I can be sympathetic to a lot of what he says, but one thing keeps catching me off guard. Marc seems to desperately want to believe that there don't exist negative side effects to the technologies that Silicon Valley creates. He desperately just wants to be able to ignore them altogether, which would explain why he thinks they don't need any regulation. He was right about one thing, though... These people desperately want to be seen as good people, and the delusion about how altruistic their technologies are is probably a subconscious way to avoid worrying that they might not be good people.
I think everyone with an ounce of introspection has to recognize that whatever idealistic vision that propelled them in their youth, if successful, WILL generate a backlash to it in their old age. As the downsides and delusions of that youthful energetic idealism became evident, I saw my father go through this as a veterinarian working in the poultry and swine industry. He 9 became a reactionary as he grew older when his industry began to be criticized for its factory farms, overuse of pesticides and antibiotics and treatment of animals. As a young man, he thought these science based techniques would help to feed the world cheaply and he could make a good living at the same time. Then within a decade or so in his middle age, his industry began to be seen in a negative light. So he went from hero to villain in a short time and his response was a kind of middle finger to the system. And wasn't Musk one of the people sounding the alarm over AI just a few short years ago? I think this all really comes down to money despite Andreesens' protestations that it isn't. One wonders if he and the other Tech bros would have been such eager Democrats had the party retained more of its FDR roots with top tax rates for corporations been at 40 to 50% and individual rates been at 75%+ on the top 10% had passed by Clinton and later Obama. I seriously doubt he would have been on board if that was the case.
23:05 "the view of american ceo's operating as capitalist profit optimizers is just completely wrong. that's like goal #5 or something. there's like four goals that are like way more important than that. and that's not just true in the big tech companies, it's true in the executive suite of basically every one of the fortune 500. and i would say, you know, goal #1 is i'm a good person. i'm a good person is like wildly more important than profit margins. wildly." how much of andreessen's kool-aid did the ceo of unitedhealth group (ranked #8 in 2024's fortune 500) have to drink to convince himself he was a good person despite so many claims for life-saving procedures his company was denying for coverage, for the sake of optimizing profits? more, or less than the amount of kool-aid a catholic priest has to drink to convince himself he's still a good person after molesting another altar boy?
Ross: Americans like medicare and social security. Marc: That comes off as total contempt for the taxpayer. Ross: But Americans consistently vote in favor of these policies. Marc: [showing total contempt for the taxpayer] Americans aren't exposed to it. They don't have the insight into it.
That the average voter doesn't understand the issues and long term implications, should just be considered a default truth. Of course, these issues are still much less of a problem than for countries like Russia, or near future Germany, that are doing their best to fall towards the abyss.
His not-so-subtle use of the term "We" is incredibly telling. This is a classic indication of a shift from an observer/supporter of political views to seeing oneself as wholly part of a "movement" (Trumpism/MAGA in this case), and in his case, one of the privileged "influencers" of power in that sphere. As others have stated, it's clearly a recent discovery that he enjoys and embraces the "celebrity" and implied power that his status now brings, like a nerdy kid who finally gets to hang with the bully crowd and finally feels empowered.
Having lived through the 80s and 90s in the California Bay Area where so-called "tech bros" were frequently the topic of discussion for their start up technologies and their personal lifestyles/insights, in both the local business columns (back when people still read newspapers) and on the world scene such as being interviewed by people like Terry Gross on NPR. I've always kept an ear to the ground for news about Marc and lately he's really been on a lot of interviews. It's almost as if he was an author on a lecture circuit with a newly published book but instead he's now sharing his perspectives on topics that are truly pertinent to the issues of the day. His interview here with Ross is entirely consistent with everything he's been saying over the last month or three since he re-surfaced. What makes this interview different however are the comments. Wow!
This was like sitting through an interview with Marie Antoinette in 1785 where she swears vengeance by the state on anyone who criticized her fashion taste. If this is Douthat's idea of bringing enlightened discourse to explain the current state of the nation, then he must love explaining the physics of water to people as they drown.
If you’re not in tech, you don’t understand how powerful the tech industry and the individuals running it are. And it’s not power as in political, economical or cultural power (although they have plenty of that too). It’s a power called competency. If you haven’t seen how a highly profitable, modern Silicon Valley companies operate, you don’t understand how easily these operators will dominate every sector, institution or organisation they set their eyes on. Their operating model, standardised innovation and decision-making is the gun versus the bow. Elon and team will bring this MO to the White House and it will be an eye-opener for the big masses of what unfair advantage these hyper ambitious, autistic nerds has.
@@simonnilsson5356 💯. It will be interesting to see if this is revenge of the nerds or a nerdgasm that hits the hard wall of "what's in it for me" from Republican senators.
This is a very lengthy alternative explanation for a much simpler shift - the tech industry has matured, so it no longer needs government support and doesn't want to pay high taxes on the profits it is now generating.
Yeah. Like come on - it's not like Musk and his ilk are the poor, uneducated masses who got duped by misinformation - they've made millions for years by peddling it. They are billionaires, the had oodles of choices on who to throw their lot in with. It is beyond disengenuous dor them to claim "Oh! I have no agency in this! It was the Dems who made me preemptively kowtow to an authoritarian facsist!" This is all damage control.
It's a race of which billionaire can become the first trillionaire. Elon is off to an early adopter entrepreneur lead but is also currently at war with a powerful teammate; Steve Bannon, at war with his own inner demons, and in various, senseless, revolving internet flame wars. That's too say, he's likely to be the hare who sleeps on his race with the tortoise. Meanwhile, our currency may become so debased that the new tradition we make in 2025 is foregoing the trouble of purchasing toilet paper, in favor of just using the cash.
This guy is terrifyingly confident in his understanding of things he demonstrably doesn't understand. Dude saw an outrage meme once and thinks he's in on the big secret because one of his friends retweeted it. Success in one domain doesn't mean you're competent to understand every domain
He's been making the rounds. His first "de-banking" crap "interview" appeared on X a month or so ago. It was clear he was lying and a terrible liar at that. And as this NYT interview proves, he still hasn't learned how to blown his nose.
@@scottduncan92 This is a part of Andreessen's origin story that I would be really interested in unearthing. I know his startup company Mosaic Communications Corporation had a serious spat over IP rights in the early going. So much so that years later, Andreessen vowed to never be a future donor to his alma mater (Univ of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign).
I made it through about three quarters of the interview then couldn’t take it any longer. We tried unfettered capitalism in the late 19th and early early 20th centuries. It was not good for the country, so we broke up the trusts. Much of what Andreessen says echoes the view of the railroad and oil barons of the Gilded Age. They were wrong and so is he.
perspective that aligns with my ideological beliefs: nuanced, sophisticated, well-reasoned. perspective that challenges my ideological beliefs: narrow, elitist, self-serving
These guys are so used to getting away with their own ways when they face some hardship they complain like a baby. He tries sound like a thought leader but he is just not..
Yup. The "kids" are holding him and the other tech oligarchs to task, and they don't like it. So, here comes the emphasis now on the H1Bs - who they'll be able to push around more.
@@coatfarm I could feel that there was something more than thought leadership in your original post. You want to deny the privilege of being a thought leader to the whole group of venture capitalists due to anti-capitalist bias.
@@coatfarm metaphors are easy to understand but they tend to obscure meaning. Marc has his own interests that he is pursuing, true. We need to make sure those interests are aligned with ours. My understanding is that it includes lower taxes and less regulation. I don't have a problem with that. Regarding worker exploitation, Marc's portfolio companies are more likely to offer higher salaries and equity than the rest of the economy. And they were very DEI-minded until just recently.
Oozing smarm from every pore, Andreesen here shows how being a little smart and being lucky enough to be in the right place when the future is invented can give anyone toxic levels of overconfidence. Then, combined with modern weaponized language where every sentence is strengthened with absolute language, he proceeds to assert that all things must, absolutely must, be the way he sees them. Smart people, kind people, thoughtful people don't talk or think like this. No thank you to more of his ilk.
He reveals (and probably doesn't even realize that he exposed himself so nakedly) that he is incredibly uninformed. I expect NYTimes to do better. The Economist or Financial Times would not have allowed such a minor intellect to get away with so many blowhard assertions that are not based in fact.
Agree. I wouldn't call it all luck, he has a specialized set of skills, also. But he seems easily manipulated and very impressionable by talking points of right wing.
