lack of comment on how tech and academia are now complicit in genocide.
* How much money has Mr. Patterson made for the yacht class? Certainly at least 100x more than he's earned. Why isn't that important to reflect on?
* Was there any acknowledgment of the role luck plays in our lives? Nope. Not even when we got the sage advice to "have a good family". Why not? Because people like Mr. Patterson tend to believe that they earned their comfortable well-bubbled lives entirely through virtue, merit, and hard work.
I could certainly write much more, but I think you have more than enough to dismiss my view as that of a socialist crank, or that of a jealous layabout, and continue with your day.
Apologies; your comment is so confusing that I can only guess we possess different definitions of 'luck'. Mine is the definition that can be found in the dictionary; what's yours?
Not really, no. If you have to ask, then it's practically guaranteed to be a painful conversation for both of us. It is fair to ask though, since I brought it up.
So, without writing a book on the topic, here are a few points:
* When Mr. Patterson sent his draft out to be reviewed by ten people (lesson 5!), how many of those people do you think were in the bottom 80% of household net worth? If it was more than 1, I would be shocked. Even one would surprise me, tbh.
* Mr. Patterson has largely been protected from the vast and growing gulf between productivity and wages; from the increasing inequality (now at French Revolution levels), from the economic and social effects of our illegal forever wars. How many homeless people does he even see in a day? How many disabled veterans? ... How do you think a homeless veteran would feel on being advised to "take time to have fun", or "Have good friends and a good family"? How would a single mother working three jobs feel on being advised to "look for opportunities"?!
* Did David think to pay any lip service to the devastation of nature over the last half century? To tech's role in it? To academia's role? Nah, let's just 'appreciate' it, and leave it at that.
* I didn't see any attempt to call out America's increasing war mongering, which has been directly enabled by the very companies and institutions which he says he "loved" working for. Rather, he touts his support for DARPA partnerships as an unambiguous virtue: "Ed Lazowska and I campaigned to change a new DARPA policy that would have cut academic funding nearly in half." That's certainly an opinion one can have, but it doesn't reek to me of self awareness or perspective.
* David touts his bravery with another example: "I organized a letter from 25 Turing laureates on how immigration crackdowns were driving away talent and that we should support candidates who would change that policy" ... That letter was written as an endorsement of Biden, who in fact deported more people than Trump did. Biden's previous admin as VP built the camps holding immigrant kids in wire cages, drinking toilet water and sleeping in foil blankets; a policy which only attracted liberal attention during Trump Admin I and became invisible again under Biden. The Obama/Biden admin expanded ICE by over 3,000%! Etc. There's a profound wilful ignorance there, combined with a smug superiority, that is and has been utterly impervious to the reality of the situation.
And now, after all the facts are in re Biden and immigration, Mr. Patterson cites this letter as an example of his courage. It's wretched; and that's without even considering the lack of comment on how tech and academia are now complicit in genocide.
* How much money has Mr. Patterson made for the yacht class? Certainly at least 100x more than he's earned. Why isn't that important to reflect on?
* Was there any acknowledgment of the role luck plays in our lives? Nope. Not even when we got the sage advice to "have a good family". Why not? Because people like Mr. Patterson tend to believe that they earned their comfortable well-bubbled lives entirely through virtue, merit, and hard work.
I could certainly write much more, but I think you have more than enough to dismiss my view as that of a socialist crank, or that of a jealous layabout, and continue with your day.