David Sacks is known as a CEO/investor in multiple unicorns, and most recently a media mogul with All-In. In this episode, we trace David’s intellectual and political history from his days fighting student activism at Stanford to now. We cover the political and cultural changes in the last 30 years of silicon valley, how the real distinction today is between the college-educated and the not, and how even though 2⁄3 of the country didn’t go to college, their views are not represented in our institutions today. This episode was recorded in December 2022 but is just as relevant today.
CLIPS PLAYLIST: @UpstreamClips
PODCAST INFO:
Upstream Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1678893467
Upstream Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7wHYcVRmMP6rWQL9lVQJlL
RECOMMENDED PODCASTS:
Moment of Zen: @MomentofZenPodcast
The Cognitive Revolution: @CognitiveRevolutionPodcast
TIMESTAMPS:
(2:16) How did tech become less free speech oriented?
(3:25) Why is PayPal so woke?
(5:25) Woke Capitalism game
(8:25) Corporations and governments collaborating to censor
(10:24) Tracing political history in Silicon Valley
(19:00) College educated vs. not is the biggest difference in US
(22:30) Our elite is not democratic
(25:03) Sponsors: Secureframe | Mercury | MarketerHire
(27:38) David’s experience with student activism in the 1990s
(29:45) David’s evolution on foreign policy
(33:40) U.S. Russiaphobia
(37:15) Why David supports big-tech regulations
(41:15) How to do regulations well
(46:00) Social Progress
(51:00) Is classical liberalism a dead end?
(53:53) Is Institutional Reform possible
(56:00) Elon’s character arc and political journey
(1:09:11) Will there be a parallel economy?
(1:10:00) Employee entitlement was a bull-market phenomenon
(1:13:11) Accountability for elites is the solution
SOCIAL LINKS:
David’s Twitter: @davidsacks
Erik’s Twitter: @eriktorenberg
Podcast Twitter: @Upstream__Pod
Erik’s Substack: eriktorenberg.substack.com
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