Crybabies gonna crybaby Kindness is good between people who know and value each other as individuals. Collectivist notions of kindness are tyranny and social shame it's not real kindness
My my. Aren't we triggered today. Hey here's a thought. This guy and people like Musk and Zuckerberg are enormously powerful, and they have the ear of a new president who just won a landslide. So... maybe this exactly the type of person the NYT podcast should have on. To...like... figure out wtf HE PLANS TO DO!! The days when snowflakes get to cancel people because they don't march in lockstep with your personal ideology are GONE. Oh, and btw, all three of the aforementioned were rock solid Dems quite recently. Wonder what happened there. 😱
My thoughts, too, but I'm glad Douthat interviewed him. It gives one insight into and verifies what we sometimes hear about the "tech bros." The seem to be uninterested in society as a whole and would rather see the emergence of Neo-liberal, Neo-feudal world. His playbook is to hide behind what he considers 1) onerous regulations and 2) governmental heavy-handedness. Sorry Mr. Andreessen, but the bullies don't rule the playground.
I was completely open to hear his perspective until he started confidently talking about special needs programs in schools as a scam with "fake mental illnesses" taking advantage of taxpayers. Yikes!
The problem is your country doesn't see random violence, 400lbs obesity, religious extremism, etc. as clear evidence of mental illness. The rest of the free world does not let it slide..those are serious signs of internal strife bound to make it out on to an innocent victim.
New Hampshire public schools are 75% paid for by (mostly residential) property taxes. As a NH resident paying most of my property tax towards my local public school, I am paying attention to things that drive costs. On average 20% of the enrolled students in NH public schools are in special needs programs. Special education costs are very high and that 20% of the student body costs almost as much as the 80% regular education student body costs. You can find details from the data provided on the NH Department of Education website (www.education.nh.gov/who-we-are/division-of-learner-support/bureau-of-student-support/special-education-data). I believe that there is more than a grain of truth in his perspective.
As a father of two in high school, I completely agree. Thats when he jumped the shark, and then it continues as he describes social security as contempt for the taxpayer. After listening to the whole conversation, it just seems like his new hobby is politics and power. His claim that the #1 thing ceos are concerned about is being a good person seems to be debunked by his own explanation of why he is so enthralled with Trump.
Yep... He's completely lost the plot, using a right-wing talking point as a way to disparage an entire program (which clearly has the potential for abuse, like *any* program...) Elon does exactly the same thing when he pulls out wildly obscure research grants as some kind of overarching example of government "waste" being a colossal issue. (you also might want to ask if he's going to pay-back the *$3B+* for the SpaceX/Artemis program which has _absolutely no chance of success_ )
I’m glad he was asked about the fact that much of his origin story including what made him rich was rooted in big government programs Specifically, Democrats…I’m also midwestern and went to land grant colleges using student aide … had his rightward shift been the reality at the time he wouldn’t be having this conversation. But because you’re not bowed down to by the masses …. Fuck all that. Because we expect you to pay your fair share of taxes and to be decent corporate citizens smh and let’s not act like Thiel hasn’t been in the background the whole time! Thiel and Curtis Yarvin and their political ideas which this guy mentions in every other interview he does. Now they want authoritarianism for the United States.
Roughly 5 years ago I read Peter teals book from 0 to 1 when I finished reading it I thought if that's actually how capitalism works I don't really like it.
The contempt in his voice when accusing the left of “contempt for the tax payer”…. Wow. I wanted to walk away feeling more positive feelings for this guy. Unfortunately that didn’t happen. I agree with a number of the critiques abt the left going too far in some instances and being out of touch the last decade or so, but the pull to the middle on the left has been well under way for several years. This comes off as whining, arrogance, and protectionism of their profits. I’m a pro business, free trade, regulation cautious voter. This guy has been radicalized. And he’s suppose to the more normal of the group.
I think even Douthat knew it was going off the rails when Andreesen seemed wholly against government regulation of AI. His comparison to nuclear technology is a good one, and Andressen's response shows how naive he is about the technology and his peers in tech. Another comparison I would make is gene technology and CRISPR. Does Andressen think we should let every startup be manipulating genes in organisms, from bacteria to animal embryos? It comes down to this guy being mad that someone won't let him play with his toys.
I used to respect Andreesen. But wow, this interview is terrifying. How could someone who sounds smart support an incompetent bloviating fool? Elon as the greatest entrepreneur of our age? Seriously? He's the luckiest SOB of our age, that I'll agree with. These folks live in a pampered world where they expect their tech 'magic' should rule the world regardless of the resulting ill effects on mental health, climate, or government.
Elon: greatest delusion bullshitter of our age! Elon's superpower is attracting _other_ talented and dedicated people to work on executing his fantasies, and to be fair, it has worked _sometimes_ but Hyperloop, Boring Company, Starship, FSD are some of a litany of delusional failures. The worst part is that for someone apparently "smart", how can he spout completely delusional nonsense as "fact"? Does he know it delusional and is just "playing", or is there a part of him that is completely disconnected from reality? (kind of scary either way!)
@@dranelemakol I agree with you, mostly. I do live in a bubble. And in that bubble are people who care about integrity, compassion, truth, the rule of law, justice, and the balance of appetite and conscience. I'm happy to live there because it's not just all about me. But I don't think others are necessarily dumb. Some are. Some are simply mean spirited fucks who'll never be happy and just want to drag us all down to their cynical abyss. And still others are blissfully ignorant and will never understand how reckless it is to place a heartless buffoon into the highest office in the land.
Another person whose brain has been destroyed by cable news and the internet. He needs to talk with real people, not the people on TV. You would think coming from Wisconsin he would realize this.
45:51 Wow, just wow. As someone who puts in long hours "not-working" from my home office. All of my co-not-workers and I are very insulted by this casually delivered lie. If "every big company CEO in America" truly believes that anyone working from home isn't working, they're so woefully out of touch that they don't deserve to keep their job.
He kind of half-heartedly admits that the tipping point was the 2008 recession without any acknowledgment of the role that people like him played in that depression. I feel like his argument could be boiled down to young. People were asking why things are the way that they are and it scared me cuz I like the way things are.
Exactly. His tipping point was the realization that the 2008 recession EXPOSED people like him as self serving psychopaths. And when that happens, the only thing you can do is double down, fortify your position, dig deeper.
He's right, although it wasn't exactly professors until the kids got old enough join the faculty. The west saw a serious social revolution over the last decade or so.
I've been to college much more than the average person and I had to learn about marxism on my own thank you very much! For real though, colleges are basically corporations. They squeeze labor all the time to save a dime while they throw money at sports and buildings.
So basically he became right wing because he had to say “No more Mr nice guy.” to society so he could make more money, because more employees started to complain?
That's what you got from this conversation? You missed the whole AI, Crypto, authoritarian capture and bullying of private institutions, and jumped straight to MSNBC talking points. I hope that Kool-Aid tastes great my guy.
@@kshitijshreyAre you saying "radicalization of our kids" doesn't stand out to you? It doesn't elicit a strong response? Because for the rest of us, I think it does.
@@kshitijshrey Crypto is a predatory pyramid scheme mixed with a speculative casino-mindset, plain and simple. There is absolutely no argument for it's continuing existence. "AI" is a mirage, LLMs are *never* going to be "intelligent", that's another simple fact. LLMs are basically capable parrots that regurgitate language from stored information, they understand *nothing* . From a regulatory perspective, *it's completely self-inflicted* by morons like Sam Altman that consistently scare brain-dead politicians with bogey-man tales about "scary" AI getting out of control. Pure sci-fi bullshit...
@@kshitijshreyWhich of the regulations on AI and crypto strike you as authoritarian and tyrannical? Why? Do you believe there shouldn't be ANY regulations on these technologies? Do you believe they don't have any downsides? What regulations on those technologies are more justifiable and fair, to you?
It'd be funny if it wasn't so sad but it's pretty clear. He wants to believe he's a good person. And I do believe in when he said his original goal was to earn a lot of money and then give back. But I think one of the major problems of that is the giving back is always in the future and the earning lots of money is always in the present.
If remote workers are not working, that is an indictment of the company employing them. This very same company will also have low productivity by lazily fixing the issue with an RTO mandate
The Times gives one of our tech oligarchs a platform to tell his side of the story. A good look at the worldview of some new arrivals to the top stratum of our society.
No, no! The number one goal of CEOs is to be a good person. Why won’t the evil left just sit back and let them do it as inequality continues to soar?!? 😭😳😭
Does any one listening to this get the impression that it's less of a case of radicalized youth causing the tech bro movement to the right and more of a "hey I'm an old guy now so it's all those damned kids fault, get the fuck off my lawn!" vibe?
