RIP San Francisco

Photos: © Stan Banos

Well, yeah, it ain't nothing I don't already know... I came here close to twenty years ago escaping a city where gentrification was metastasizing at an unprecedented rate. And I suppose this at least feels worse because San Francisco is considerably smaller than NYC, and makes all these changes seem that much more concentrated- though make no mistake... the rampant, unfettered capitalism that has been unleashed upon this town by Big Tech has wrecked more havoc than any long awaited Mega-Quake imaginable. At least the latter stands the chance of having people actually work together for the common goal of mutual survival.

I've now watched Big Tech divide this town into The Premier Have and Have Not Megalopolis. They ignore the displacement, ignore the rampant homelessness (unless to whiningly complain about the abomination they've helped exacerbate), ignore everything negative they've helped create and foster, because in truth- their life, their reality, their very raison d'être is... online. They couldn't care less about this town- or any other. Real life communities are expendable, they are merely a physical space upon which to set down their laptops to enter and inhabit their true home world. 

Many a Baby Boomer is a Denier, but even denial assumes a certain modicum of... affirmation- Generation Tech is purposely and resolutely incognizant. Of course, none of this would be possible if it wasn't for the real world dollars that allow them to turn their backs on real world problems. This is not to say that there aren't those that strive to use tech to help solve a myriad of problems throughout our world right now, and well into the future. There are always the noble few. But neither can one ignore the very real and present damage they are imparting en masse on those not quite as: young, fortunate, educated or well financed as they. 

Be on vacation (the one I've been denied 2X running) next coupla weeks- see ya's mid June!