A Time to Act
Some suggestions for Silicon Valley
As we process the election results and the future of this country, the sensible thing to do is to remember, as President Obama said, that the sun will come up in the morning.
But it’s all too easy to confuse stoicism with fatalism, and act as if nothing has changed. Already, I’m seeing a quick return to inane marketing, promotions, product launches, and Westworld theories in my feeds and inbox.
As a Canadian and Permanent Resident of the United States, I have a door out if I so desire. But the effects and actions of this country are far reaching and deserve attention.
As an Asian male, I’m fairly privileged and, thus far, fairly unaffected by most of the hate spewed by Trump’s campaign. But what he stands for deeply impacts the safety and rights of those I love, and I’m probably one North Korean or Chinese act of aggression away from being bucketed as an “other”.
Trump becoming President isn’t the problem. Nearly 60 million Americans voting for Trump is the problem.
It’s tempting to go back to some feeling of normalcy and to rationalize everything as, “not that bad.” Maybe it even isn’t “that bad.” But let this be a very clear marker that things can be that bad, and we must fight to stop it and prevent it in the future.
Let’s start talking about things we can focus on with our collective minds.
Never stop believing that fighting for what’s right is worth it. — Hillary Clinton
Educate As Many As Possible
Although it’s inaccurate to say most uneducated voters voted for Trump, it is true Trump did significantly better with whites with no college degrees.
Education is the key to a thriving economy ready for the future. The lack of it is the key to disenfranchisement and a feeling of being left behind. One only needs to look at the demographic of both Brexit and Trump voting to see this.
We’re not going to see free college education, or an eradication of student debt, anytime soon. It’s time to stop pretending that government will take the initiative and start solving the problems ourselves.
I’m inspired by companies like Bridge International Academy, which serves “700 million families who live on less than $2 USD a day”. They utilize satellite and aerial imagery along with mobile real estate applications to find places for new schools. They standardize their teacher training and assesments so that they can train 400 teachers a day and still select for the best. They process test scores and use that data to drive new teaching scripts.
These are approaches we are familiar with. Surely, we can not only find ways to make higher education more widely available but also more affordable.
Promote Truth
Education is not just about skills and degrees. It’s also about learning the importance of facts and scientific method.
As an alum of Twitter, I’ve always been inspired by the voice that we’ve given to those who formerly had little. But that engine is now a gigantic shouting machine that displays all information equally, without predjudice.
Yet it distributes them inequally, serving misinformation farther and faster than corrections. Facebook faces similar problems.
What can we do to amplify facts over fiction? How can we stop perpetuating outright lies yet not be editors of the internet? Do we need more resources like Politifact and Snopes?
Perhaps we can look at how often a shared link is then commented on with a fact-checking site and include that link. Perhaps we can make it easier, in our endless sea of algorithms, to find facts when we need to.
Build Connections and Bridges
Another aspect of the shouting engine we’ve built is that we’ve made it very difficult to listen. Regardless of the sincerity of the answers from the candidates, one of the best questions in the second presidential debate was this:
Regardless of the current rhetoric, would either of you name one positive thing that you respect in one another?
The question is unique in that it appealed to what each appreciated about the other. It was a question that hoped to evoke connection rather than separation; togetherness rather than opposition.
As I’ve written before, I believe that lack of empathy and understanding prevents us from ever striving towards common goals of mutual protection and safety. I’m watching Facebook friends unfriend others for their opposiing views—understandably so, for they feel their safety has been personally attacked. Yet this simply furthers our feeling of “us” vs. “them.”
People seem to have less patience and desire to understand and empathize with the views of their “opposition”.
We are all humans and all have the same desires and needs: food, safety, shelter, love, respect. Even those who vote or act out of fear are doing so because of these core needs. Agreeing to see these does not mean you also need to accept their choices.
Instead of a shouting engine, what types of things can we create (whether they be products, community events, or art) to highlight what we have in common rather than how we are different? How can we help others see, or even feel, the threats we each face?
According to this NY Times Op-Ed, there are many ways to increase empathy. Inspiring feelings of awe, going into nature, sharing uplifting stories of sacrifice, thinking about suffering, literary fiction, and moments of contemplation are all avenues to expand empathy. That’s a very large menu to choose from.
Tackle Climate
It’s already rumoured that Trump will pick a proud climate skeptic to lead the EPA transition. Trump’s term may be only 4 years, perhaps 8, but his actions and inaction will have repercussions far beyond that. As the country with the second-highest CO2 emissions, those repercussions will likely be global.
So it seems clear that the pending government will not address some time-sensitive environmental issues.
Elon Musk showed us that he can move an entire industry by making electric vehicles not only a better replacement for the environment but also a viable and lucrative business and a better car.
There are so many places to look to improve. Make it smarter and easier for us to recycle and compost. Explore how we can replace monoculture crop farming. Create sensors to help every company and citizen make better decisions. We are an industry of innovation and innovation can provide not only value to shareholders but also to the world.
Value More Than The Returns
To my venture capital and angel investing friends, I encourage you to look beyond the returns and invest in markets and products that yield value to the macroeconomic landscape. I alternate between being a pragmatist and an idealist and don’t believe you should simply throw your money at money-losing ventures.
However, our system is built on you pushing each of your portfolio companies to 100x returns no matter the social or psychological cost. Foster and invest in companies who have the courage to do more than grow engagement and sell ad revenue. Look at the markets that have been left behind.
And So Much More
I’ve only scratched the surface of what we might be able to tackle and expend more effort on. There are plenty more that deserve attention. Some examples:
- Privacy: Especially with so many marginalized groups now at risk of being targeted, how can we influence our companies and products to protect the identities of our users and ensure their safety? How can we support the efforts of organizations like the EFF?
- Cyberbullying: How can we help make avenues of discourse safe for all participants?
- Diversification: What can we do within our communities, whether they’re online, our department, our company, or our neighborhood, to encourage more diversified participation and inclusion?
I wrote this as much for myself as I did for others. I‘ve struggled for awhile now to determine where to focus my energies and make a positive impact and I feel I’ve done too little, too late to prevent the present condition.
I refuse to let that continue and I know many others feel the same way. For now, I’m still exploring how to build bridges and empathy through VR. It’s possible that VR is too far from being mainstream to be the effective path for what I want to do but at least I’ll be trying something.
Let this be a note for myself and perhaps you on other things to try as well. If you know someone wanting to do something, please feel free to share and comment.
Thanks to Joshua Kaufman, Joel Kraut, and Maciej Ceglowski.
