Balaji, a 43-year-old Long Island native who goes by his first name, has a solid Valley pedigree: He earned multiple degrees from Stanford University, founded multiple startups, became a partner at Andreessen-Horowitz and then served as chief technology officer at Coinbase. He is also the leader of a cultish and increasingly strident neo-reactionary tech political movement that sees American democracy as an enemy. In 2013, a New York Times story headlined ā€œSilicon Valley Roused by Secession Callā€ described a speech in which he ā€œtold a group of young entrepreneurs that the United States had become ā€˜the Microsoft of nationsā€™: outdated and obsolescent.ā€

ā€œThe speech won roars from the audience at Y Combinator, a leading start-up incubator,ā€ reported the Times. Balaji paints a bleak picture of a dystopian future in a U.S. in chaos and decline, but his prophecies sometimes fall short. Last year, he lost one million dollars in a public bet after wrongly predicting a massive surge in the price of Bitcoin.

Still, his appetite for autocracy is bottomless. Last October, Balaji hosted the first-ever Network State Conference. Garry Tanā€”the current Y Combinator CEO whoā€™s attempting to spearhead a political takeover of San Franciscoā€”participated in an interview with Balaji and cast the effort as part of the Network State movement. Tan, who made headlines in January after tweeting ā€œdie slow motherfuckersā€ at local progressive politicians, frames his campaign as an experiment in ā€œmoderateā€ politics. But in a podcast interview one month before the conference, Balaji laid out a more disturbing and extreme vision.

What Iā€™m really calling for is something like tech Zionism,ā€ he said, after comparing his movement to those started by the biblical Abraham, Jesus Christ, Joseph Smith (founder of Mormonism), Theodor Herzl (ā€œspiritual fatherā€ of the state of Israel), and Lee Kuan Yew (former authoritarian ruler of Singapore). Balaji then revealed his shocking ideas for a tech-governed city where citizens loyal to tech companies would form a new political tribe clad in gray t-shirts. ā€œAnd if you see another Gray on the streetā€¦you do the nod,ā€ he said, during a four-hour talk on the Moment of Zen podcast. ā€œYouā€™re a fellow Gray.ā€

The Graysā€™ shirts would feature ā€œBitcoin or Elon or other kinds of logos ā€¦ Y Combinator is a good one for the city of San Francisco in particular.ā€ Grays would also receive special ID cards providing access to exclusive, Gray-controlled sectors of the city. In addition, the Grays would make an alliance with the police department, funding weekly ā€œpolicemanā€™s banquetsā€ to win them over.

ā€œGrays should embrace the police, okay? All-in on the police,ā€ said Srinivasan. ā€œWhat does that mean? Thatā€™s, as I said, banquets. That means every policemanā€™s son, daughter, wife, cousin, you know, sibling, whatever, should get a job at a tech company in security.ā€

In exchange for extra food and jobs, cops would pledge loyalty to the Grays. Srinivasan recommends asking officers a series of questions to ascertain their political leanings. For example: ā€œDid you want to take the sign off of Elonā€™s building?ā€

This refers to the August 2023 incident in which Elon Musk illegally installed a large flashing X logo atop Twitter headquarters, in violation of building safety codes. City inspectors forced him to remove it. This was the second time Musk had run afoul of the city in his desire to refurbish his headquarters: In July, police briefly halted his attempt to pry the ā€œTwitterā€ signage from the buildingā€™s exterior. But in Balajiā€™s dystopia, he implies that officers loyal to the Grays would let Musk do as he pleases (democratically-inclined officers, he suggests, can be paid to retire).

Simply put, there is a ton of fascist-chic cosplay involved. Once an officer joins the Grays, they get a special uniform designed by their tech overlords. The Grays will also donate heavily to police charities and ā€œmerge the Gray and police social networks.ā€ Then, in a show of force, theyā€™ll march through the city together.

  • partial_accumen
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    31ā€¢6 months ago

    Its even more than that. Itā€™s like an edgy teenagerā€™s view of what a powerful group is. Instead of seeing adult versions of authoritarianism like:

    ā€œWeā€™ll change zoning and lending laws to preclude anyone but our group from owning property in our chosen city. Without inclusion in our group education opportunities will be restricted. Healthcare will be rationed for all except usā€

    ā€¦we getā€¦

    ā€œWeā€™ll hold banquets for police.ā€ ā€œIn exchange for extra food and jobs, cops would pledge loyalty to the Graysā€ (Iā€™ll buy pizza for the group and theyā€™ll be my friend forever!)

    ā€œAnd if you see another Gray on the streetā€¦you do the nodā€ (like a secret handshake you need to perform before you enter the clubhouse!)

    Its such an oddly childish approach. Is the guy this silly or is he intentionally putting out a childish version to attract those that think this that is what power is and how human motivations work?

    • @[email protected]
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      4ā€¢6 months ago

      Itā€™s hard to know, these tech guys are pretty cloistered in their lives in many cases. Many also start that way at private schools and in higher Ed. This is a Stanford dude, which might not be quite as bad as a Harvard dude, but still messed up in subtly different ways.

      I have a bit of experience with the east coast elite, living and working with many in Boston for 15 years. They go to a big private high school, like Philips Exeter. Itā€™s got amenities and educational opportunities that are hard to believe, and basically ingrains how much better and special their rich students are than the rest of society (us plebes).

      There are seriously fucked up things going on in those places that are teaching these CEOā€™s kids that they will control and profit from the world, at the expense of everyone who isnā€™t in their in-group.

      Itā€™s really hard to imagine how weā€™re going to get out of the economic and power structures that got us where we are. Voting reform and real progressives that arenā€™t part of the existing elite and are willing to do the tough work that wonā€™t set them up in the oligarchy class (or the as the oligarchyā€™s lackeys) are probably the best chance we have to do it peacefully.