![]() Ryan Baesemann: In Palo Alto, you refer to California as a "whiteness cartel," Stanford University as a "capitalist eugenics project," and Herbert Hoover's physical appearance as featuring "an abundance of right angles." Your perspective is refreshingly decisive, and I wouldn’t be surprised if conservatives called for the book to be burned. This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity. Our conversation covers the machinations behind Harris’s massive tome, including the wonders of LSD, Ken Kesey’s myopia, the cut of Herbert Hoover’s jib, Stanford’s affinity for eugenics, and what Harris hopes the future may hold in light of this history. The depth of his research unveils plentiful connective tissues between capitalism and exploitation, agriculture and organizing, start-ups and psychedelics, as well as the communists and labor leaders that attempted to subvert the malevolence of the ruling class. His subjects are as inspiring as they are insidious. In the text, Harris is approachable, yet unrelenting. Malcolm Harris’s latest book, Palo Alto: A History of California, Capitalism, and The World, presents a staggering exploration of the historical forces that shaped the technological mecca of Silicon Valley, while examining both the global and generational repercussions that reverberate from his once-modest hometown. ![]() This we know, but still, how did it happen? And who’s been steering this Ship of Fools? The vast majority of us are merely along for the ride. At risk of sounding reductive, our collective reality is simply a concoction of violence and situational happenstance that the privileged few have capitalized upon, as is their wont. ![]() The technocapitalists have managed to monetize everything, it seems-even boredom.įor the baffled masses wondering how we’ve allowed ourselves to become encumbered by conveniences and complicit in crimes against humanity, that’s the thing, we didn’t. Resembling an insatiable ouroboros, it aspires to consume our every waking moment, reducing the myriad expressions of humanity to little more than engagement metrics and k-factors. Sure, with our devices and applications we’re more efficient, more advanced, more “connected.” At the same time, this bounty is swiftly becoming a burden. The bouquet of Silicon Valley’s harvest-video cameras, the internet, advanced weaponry-has provided some initially intriguing, but increasingly daunting circumstances. A sucker for nature’s superfluities, I find it just beautiful enough to excuse the way it’s dismantling my roof. Twice a year it blooms, curtaining our patio with bursts of periwinkle petals that descend from the vines. Today, its vines creep along the eaves with impunity, wiggling into shingles and crevices with invasive intent. Planted in the 1890s, near the time of Stanford University’s founding, it began as ornamentation a pleasant compliment to life. The modern tendrils of technology remind me a bit of the wisteria growing around my home.
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