A possible reason why SV was ahead of the rest of US in recognizing the seriousness of COVID-19 may be that most of the US (esp Boomers) still think of China as one of those backwards places that has disease outbreaks “that would never happen” in a “modern” country.
In contrast, SV is painfully aware of how advanced China really is, arguably having superior infrastructure, better mass technology deployment, and integration of data and health systems in everyday life - especially in large cities.
They are much faster at getting big shit done too, and have been beating American tech companies repeatedly over the past two decades. Sure, home court advantage and all, but a win is a win.
So Silicon Valley saw a superior/near-parity technological society grapple with a mortal threat and barely manage to face it down, while the rest of the US interpreted it through the old Cold War lens of “lol primitive authoritarian country has bad hospitals, won’t happen here.”
SV is also much more distinctly aware of how much the US lags in terms of infrastructure, bureaucratic inefficiency, and overall execution.
Of course, the rest of the US has no idea (or it wouldn’t be that bad). Half the country thinks poor people shouldn’t have health care.
Of course, the rest of the US has no idea (or it wouldn’t be that bad). Half the country thinks poor people shouldn’t have health care.
When I made the following prediction in early Feb, I thought it was only an outside chance. Now watching the US continually bungle its response, as well as observe the cultural boneheadedness from the general public, I think it’s becoming more likely:
Sure, SV people are “good at math” or “understand exponential growth better.” But if that were the case, hedge fund guys in NYC should’ve been making a killing on this the whole time and we should’ve seen the market move way earlier. But we didn’t.
It’s not like hedge funds have been getting their asses handed to them for a decade by Chinese competitors.
No, that’s reserved for the hapless tech companies (eBay, Goog, Uber), who grew a healthy respect for China and knew what it meant whn such a capable rival went stumbled.
No, that’s reserved for the hapless tech companies (eBay, Goog, Uber), who grew a healthy respect for China and knew what it meant whn such a capable rival went stumbled.