I love some of these comments by democrats who used to like Mark and now can't stand him becasue he's not on the democrat team anymore. It might do some of them good to listen to what he has to say and why he voted for Trump. I have noticed since the election how close-minded a lot of democrats are.
Guy certainly has a lot of contempt for "Marxist" analysis, all while trying to convince us that a) the "activist" workers had all the power and b) executives and capitalists just cared about being good people, not profit maximizing, oh no... It's almost self-parody.
This is a mind blowing interview. The ideas that Marc expresses around 48:30 are so disturbing that I had to pause the video. Marc is so profoundly biased by his own delusional line of criticism that Ross literally has to stop and challenge him - I don't think I've ever seen Ross challenge a guest in that way. This entire interview is just an open window into how deranged these billionaire technocrats have become. Marc Andreesen spends a full hour describing in detail how all of these political and social forces are trying to tell him that the products he finances are harmful and he is manifestly unable to see any other interpretation than that his investments are a force for good that are going to precipitate a utopia - but he is so wrong. It is even more disturbing how around 51:45, Marc starts saying, "we" when referring to rhe 2016 Trump coalition. So, it is clear he wasn't just musing about philosophical differences with the Democratic Party at the time, but was already disposed against them.
This comment section has me so "white-pilled" on the self-destruction of the anti-human, anti-capitalist, and anti-freedom left. It’s interesting to see the Cathedral's followers listening to their critics in the sunlight. Andreesen and Yarvin? Maybe this channel will actually be relevant in the future if they can adapt with the times. Release the full and unedited interviews, please.
The people decide if it's a lie, not the guys who convinced half the country that a dementia ridden senile man was running the country, when he wasn't.
I wonder when this interview took place. Because Musk and Ramaswamy going "directly to the public" on H1B visas a few weeks ago did not go in their favor among right wingers
Are you talking about those with physical disabilities, and genetic disorders, or are you referring to the stupefying malaise of upper middle class children clamouring for attention their parents never gave them?
A very slick view consistent with Silicon Valley CEO-speak. The bowing to cultural norms at the time was, as evidenced by his own words, cynically done to help make him a lot of money. To his defense, the "radical left" has way overplayed their hand. And he is right about the Biden Administration's initial respose to AI, on balance. But do you blame them for being concerned about national security, given Silicon Valley's inability to police itself? And blaming this whole thing about kids being radicalized in top universities and subverting companies from within is a complete cop-out. There is a reason that they turned on capitalism. We don't get to participate in the spoils, and no, stock options don't do it. And at the end of the day, you're just annoyed that people have started to push back on the unintended consequences of your unfetterred capitalistism.
Even he knows that blaming universities is bunk. He admits as much when he says that the 2008 crash and the Iraq War were involved in changing young people's perspectives, but he glosses over it for his preferred scapegoat.
Lol you have no idea who the "radical left" are. The "radical left" barely has a voice in this country. There are left wing liberals and right wing liberals for the most part and "politics" in this country is a theater spectacle between those boundaries. Most people don't even have a basic understanding of the economy of this country throughout its lifetime.
How fragile to not be able to hear his workforce stating their concerns for the tech industry and power writ large…. “I like the deal only when I am the one in charge of it….”
Andreessen finally exposes himself and big tech as completely unaware they are the problem. But the top comments, almost make the pain of listening to this "interview" worth it.
I had to pause several times because I can’t believe how cavalier & craven this guy is. At the 45:00 mark he lays out that they want to do business with any government on the planet no matter what the national security risk is. They don’t want the government to create any policy that will impact any industry that affects them, and heavy subsidies on energy because it benefits them. This is the sickest and most dangerous thing I’ve heard in a very long time. These guys used the internet, social media, & every digital tool they could to guarantee that Americans are 💯confused and tapped out. Trump ran his entire campaign online and had no ground operations & no money yet was able to win the election in the most precise way on razor thin margins. They have succeeded in wholly purchasing an entire administration.
A shame that the American taxpayer is so ignorant but Marc knows and he’s gonna help fix it and you can like it or lump it. Bye bye social security and medicare. Maybe they could bring in MAiD.
I'm glad I listened to the podcast. I'm pretty sure that just reading the interview would have given a different impression, one of a man who would seem more confident and egotistical. He is those things at some level, but his voice betrays him as someone who knows damned well that he's gone over to the dark side and is no longer the "good" guy in his own heart of hearts. He's extremely breathy and talks very fast, sounding nervous. I'm pretty sure he needs a thorough evaluation by a cardiologist. The direction he's headed isn't a healthy one in terms of an integrated self concept. Events like the recent California fires are an undercurrent of a conscience poking him steadily, saying, "What about the environment? What about Trump's constant lies, false promises and manipulations (and felonies!) What about the people who were less lucky than I have been. including disabled kids, ffs?" Devil take the hindmost, eh, Marc?
A lot of disparaging comments here from the usual childish people who don't have ears to listen but instead try to smear people. Keep going, losers. You helped drag down the Democratic party and soon they will figure that out. This podcast is a start.
Jesus - No one has contempt for the American taxpayer more than this guy - who has TOTAL contempt for normie middle-class people who actually pay their taxes and don't have to "never even factor taxes into the equation" of being a good person. Oh, and "people working from home - don't work".
His worldview is so comically naive and hypocritical. He loves to talk about how “everyone else” is too political and too polarizing when he’s out on his activist speaking tour nobody wants to hear. He is the lamest of this new breed of know it all robber barons.
He talks about 2016-2024 tech industry like it was the dark ages. Look at their fucking profits over those years. Yeah, we all have so much sympathy for you dude
Like any company making a profit. So what? Did you start these companies and employ thousands of people with really good 6 figure salaries? You all are a bunch of elitist crybabies
I’m a progressive who is a huge fan of capitalism. One of the finer things that continues to thrill me every time is getting a purchase order for something I make. And capitalism has this great feature: it employs accountants to keep track of costs. Except now, Republican capitalists actively seek to sweep costs, such as greenhouse gas emissions costs, for example, under the rug. Republicans are doing a lot more to destroy capitalism than progressives.
You're naively spinning your wheels if you're a "huge fan of capitalism" lol. Imagine being a fan of capitalism but not even understanding its criticisms. It's like saying you know how to play a game, but don't know any of the rules or strategies. Just a quck.
Wow. Who knew corporate executives were such snowflakes. How comforting to hear that laying of droves of employees to enrich shareholders is “being a good person”.
Fascinating interview of Andreessen. The doubt expressed by the interviewer about how controlling Biden's bunch became (of crypto and AI) and Marc's amazement at his naivety was so telling.
I know this guy having worked as a VC in silicon valley for 3 decades. If he didn't have money to invest, he would probably make one of the best fiction writers in America. He does know how to spin a believable tale in pursuit of revisionist history fame. His boastful confidence and rapid fire, well rehearsed talking points are part of the shtick. He's smart - if you don't believe me, just ask him. He's definitely on the circuit to be heard: ruclips.net/user/results?search_query=interview+Mark+Andreessen
Ross, this wasn't an interview. You stood to one side as obviously nonsensical gibberish was delivered to your audience. It seemed a lot like Andreesen is actually a stupid guy, but I would put my money on greedy and dishonest. Nobody this successful could be so stupid as to truly believe what he was saying. This was a very disappointing product from Douthat and The Times.
No, he did not DVR MSNBC. And Brian Williams wasn't even on that channel. And his voice gets all high when he lies. This perspective is valuable, but he's not entirely honest.
He doesn't seem to mention that many of these kids in 2013 grew up during the 2008 Real Estate Bubble / Mortgage Crisis - where if not them, their friends and family members lost homes and their jobs due to the action of banks that were "too big to fail". You can't simply blame the 'radicalism' on their education (which carried forward thru to today's so called 'wokism'). The hyper-liberal professors may not have changed, it may just be that those young college students (esp. from 2008 to 2012) started listening to them. CEO's of growing tech companies became synonymous with CEO's of Lehman Bros ... rent seeking/wealth extractors.
I'm having a very hard time reconciling his assertion that his primary goal is to be a good person with his support for Trump, and a regime that is most certainly not good for the vast majority of people. Doge and several other programs seem self-serving for elites and counter to the needs and requirements for the vast majority of us.
"Conceptual genius of our time" followed by RTO is the perfect ad hominem argument against the tech right. WTF. Also nobody serious about tech and not just empty, speculative greed thinks that cryptocurrency is worth the kilowatts wasted figuring out prime factors.
