So lately it appears that the infamous Occupy-type protesters of the San Francisco bay region have now taken to throwing themselves under the wheels of Google buses as their new cause célèbre of the day. Which certainly prompts the question of what could possibly be so terrible about Google that would motivate these young people to take such careless risks with their own lives for the sake of making a political statement.
Their answer hinges upon the growing economic inequality and income gap in America, a trend they primarily attribute to the growing power and profits of giant tech companies concentrated along the west coast, many of which are headquartered in San Francisco. Yet as a victim of the income gap myself, and as a person who studies economics in great depth, I feel confident in attributing the current structural problems of our economy to flawed government policy rather than the actions of private companies. Only governments can wield the legal authority to manipulate and distort markets through public policy, whereas private companies wield no greater power in the economy than to influence consumers to buy their products.
And yet the protesters of Google believe that their disenfranchisement is somehow directly correlated with specific individuals working within the tech sector, and that Google employees are somehow personally responsible for vastly complex global economic forces that no one company, nor industry for that matter, could possible have any direct ability to influence or control.
I find it immensely difficult to direct any anger towards a company that adds as much value to my life as Google does. Or pretty much any tech company, for that matter. If it were not for computer engineers, I wouldn’t be writing a blog this very moment that has the potential to reach millions of readers. And were it not for the Internet, the protesters of the Occupy movement would not have been able to organize to the extent that they did, had they been able to organize at all. Could Tahrir Square have happened without the help of Twitter? I seriously doubt it. And so it seems evident, to me at least, that technology is an inseparable component of progressive social revolution in today’s world.
As a former participant in the Occupy movement, I value the communication tools that the Internet has put within easy reach, enabling me to find and communicate instantaneously with those people who share my values and interests. My self-education in economics and political theory would not have been possible without the Internet and search engines such as Google. Nor would I have been able to find and connect with other like-minded activists to form what ultimately became the Occupy movement, a movement which I’m sure many of these Google protesters participated in as well. As an activist and scholar, it makes no sense for me to reject those companies that created the social tools with which I empower myself.
There was a study done not too long ago where pollsters asked the public whether they would give up the Internet in exchange for a million dollars. And the answer of 99% of those asked? Absolutely not. Nothing, apparently, has created as much meaning, value or wealth for today’s world than the Internet, if the numbers in the poll prove correct. And something that no amount of money could ever replace is a very powerful entity indeed that ought to command respect from all those who rely upon it in their daily lives.
As far as the income inequality issue, let’s not forget that these tech workers didn’t end up becoming successful by accident, and that they worked super hard to get where they are in life, taking risks and making sacrifices that most others aren’t willing to attempt. And not only did they possess the raw brainpower to pull it off, but more importantly they decided to invest that talent towards ends that benefit humanity as a whole, rather than serve the basest of narrow self-interests and short-term profits.
As uncomfortable as it may be for some to admit, our undergrad college degrees aren’t worth much of anything these days. And while that has a lot to do with the faulty economics of excessive loans inflating the perceived value of a college degree, it’s also a function of the phenomena where technology is replacing many of the relatively low-skilled jobs that most of us once filled, myself included. Those with rare and highly specialized skill sets, such as tech and science workers, will always be in higher demand in the employment market.
Is this a hard pill for me to swallow? Of course it is. But at the same time, it’s forcing me to figure out how to adapt, to think creatively, to self-improve, to create something of value that is relevant to others; and in the process, hopefully help me redefine the concept of value itself, which ought to become a pretty big asset if I work hard enough at it. In essence, it is forcing me to evolve, thus enabling me to achieve something far greater than I was capable of before.
The Google protesters apparently feel that the Google techs make far more money than they deserve. And yet think about the vast, if not immeasurable amount of wealth these innovators have created not only for today’s generation, but for the future of our species as a whole. If anything, these protesters should be pausing for a second to ask themselves what sort of value it is that they themselves are capable of contributing to society, and in what ways they can adapt to the changing times to make that value indispensable.
Related articles
- S.F. tech companies’ civic image at stake as backlash grows (sfgate.com)
- 2013: The year we stopped trusting technology (salon.com)
- #Googlebus protest – What does it say about Oakland’s future? (oaklandlocal.com)
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