Cyberspace Just Got Hijacked By Socialists

Floyd G. Brown * The Center for Western Journalism

This week I took time out from my regular schedule to swim among the geeks. I traveled to the Las Vegas Convention Center and wandered the halls of a technology conference. While I was there, I listened to at least 30 speakers and talked with participants ranging from the hardcore hackers and spammers to run-of-the-mill web masters.

Tech people are mysterious. Many are more comfortable with machines than people. They communicate using words most Americans will never understand. But they’re also admirable. Most are smart and hardworking – and many build amazing companies to solve problems that have long plagued humankind.

However, it’s also clear to me that this talented and savvy group of thinkers and entrepreneurs has sadly accepted what I will call, for lack of a better term, the hardcore, leftwing politics of Obama. Never in my life have I seen such smart people with so little understanding of government and economics.

The first keynote speaker – noted internet entrepreneur Jason Calacanis – was no exception. Calacanis is well-known as the chief executive and founder of Inside.com. And he gave a brilliant speech. His grasp of technology issues is unparalleled. He’s truly a visionary, and he has an amazing telescope into the future.

Calacanis spoke passionately about how technology startups are improving life and changing the world. But just as he should have been ending his speech, he launched into a rant that showed how this brilliant technologist has no understanding of our free economy.

Calacanis said, and I paraphrase…

“The technology business is destroying America’s jobs. Soon robotics will destroy what jobs the internet hasn’t killed. I think the solution to this problem is for the government to pay every American $2,000 a month. That way, when unemployment spikes above 20% because of technology, we won’t be overcome by riots in the streets. Let’s just give every American this living wage whether they work or not.”

Read more at The Western Center for Journalism:

http://www.westernjournalism.com/cyberspace-just-got-hijacked-socialists/#lP7TFe02JsarLUxt.99