"Nobody"? How about anybody living in an authoritarian regime in fear of the regime taking their money for example. That's not your experience but most people on earth live under conditions not far from that but they aren't American so they don't matter. Got it. Solid world view.
Wow! I had no idea the top goal of American CEOs was "I'm a good person"! 23:20 Making profit is down at goal #5! Thanks for bringing us the truth, Marc Andreessen!
Apparently being a good person is changing your opinions to better suit the changing financial and political environment. Not exactly how I would define it. 😂 Sounds a lot more like trying to appeal to a broader audience by going with the flow to increase profits. And that includes this most recent outward embrace of the right.
Marc Andreessen: "But then look. Quite honestly, none of this is to claim moral high ground or moral sheen or anything, but just to kind of take the edge off of that if that's how I've come across. Quite honestly, the tax rate didn't really matter because when an internet company worked, it grew so fast and got so valuable that you know if you worked like another 3 years you'd make another 10x and so another 5% higher tax rate washed out in the numbers. So we weren't forced to really think that hard about it. It just seemed like this was the formula that would result in in everything working." The same thing said in a more blunt way: "I was claiming the moral high ground and I don't want you to judge (cut, as in blunt the edge of a knife) me for it. I will gaslight you in order to accomplish this. Any taxes or costs didn't matter because in 3 years we were so rich we desensitized to any negative consequence of paying money because it was so small in comparison to the money we were making. So we didn't have to think about it at all. This was the way we make money until we have so much it loses its meaning. And no one said we couldn't, so we did."
So if the last 10 years were as horrible as Marc claims, wouldn't that mean the valuations of tech companies would have dropped? That the net worth of tech billionaires would have cratered? But neither of those happened.
I went to school in the 1980s, not the Ivy League. By then the shift in the Sciences (Biology, Chemistry and less so Physics) towards the left has been going on for quite awhile. This came about mostly about Republican's position on nuclear warheads and environmental policy, going in the opposite direction from Nixon during the 1970s. The Silicon Valley shift happened much later it seems.
Legally, if you are a traded company, you have an obligation to your shareholders to seek profits. He acts like it's preposterous that we think that's all that CEOs care about when it's literally mandated by law.
This guy is so disturbingly out of touch. Big tech didn’t keep up their end of his so-called “deal” and he still doesn’t get why his ignorant pleb employees are pissed.
As a Midwestern farm girl who was immersed in Tech and Palo Alto on a parallel path, it is my opinion this is a guy who is objecting to guard rails of any kind around his 1) crypto investment and now 2) his AI playground. Very oligarch-like. I am a big supporter of the Valley and innovation (and there probably was some common ground to be found with the Biden Admin on open source AI… did he try for that? Or did he get a no and then skulk home, disappointed compromise may be necessary?) I myself appreciate a measure of caution around the money supply and a full throttle embrace of crypto where we throw our US dollar to the wind. I also think there is likely some measure of creative thinking that could get us to a point of leading the world in AI while still making sure the machines don’t take over. Marc may want to think of himself as one of “the good guys” but there were several times I questioned that in this reveal. Comments denigrating disabled teens and Doug Burgham “unleashing energy” needed by his beloved crypto ( but not by our planet) really demonstrate a guy focused on self-interest. Disappointing.
That lack of his recognition of the serious dangers of ctypto's anonymous funding of terrorism and other illegal activity, and AI's threat to the broad interests of society is wild.
Swallowed Liz Warren's narrative, huh? What about cash? What about banks? They have done a lot more financing. Crypto is not a nice solution for terrorist funding because all the evidence is written on a public blockchain available to every citizen journalist to dig into. Why not ask banks for that level of transparency. You have been lied to by Warren who is protecting the banks from being put out of business. Overseas transfers via crypto are so cheap that major Wall St firms are adopting it.
Swallowed Liz Warren's narrative, huh? What about cash? What about banks? They have done a lot more financing. Crypto is not a nice solution for terrorist funding because all the evidence is written on a public blockchain available to every citizen journalist to dig into. Why not ask banks for that level of transparency. You have been lied to by Warren who is protecting the banks from being put out of business. Overseas transfers via crypto are so cheap that major Wall St firms are adopting it.
Oh boy. If this comment section is indicative of the democratic party, we are in serious trouble. I'm a lifelong Democrat that just voted for Harris, but after thoroughly getting our asses handed to us, we really need to just shut up and listen and learn for a little while. If not we are doomed to being the insane party. Insanity being "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results"
Yes Dems can expect to be out of power for more cycles of they think that shutting down innovation (no matter what they judge it as) is a good thing. Nothing is learning. Marc is a prig who is never challenged within his community and wants to be honestly admired despite coming off poorly. But don't shoot the messenger. We lost and we managed to push smart people into the arms of a once in a lifetime grifter who is now empowered by the smartest tech people (not just billionaires but so much of the valley and the ecosystem that was formerly 100% Dem). If we can't consider this a problem then perhaps it is good to stay in the political wilderness for a decade.
Listening to this guy is a dead end. You aren't going to win votes by embracing Silicon Valley, because they have turned rightward now that they have the control they wanted. The right doesn't even like these people. They are using them for money. You want to win? Embrace progressivism and leftism.
![Blox Fruits Dragon Rework Update [Full Stream]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/EqDAp8udhm0/mqdefault.jpg)
Thirty years of hearing and giving VC pitches has rendered this once humble programmer a master of hyperbole.
I can be sympathetic to a lot of what he says, but one thing keeps catching me off guard. Marc seems to desperately want to believe that there don't exist negative side effects to the technologies that Silicon Valley creates. He desperately just wants to be able to ignore them altogether, which would explain why he thinks they don't need any regulation.
He was right about one thing, though... These people desperately want to be seen as good people, and the delusion about how altruistic their technologies are is probably a subconscious way to avoid worrying that they might not be good people.
Name one potentate who did not want to be seen as a good person--irrespective of what they did.
I think everyone with an ounce of introspection has to recognize that whatever idealistic vision that propelled them in their youth, if successful, WILL generate a backlash to it in their old age. As the downsides and delusions of that youthful energetic idealism became evident, I saw my father go through this as a veterinarian working in the poultry and swine industry. He 9 became a reactionary as he grew older when his industry began to be criticized for its factory farms, overuse of pesticides and antibiotics and treatment of animals. As a young man, he thought these science based techniques would help to feed the world cheaply and he could make a good living at the same time. Then within a decade or so in his middle age, his industry began to be seen in a negative light. So he went from hero to villain in a short time and his response was a kind of middle finger to the system. And wasn't Musk one of the people sounding the alarm over AI just a few short years ago?
I think this all really comes down to money despite Andreesens' protestations that it isn't. One wonders if he and the other Tech bros would have been such eager Democrats had the party retained more of its FDR roots with top tax rates for corporations been at 40 to 50% and individual rates been at 75%+ on the top 10% had passed by Clinton and later Obama. I seriously doubt he would have been on board if that was the case.
@@charlespolk5221 I think a lot of people respond negatively to criticism, especially when it's coming from people who used to praise you
Nailed it.
23:05 "the view of american ceo's operating as capitalist profit optimizers is just completely wrong. that's like goal #5 or something. there's like four goals that are like way more important than that. and that's not just true in the big tech companies, it's true in the executive suite of basically every one of the fortune 500. and i would say, you know, goal #1 is i'm a good person. i'm a good person is like wildly more important than profit margins. wildly."
how much of andreessen's kool-aid did the ceo of unitedhealth group (ranked #8 in 2024's fortune 500) have to drink to convince himself he was a good person despite so many claims for life-saving procedures his company was denying for coverage, for the sake of optimizing profits? more, or less than the amount of kool-aid a catholic priest has to drink to convince himself he's still a good person after molesting another altar boy?
Ross: Americans like medicare and social security.
Marc: That comes off as total contempt for the taxpayer.
Ross: But Americans consistently vote in favor of these policies.
Marc: [showing total contempt for the taxpayer] Americans aren't exposed to it. They don't have the insight into it.
By far the most unhinged, mask-off moment from the interview
Yeah, this moment struck me as absurd. I wonder if he realized how it sounds when he said it.
The exact moment I scrolled down to the comments :)
That the average voter doesn't understand the issues and long term implications, should just be considered a default truth.
Of course, these issues are still much less of a problem than for countries like Russia, or near future Germany, that are doing their best to fall towards the abyss.
judgmentcallpodcast covers this. Silicon Valley's political shift discussed.
