There’s a Newfound Hatred of Silicon Valley

The Daily Caller discusses opinions on Silicon Valley with Wayne Crews.

For quite a long time, Silicon Valley was the angelic, do-no-wrong industry, adamantly supported by people on the left end of the political spectrum, presumably due to the tech companies’ enormous economic contributions to society, but also more likely because their respective leaders often espouse like-minded ideals.

Now, as the corporations’ individual and collective power perpetually grows to almost unprecedented levels, so too does liberals’ dislike for Silicon Valley.

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While it’s been a while, or ever, since it’s been so palpable, Wayne Crews, vice president for policy and senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), says this clamoring over Silicon Valley’s stature is not exactly new.

He recalls loud appeals after the turn of the century to classify Google as a public utility because its search engine had become so dominant, ubiquitous, and necessary to use the internet.

“Silicon Valley has always been left-leaning, while some folks saw them as small ‘L’ libertarians,” Crews told The Daily Caller News Foundation. “They tend to align left-of-center on issues, except interestingly enough, when their own company has been targeted for antitrust,” he continued, adding that rent-seeking often occurs in which firms don’t want regulation for themselves — usually aligning them with conservatives — but don’t mind it so much for others.

Crews adds, though, that intense skepticism is probably more prominent due to a confluence of factors; the levels of wealth and influence these companies have been able to attain and the confluence of (for the most part) usually-opposing ideologies.

“Any company that people love across the board, but grows too powerful, gets targeted,” said Crews. “What we have on our hands now is a growing trend from both sides.”

Read the full article at The Daily Caller.