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SV was always authoritarian tho. Look at the structure of the companies, they are all run top down with a CEO and a strict corporate hierarchy (the notable exception being Steam I guess). That's how authoritarians prefer things.

Contrast with the way academic departments are run, where there is a Chair and a Dean, but faculty rotate and serve in those roles for limited terms.



Most small businesses run this way too, though. There are just fewer levels of hierarchy in a small business.


My family was run this way as well. How many time did I hear my dad say "This isn't a democracy." :P


The libertarians I know are all authoritarian with regards to their own property, including their shares of stock. They object to centralized control, not to control. They see authoritarian control of their own company as an example of a decentralized locus of control. If there are libertarians who disdain detailed control of their own property I haven't met them.

If they leverage their property to help centralize control, they're something other than libertarian.


Your line of logic isn't specific to silicon valley -- corporations everywhere are largely run top-down by a CEO in a corporate hierarchy.


Indeed, yes, I've believed for a long time that if corporations were governments they'd be authoritarian dictatorships. Hence why I refuse to work at any corporation. I was part of a startup once, and that was pretty "libertarian" I guess e.g. we arrived when we wanted, took off when we needed, worked on what needed to be done, were all paid the same, chose our own roles and titles. I liked it, but it couldn't have lasted.


That’s the point the interviewee is trying to make. The libertarian era was an anomaly not the actions of today.




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