His not-so-subtle use of the term "We" is incredibly telling. This is a classic indication of a shift from an observer/supporter of political views to seeing oneself as wholly part of a "movement" (Trumpism/MAGA in this case), and in his case, one of the privileged "influencers" of power in that sphere. As others have stated, it's clearly a recent discovery that he enjoys and embraces the "celebrity" and implied power that his status now brings, like a nerdy kid who finally gets to hang with the bully crowd and finally feels empowered.
Biden legit bungled it, by pushing so many people who were once strongly on the left, to the right.
Simple minded leadership is costly.
Having lived through the 80s and 90s in the California Bay Area where so-called "tech bros" were frequently the topic of discussion for their start up technologies and their personal lifestyles/insights, in both the local business columns (back when people still read newspapers) and on the world scene such as being interviewed by people like Terry Gross on NPR. I've always kept an ear to the ground for news about Marc and lately he's really been on a lot of interviews. It's almost as if he was an author on a lecture circuit with a newly published book but instead he's now sharing his perspectives on topics that are truly pertinent to the issues of the day. His interview here with Ross is entirely consistent with everything he's been saying over the last month or three since he re-surfaced. What makes this interview different however are the comments. Wow!
This was like sitting through an interview with Marie Antoinette in 1785 where she swears vengeance by the state on anyone who criticized her fashion taste. If this is Douthat's idea of bringing enlightened discourse to explain the current state of the nation, then he must love explaining the physics of water to people as they drown.
Astute observation.
If you’re not in tech, you don’t understand how powerful the tech industry and the individuals running it are. And it’s not power as in political, economical or cultural power (although they have plenty of that too). It’s a power called competency. If you haven’t seen how a highly profitable, modern Silicon Valley companies operate, you don’t understand how easily these operators will dominate every sector, institution or organisation they set their eyes on. Their operating model, standardised innovation and decision-making is the gun versus the bow. Elon and team will bring this MO to the White House and it will be an eye-opener for the big masses of what unfair advantage these hyper ambitious, autistic nerds has.
@@simonnilsson5356 💯. It will be interesting to see if this is revenge of the nerds or a nerdgasm that hits the hard wall of "what's in it for me" from Republican senators.
Only if Elon has help. Elon rode on other people's shoulderss
This is a very lengthy alternative explanation for a much simpler shift - the tech industry has matured, so it no longer needs government support and doesn't want to pay high taxes on the profits it is now generating.
The mask slips when he claims that "Donald Trump didn't run the government while he was President". Unhinged.
Yeah. Like come on - it's not like Musk and his ilk are the poor, uneducated masses who got duped by misinformation - they've made millions for years by peddling it. They are billionaires, the had oodles of choices on who to throw their lot in with.
It is beyond disengenuous dor them to claim
"Oh! I have no agency in this! It was the Dems who made me preemptively kowtow to an authoritarian facsist!"
This is all damage control.
In part, but Elon needs gov't subsidies for everything he does... Cars to rockets wouldn't have been his without the gov't
@@talkndrideas I think the space industry has reached the point where the government needs the private contractors more than they need the government.
It's a race of which billionaire can become the first trillionaire. Elon is off to an early adopter entrepreneur lead but is also currently at war with a powerful teammate; Steve Bannon, at war with his own inner demons, and in various, senseless, revolving internet flame wars. That's too say, he's likely to be the hare who sleeps on his race with the tortoise.
Meanwhile, our currency may become so debased that the new tradition we make in 2025 is foregoing the trouble of purchasing toilet paper, in favor of just using the cash.
The more rich one becomes the more self righteous one is.
This guy is terrifyingly confident in his understanding of things he demonstrably doesn't understand. Dude saw an outrage meme once and thinks he's in on the big secret because one of his friends retweeted it. Success in one domain doesn't mean you're competent to understand every domain
His success was stealing the idea for Netscape from the State University of Illinois' Mosaic web browser, the school of which he attended.
He has surprisingly bad takes on nearly everything. Some kernels of sanity, but not many.
He's been making the rounds. His first "de-banking" crap "interview" appeared on X a month or so ago. It was clear he was lying and a terrible liar at that. And as this NYT interview proves, he still hasn't learned how to blown his nose.
@@scottduncan92 This is a part of Andreessen's origin story that I would be really interested in unearthing. I know his startup company Mosaic Communications Corporation had a serious spat over IP rights in the early going. So much so that years later, Andreessen vowed to never be a future donor to his alma mater (Univ of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign).
I notice you don’t mention any of these errors or bad takes.
I made it through about three quarters of the interview then couldn’t take it any longer. We tried unfettered capitalism in the late 19th and early early 20th centuries. It was not good for the country, so we broke up the trusts. Much of what Andreessen says echoes the view of the railroad and oil barons of the Gilded Age. They were wrong and so is he.
Headline: Billionaire tech mogle bullied by undergrads, gets even
What’s wrong with billionaires
@@8020drummer😂
That is a perfect headline!
@@8020drummer the theft part
@ theft how? Describe the theft.
The ravings of a literal Oligarch
A fascinating peek into a frighteningly narrow perspective. We are in trouble.
perspective that aligns with my ideological beliefs: nuanced, sophisticated, well-reasoned. perspective that challenges my ideological beliefs: narrow, elitist, self-serving
These guys are so used to getting away with their own ways when they face some hardship they complain like a baby. He tries sound like a thought leader but he is just not..
Or, he's not to you.
He's actually quite well respected.
@ yes. By the people who needs his money
Am I out of touch? No! It’s the kids that are wrong.
Yup. The "kids" are holding him and the other tech oligarchs to task, and they don't like it. So, here comes the emphasis now on the H1Bs - who they'll be able to push around more.
Yes, the least accomplished generation in the past 100 years is probably wrong.
The guy seems to desperately want to believe that all technology is altruistic and nothing they create has negative side effects
Raise the taxable minimum on FICA/social security from $176k to keep social security viable longer.
Great you found a 6 month solution. Then what
oh my god when are we going to realise venture capitalists are not thought leaders
No one group is, individual people are. This specific person clearly is.
@@zaaath 'please milord, tell me more about why our exploitation is a good thing'
@@coatfarm I could feel that there was something more than thought leadership in your original post. You want to deny the privilege of being a thought leader to the whole group of venture capitalists due to anti-capitalist bias.
@@zaaath yes, for the same reason you don't ask a fox for advice on how to defend your chickens.
@@coatfarm metaphors are easy to understand but they tend to obscure meaning.
Marc has his own interests that he is pursuing, true. We need to make sure those interests are aligned with ours. My understanding is that it includes lower taxes and less regulation. I don't have a problem with that.
Regarding worker exploitation, Marc's portfolio companies are more likely to offer higher salaries and equity than the rest of the economy. And they were very DEI-minded until just recently.
Oozing smarm from every pore, Andreesen here shows how being a little smart and being lucky enough to be in the right place when the future is invented can give anyone toxic levels of overconfidence. Then, combined with modern weaponized language where every sentence is strengthened with absolute language, he proceeds to assert that all things must, absolutely must, be the way he sees them. Smart people, kind people, thoughtful people don't talk or think like this. No thank you to more of his ilk.
He reveals (and probably doesn't even realize that he exposed himself so nakedly) that he is incredibly uninformed. I expect NYTimes to do better. The Economist or Financial Times would not have allowed such a minor intellect to get away with so many blowhard assertions that are not based in fact.
Agree. I wouldn't call it all luck, he has a specialized set of skills, also. But he seems easily manipulated and very impressionable by talking points of right wing.
Crybabies gonna crybaby
Kindness is good between people who know and value each other as individuals. Collectivist notions of kindness are tyranny and social shame it's not real kindness
My my. Aren't we triggered today.
Hey here's a thought. This guy and people like Musk and Zuckerberg are enormously powerful, and they have the ear of a new president who just won a landslide.
So... maybe this exactly the type of person the NYT podcast should have on. To...like... figure out wtf HE PLANS TO DO!!
The days when snowflakes get to cancel people because they don't march in lockstep with your personal ideology are GONE.
Oh, and btw, all three of the aforementioned were rock solid Dems quite recently. Wonder what happened there. 😱
My thoughts, too, but I'm glad Douthat interviewed him. It gives one insight into and verifies what we sometimes hear about the "tech bros." The seem to be uninterested in society as a whole and would rather see the emergence of Neo-liberal, Neo-feudal world. His playbook is to hide behind what he considers 1) onerous regulations and 2) governmental heavy-handedness. Sorry Mr. Andreessen, but the bullies don't rule the playground.
A man of much rationalization.
Andreessen vanished into a cloud of self delusion a long time ago. Not interested in literally anything that he has to say.
Why not? Whether one agrees with his final destination, the map of how he arrived is of import. Curiosity is a valuable tool no? Or perhaps not.
I was completely open to hear his perspective until he started confidently talking about special needs programs in schools as a scam with "fake mental illnesses" taking advantage of taxpayers. Yikes!
The problem is your country doesn't see random violence, 400lbs obesity, religious extremism, etc. as clear evidence of mental illness. The rest of the free world does not let it slide..those are serious signs of internal strife bound to make it out on to an innocent victim.
They are fake mental illness 90% of the time. The reason I know this is every 18-25 year old white woman has a mental illness. You can’t all have it.
New Hampshire public schools are 75% paid for by (mostly residential) property taxes. As a NH resident paying most of my property tax towards my local public school, I am paying attention to things that drive costs. On average 20% of the enrolled students in NH public schools are in special needs programs. Special education costs are very high and that 20% of the student body costs almost as much as the 80% regular education student body costs. You can find details from the data provided on the NH Department of Education website (www.education.nh.gov/who-we-are/division-of-learner-support/bureau-of-student-support/special-education-data). I believe that there is more than a grain of truth in his perspective.
As a father of two in high school, I completely agree. Thats when he jumped the shark, and then it continues as he describes social security as contempt for the taxpayer. After listening to the whole conversation, it just seems like his new hobby is politics and power. His claim that the #1 thing ceos are concerned about is being a good person seems to be debunked by his own explanation of why he is so enthralled with Trump.
Yep... He's completely lost the plot, using a right-wing talking point as a way to disparage an entire program (which clearly has the potential for abuse, like *any* program...)
Elon does exactly the same thing when he pulls out wildly obscure research grants as some kind of overarching example of government "waste" being a colossal issue. (you also might want to ask if he's going to pay-back the *$3B+* for the SpaceX/Artemis program which has _absolutely no chance of success_ )
I’m glad he was asked about the fact that much of his origin story including what made him rich was rooted in big government programs Specifically, Democrats…I’m also midwestern and went to land grant colleges using student aide … had his rightward shift been the reality at the time he wouldn’t be having this conversation. But because you’re not bowed down to by the masses …. Fuck all that. Because we expect you to pay your fair share of taxes and to be decent corporate citizens smh and let’s not act like Thiel hasn’t been in the background the whole time! Thiel and Curtis Yarvin and their political ideas which this guy mentions in every other interview he does. Now they want authoritarianism for the United States.
Roughly 5 years ago I read Peter teals book from 0 to 1 when I finished reading it I thought if that's actually how capitalism works I don't really like it.
The contempt in his voice when accusing the left of “contempt for the tax payer”…. Wow. I wanted to walk away feeling more positive feelings for this guy. Unfortunately that didn’t happen. I agree with a number of the critiques abt the left going too far in some instances and being out of touch the last decade or so, but the pull to the middle on the left has been well under way for several years. This comes off as whining, arrogance, and protectionism of their profits. I’m a pro business, free trade, regulation cautious voter. This guy has been radicalized. And he’s suppose to the more normal of the group.
Nah he's an out of touch demon that isn't even liked by the people he simps for.
I think even Douthat knew it was going off the rails when Andreesen seemed wholly against government regulation of AI. His comparison to nuclear technology is a good one, and Andressen's response shows how naive he is about the technology and his peers in tech. Another comparison I would make is gene technology and CRISPR. Does Andressen think we should let every startup be manipulating genes in organisms, from bacteria to animal embryos?
It comes down to this guy being mad that someone won't let him play with his toys.
I think you really hit the nail on the head, with your last comment. That's exactly how Marc sounds!
I used to respect Andreesen. But wow, this interview is terrifying. How could someone who sounds smart support an incompetent bloviating fool? Elon as the greatest entrepreneur of our age? Seriously? He's the luckiest SOB of our age, that I'll agree with. These folks live in a pampered world where they expect their tech 'magic' should rule the world regardless of the resulting ill effects on mental health, climate, or government.
Elon: greatest delusion bullshitter of our age! Elon's superpower is attracting _other_ talented and dedicated people to work on executing his fantasies, and to be fair, it has worked _sometimes_ but Hyperloop, Boring Company, Starship, FSD are some of a litany of delusional failures.
The worst part is that for someone apparently "smart", how can he spout completely delusional nonsense as "fact"? Does he know it delusional and is just "playing", or is there a part of him that is completely disconnected from reality? (kind of scary either way!)
lol
I think you are/have been in a bubble, and perceive anyone who's not in the bubble as dumber than you.
@@dranelemakol I agree with you, mostly. I do live in a bubble. And in that bubble are people who care about integrity, compassion, truth, the rule of law, justice, and the balance of appetite and conscience. I'm happy to live there because it's not just all about me. But I don't think others are necessarily dumb. Some are. Some are simply mean spirited fucks who'll never be happy and just want to drag us all down to their cynical abyss. And still others are blissfully ignorant and will never understand how reckless it is to place a heartless buffoon into the highest office in the land.
Another person whose brain has been destroyed by cable news and the internet. He needs to talk with real people, not the people on TV. You would think coming from Wisconsin he would realize this.
45:51 Wow, just wow. As someone who puts in long hours "not-working" from my home office. All of my co-not-workers and I are very insulted by this casually delivered lie. If "every big company CEO in America" truly believes that anyone working from home isn't working, they're so woefully out of touch that they don't deserve to keep their job.
Totally agree.
you are always open your own firm and hire these wonderful WFH people
@@zooq-aiGot 'em! What a zinger. You are a scholar and a gentleman.
why do you think basically every big business hates WFH if employees are just as productive?
@MIKAEL212345 I don't. I was just quoting Andreessen.
Great conversation, thanks for recording and uploading it!
He kind of half-heartedly admits that the tipping point was the 2008 recession without any acknowledgment of the role that people like him played in that depression.
I feel like his argument could be boiled down to young. People were asking why things are the way that they are and it scared me cuz I like the way things are.
Exactly. His tipping point was the realization that the 2008 recession EXPOSED people like him as self serving psychopaths. And when that happens, the only thing you can do is double down, fortify your position, dig deeper.
Sounds like a boomer: "lefty college professors changing kids into marxists" lmao what a stooge
Dude sees Strawman around every corner
It's revealing as to how the mid 2010s looked to a lot of non-Millennials, especially those more on the right.
He's right, although it wasn't exactly professors until the kids got old enough join the faculty. The west saw a serious social revolution over the last decade or so.
I've been to college much more than the average person and I had to learn about marxism on my own thank you very much! For real though, colleges are basically corporations. They squeeze labor all the time to save a dime while they throw money at sports and buildings.
I like listening to Marc Andreesen, I'm surprised about the negative comments. 😳
So basically he became right wing because he had to say “No more Mr nice guy.” to society so he could make more money, because more employees started to complain?
Next to Musk's tweets, this was most depressing thing I've sat through today. Great interview with a fully corrupted guest.
This over rich man sounds like a jerk. He thinks he knows better.
Just crazy to hear this:""because of radicalication of kids" meaning they have a different opinion than ours, "we decided to support Trump"
That's what you got from this conversation? You missed the whole AI, Crypto, authoritarian capture and bullying of private institutions, and jumped straight to MSNBC talking points.
I hope that Kool-Aid tastes great my guy.
@@kshitijshrey. crypto is for criminals, money works better for everyone else
@@kshitijshreyAre you saying "radicalization of our kids" doesn't stand out to you? It doesn't elicit a strong response? Because for the rest of us, I think it does.
@@kshitijshrey Crypto is a predatory pyramid scheme mixed with a speculative casino-mindset, plain and simple. There is absolutely no argument for it's continuing existence.
"AI" is a mirage, LLMs are *never* going to be "intelligent", that's another simple fact. LLMs are basically capable parrots that regurgitate language from stored information, they understand *nothing* . From a regulatory perspective, *it's completely self-inflicted* by morons like Sam Altman that consistently scare brain-dead politicians with bogey-man tales about "scary" AI getting out of control. Pure sci-fi bullshit...
@@kshitijshreyWhich of the regulations on AI and crypto strike you as authoritarian and tyrannical? Why?
Do you believe there shouldn't be ANY regulations on these technologies? Do you believe they don't have any downsides?
What regulations on those technologies are more justifiable and fair, to you?
Is Ross allowed to follow up on statements? I would like to hear this guy explain in detail about the plan to unleash America's energy reserves.
CEOs are all weather vanes. Don’t listen to their beautified justification! The only justification is self interest, period!
It'd be funny if it wasn't so sad but it's pretty clear. He wants to believe he's a good person.
And I do believe in when he said his original goal was to earn a lot of money and then give back. But I think one of the major problems of that is the giving back is always in the future and the earning lots of money is always in the present.
If remote workers are not working, that is an indictment of the company employing them. This very same company will also have low productivity by lazily fixing the issue with an RTO mandate
The Times gives one of our tech oligarchs a platform to tell his side of the story. A good look at the worldview of some new arrivals to the top stratum of our society.
Ummmm... Poor Marc Andreesen. From coding a free web browser to scripting a paywalled worldview. Another jaded rich white guy.
23:37 lol. Lmao even. Hilarious, one might even say
Seriously!!
No, no! The number one goal of CEOs is to be a good person. Why won’t the evil left just sit back and let them do it as inequality continues to soar?!? 😭😳😭
Glad I listened to this talk-- my sense that these people cannot be trusted with power has been profoundly strengthened.
CEOs want to be seen as good people 😂😂😂
Does any one listening to this get the impression that it's less of a case of radicalized youth causing the tech bro movement to the right and more of a "hey I'm an old guy now so it's all those damned kids fault, get the fuck off my lawn!" vibe?
I love some of these comments by democrats who used to like Mark and now can't stand him becasue he's not on the democrat team anymore. It might do some of them good to listen to what he has to say and why he voted for Trump. I have noticed since the election how close-minded a lot of democrats are.
Guy certainly has a lot of contempt for "Marxist" analysis, all while trying to convince us that a) the "activist" workers had all the power and b) executives and capitalists just cared about being good people, not profit maximizing, oh no...
It's almost self-parody.
This is a mind blowing interview. The ideas that Marc expresses around 48:30 are so disturbing that I had to pause the video. Marc is so profoundly biased by his own delusional line of criticism that Ross literally has to stop and challenge him - I don't think I've ever seen Ross challenge a guest in that way.
This entire interview is just an open window into how deranged these billionaire technocrats have become. Marc Andreesen spends a full hour describing in detail how all of these political and social forces are trying to tell him that the products he finances are harmful and he is manifestly unable to see any other interpretation than that his investments are a force for good that are going to precipitate a utopia - but he is so wrong.
It is even more disturbing how around 51:45, Marc starts saying, "we" when referring to rhe 2016 Trump coalition. So, it is clear he wasn't just musing about philosophical differences with the Democratic Party at the time, but was already disposed against them.
This comment section has me so "white-pilled" on the self-destruction of the anti-human, anti-capitalist, and anti-freedom left. It’s interesting to see the Cathedral's followers listening to their critics in the sunlight. Andreesen and Yarvin? Maybe this channel will actually be relevant in the future if they can adapt with the times.
Release the full and unedited interviews, please.
"Elon has the opportunity to go directly to the public". With his lies?
The people decide if it's a lie, not the guys who convinced half the country that a dementia ridden senile man was running the country, when he wasn't.
I wonder when this interview took place. Because Musk and Ramaswamy going "directly to the public" on H1B visas a few weeks ago did not go in their favor among right wingers
This is a man who cannot tolerate being challenged.
This is a man who has handled challenges remarkably well.
48:17 Dripping with contempt for students with disabilities
Are you talking about those with physical disabilities, and genetic disorders, or are you referring to the stupefying malaise of upper middle class children clamouring for attention their parents never gave them?
A very slick view consistent with Silicon Valley CEO-speak. The bowing to cultural norms at the time was, as evidenced by his own words, cynically done to help make him a lot of money. To his defense, the "radical left" has way overplayed their hand. And he is right about the Biden Administration's initial respose to AI, on balance. But do you blame them for being concerned about national security, given Silicon Valley's inability to police itself? And blaming this whole thing about kids being radicalized in top universities and subverting companies from within is a complete cop-out. There is a reason that they turned on capitalism. We don't get to participate in the spoils, and no, stock options don't do it. And at the end of the day, you're just annoyed that people have started to push back on the unintended consequences of your unfetterred capitalistism.
Even he knows that blaming universities is bunk. He admits as much when he says that the 2008 crash and the Iraq War were involved in changing young people's perspectives, but he glosses over it for his preferred scapegoat.
Lol you have no idea who the "radical left" are. The "radical left" barely has a voice in this country. There are left wing liberals and right wing liberals for the most part and "politics" in this country is a theater spectacle between those boundaries. Most people don't even have a basic understanding of the economy of this country throughout its lifetime.
How fragile to not be able to hear his workforce stating their concerns for the tech industry and power writ large…. “I like the deal only when I am the one in charge of it….”
Yeah, lower taxes for ultrawealthy and large corporations. Trump will tax the hell out of the middle class .
Andreessen finally exposes himself and big tech as completely unaware they are the problem. But the top comments, almost make the pain of listening to this "interview" worth it.
I had to pause several times because I can’t believe how cavalier & craven this guy is.
At the 45:00 mark he lays out that they want to do business with any government on the planet no matter what the national security risk is. They don’t want the government to create any policy that will impact any industry that affects them, and heavy subsidies on energy because it benefits them.
This is the sickest and most dangerous thing I’ve heard in a very long time. These guys used the internet, social media, & every digital tool they could to guarantee that Americans are 💯confused and tapped out.
Trump ran his entire campaign online and had no ground operations & no money yet was able to win the election in the most precise way on razor thin margins. They have succeeded in wholly purchasing an entire administration.
A shame that the American taxpayer is so ignorant but Marc knows and he’s gonna help fix it and you can like it or lump it. Bye bye social security and medicare. Maybe they could bring in MAiD.
I'm glad I listened to the podcast. I'm pretty sure that just reading the interview would have given a different impression, one of a man who would seem more confident and egotistical. He is those things at some level, but his voice betrays him as someone who knows damned well that he's gone over to the dark side and is no longer the "good" guy in his own heart of hearts. He's extremely breathy and talks very fast, sounding nervous. I'm pretty sure he needs a thorough evaluation by a cardiologist. The direction he's headed isn't a healthy one in terms of an integrated self concept. Events like the recent California fires are an undercurrent of a conscience poking him steadily, saying, "What about the environment? What about Trump's constant lies, false promises and manipulations (and felonies!) What about the people who were less lucky than I have been. including disabled kids, ffs?" Devil take the hindmost, eh, Marc?
A lot of disparaging comments here from the usual childish people who don't have ears to listen but instead try to smear people. Keep going, losers. You helped drag down the Democratic party and soon they will figure that out. This podcast is a start.
Jesus - No one has contempt for the American taxpayer more than this guy - who has TOTAL contempt for normie middle-class people who actually pay their taxes and don't have to "never even factor taxes into the equation" of being a good person. Oh, and "people working from home - don't work".
His worldview is so comically naive and hypocritical. He loves to talk about how “everyone else” is too political and too polarizing when he’s out on his activist speaking tour nobody wants to hear. He is the lamest of this new breed of know it all robber barons.
He talks about 2016-2024 tech industry like it was the dark ages. Look at their fucking profits over those years. Yeah, we all have so much sympathy for you dude
Like any company making a profit. So what? Did you start these companies and employ thousands of people with really good 6 figure salaries? You all are a bunch of elitist crybabies
I’m a progressive who is a huge fan of capitalism. One of the finer things that continues to thrill me every time is getting a purchase order for something I make. And capitalism has this great feature: it employs accountants to keep track of costs. Except now, Republican capitalists actively seek to sweep costs, such as greenhouse gas emissions costs, for example, under the rug. Republicans are doing a lot more to destroy capitalism than progressives.
You're naively spinning your wheels if you're a "huge fan of capitalism" lol. Imagine being a fan of capitalism but not even understanding its criticisms. It's like saying you know how to play a game, but don't know any of the rules or strategies. Just a quck.
some one save this man idk when it started but like half way into the podcast he just starts to take big breaths after every 15 words
Wow. Who knew corporate executives were such snowflakes. How comforting to hear that laying of droves of employees to enrich shareholders is “being a good person”.
Fascinating interview of Andreessen. The doubt expressed by the interviewer about how controlling Biden's bunch became (of crypto and AI) and Marc's amazement at his naivety was so telling.
I know this guy having worked as a VC in silicon valley for 3 decades. If he didn't have money to invest, he would probably make one of the best fiction writers in America. He does know how to spin a believable tale in pursuit of revisionist history fame. His boastful confidence and rapid fire, well rehearsed talking points are part of the shtick. He's smart - if you don't believe me, just ask him. He's definitely on the circuit to be heard: ruclips.net/user/results?search_query=interview+Mark+Andreessen
You call his (and other tech bros) transformation into a Trumper an "evolution?" Hardly. Try "devolution."
Trumpers ARE knuckle-dragging racists, buddy.
Oligarchy anyone? Dang, we just do not trust you.
Don’t believe a word Andreessen says.
Ross, this wasn't an interview. You stood to one side as obviously nonsensical gibberish was delivered to your audience. It seemed a lot like Andreesen is actually a stupid guy, but I would put my money on greedy and dishonest. Nobody this successful could be so stupid as to truly believe what he was saying. This was a very disappointing product from Douthat and The Times.
00:26:30 mask slip that Douthat wanted to try to keep the lie going.
Good job on Marc calling his shit out
No, he did not DVR MSNBC. And Brian Williams wasn't even on that channel. And his voice gets all high when he lies. This perspective is valuable, but he's not entirely honest.
easy wikipedia. he was on msnbc in 2015. in 2014 he was on nbc. both owned by the same company.
Matt Gaetz is high caliber pick😅?
Hello? Dunning-Kruger is on line 1, Marc.
This guy is so full of shit---it is difficult to listen to.
He doesn't seem to mention that many of these kids in 2013 grew up during the 2008 Real Estate Bubble / Mortgage Crisis - where if not them, their friends and family members lost homes and their jobs due to the action of banks that were "too big to fail". You can't simply blame the 'radicalism' on their education (which carried forward thru to today's so called 'wokism'). The hyper-liberal professors may not have changed, it may just be that those young college students (esp. from 2008 to 2012) started listening to them. CEO's of growing tech companies became synonymous with CEO's of Lehman Bros ... rent seeking/wealth extractors.
I'm having a very hard time reconciling his assertion that his primary goal is to be a good person with his support for Trump, and a regime that is most certainly not good for the vast majority of people. Doge and several other programs seem self-serving for elites and counter to the needs and requirements for the vast majority of us.
Man this has to KILL the NYT to have to write all these self reflective articles
Thank you for sharing. Best wishes in your undertaking.
"Not effectively" a nice little burn if you caught it
"Conceptual genius of our time" followed by RTO is the perfect ad hominem argument against the tech right. WTF. Also nobody serious about tech and not just empty, speculative greed thinks that cryptocurrency is worth the kilowatts wasted figuring out prime factors.
"Nobody"? How about anybody living in an authoritarian regime in fear of the regime taking their money for example. That's not your experience but most people on earth live under conditions not far from that but they aren't American so they don't matter. Got it. Solid world view.
Wow! I had no idea the top goal of American CEOs was "I'm a good person"! 23:20 Making profit is down at goal #5! Thanks for bringing us the truth, Marc Andreessen!
Apparently being a good person is changing your opinions to better suit the changing financial and political environment. Not exactly how I would define it. 😂
Sounds a lot more like trying to appeal to a broader audience by going with the flow to increase profits. And that includes this most recent outward embrace of the right.
This guy really has lost the plot. And the scary thing is that people like him and Musk have control of the most powerful man in the world
Marc Andreessen: "But then look. Quite honestly, none of this is to claim moral high ground or moral sheen or anything, but just to kind of take the edge off of that if that's how I've come across.
Quite honestly, the tax rate didn't really matter because when an internet company worked, it grew so fast and got so valuable that you know if you worked like another 3 years you'd make another 10x and so another 5% higher tax rate washed out in the numbers.
So we weren't forced to really think that hard about it. It just seemed like this was the formula that would result in in everything working."
The same thing said in a more blunt way: "I was claiming the moral high ground and I don't want you to judge (cut, as in blunt the edge of a knife) me for it. I will gaslight you in order to accomplish this.
Any taxes or costs didn't matter because in 3 years we were so rich we desensitized to any negative consequence of paying money because it was so small in comparison to the money we were making.
So we didn't have to think about it at all. This was the way we make money until we have so much it loses its meaning. And no one said we couldn't, so we did."
So if the last 10 years were as horrible as Marc claims, wouldn't that mean the valuations of tech companies would have dropped? That the net worth of tech billionaires would have cratered? But neither of those happened.
Naive objection.
@@lighthousesaunders7242 What does that mean?
@@lighthousesaunders7242 What objection is naive?
I went to school in the 1980s, not the Ivy League. By then the shift in the Sciences (Biology, Chemistry and less so Physics) towards the left has been going on for quite awhile. This came about mostly about Republican's position on nuclear warheads and environmental policy, going in the opposite direction from Nixon during the 1970s. The Silicon Valley shift happened much later it seems.
That reads as contempt for the taxpayer." Line of the year!
I would have liked to know a little more about andreessen's new consumption habits and how they've changed since 2008 or so
Legally, if you are a traded company, you have an obligation to your shareholders to seek profits. He acts like it's preposterous that we think that's all that CEOs care about when it's literally mandated by law.
This guy is so disturbingly out of touch. Big tech didn’t keep up their end of his so-called “deal” and he still doesn’t get why his ignorant pleb employees are pissed.
As a Midwestern farm girl who was immersed in Tech and Palo Alto on a parallel path, it is my opinion this is a guy who is objecting to guard rails of any kind around his 1) crypto investment and now 2) his AI playground. Very oligarch-like. I am a big supporter of the Valley and innovation (and there probably was some common ground to be found with the Biden Admin on open source AI… did he try for that? Or did he get a no and then skulk home, disappointed compromise may be necessary?)
I myself appreciate a measure of caution around the money supply and a full throttle embrace of crypto where we throw our US dollar to the wind. I also think there is likely some measure of creative thinking that could get us to a point of leading the world in AI while still making sure the machines don’t take over.
Marc may want to think of himself as one of “the good guys” but there were several times I questioned that in this reveal. Comments denigrating disabled teens and Doug Burgham “unleashing energy” needed by his beloved crypto ( but not by our planet) really demonstrate a guy focused on self-interest. Disappointing.
That lack of his recognition of the serious dangers of ctypto's anonymous funding of terrorism and other illegal activity, and AI's threat to the broad interests of society is wild.
Swallowed Liz Warren's narrative, huh? What about cash? What about banks? They have done a lot more financing. Crypto is not a nice solution for terrorist funding because all the evidence is written on a public blockchain available to every citizen journalist to dig into. Why not ask banks for that level of transparency. You have been lied to by Warren who is protecting the banks from being put out of business. Overseas transfers via crypto are so cheap that major Wall St firms are adopting it.
Swallowed Liz Warren's narrative, huh? What about cash? What about banks? They have done a lot more financing. Crypto is not a nice solution for terrorist funding because all the evidence is written on a public blockchain available to every citizen journalist to dig into. Why not ask banks for that level of transparency. You have been lied to by Warren who is protecting the banks from being put out of business. Overseas transfers via crypto are so cheap that major Wall St firms are adopting it.
Oh boy. If this comment section is indicative of the democratic party, we are in serious trouble. I'm a lifelong Democrat that just voted for Harris, but after thoroughly getting our asses handed to us, we really need to just shut up and listen and learn for a little while. If not we are doomed to being the insane party. Insanity being "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results"
Yes Dems can expect to be out of power for more cycles of they think that shutting down innovation (no matter what they judge it as) is a good thing. Nothing is learning. Marc is a prig who is never challenged within his community and wants to be honestly admired despite coming off poorly. But don't shoot the messenger. We lost and we managed to push smart people into the arms of a once in a lifetime grifter who is now empowered by the smartest tech people (not just billionaires but so much of the valley and the ecosystem that was formerly 100% Dem). If we can't consider this a problem then perhaps it is good to stay in the political wilderness for a decade.
Listening to this guy is a dead end. You aren't going to win votes by embracing Silicon Valley, because they have turned rightward now that they have the control they wanted.
The right doesn't even like these people. They are using them for money. You want to win? Embrace progressivism and leftism.
This guy need government to entirely only work for him
KING BABY!
great to read the comments and those who have been wrong insisting on being insane
I've hated wokeness viscerally, but I'm *equally* disturbed by the oligarchs surfing the backlash against it
Amazing times!!!