Marc Andreessen, the billionaire tech investor who co-founded Netscape, recently started a series of podcasts. To talk about how Democrats were so mean to him and forced him to become a Donald Trump supporter, Andreessen's obnoxious wails will no longer stand out. Considering the number of men in the tech industry blaming the backlash, There's “wokeness” to describe support for the MAGA movement, but a new interview published by the New York Times on Friday is interesting. If only because the Times cleaned up its own interview to make Andreessen sound less like an idiot.
Andreessen spoke with New York Times opinion writer Ross Douthat, and the hour-long interview was pushed out in audio format over the show. matter of opinion– But people who really listen to the voice will hear things the reader has not learned Andreessen apparently thinks Hillary Clinton is actually president from 2017 to 2021, instead of Donald Trump.
Andreessen complained about how lefty thinking had infiltrated every aspect of American culture in the late 2010s, with Silicon Valley companies under attack from every angle. And people who read books. Times Transcript Saw this when reading investor quotes:
Andreessen: You are on this sandwich from all your voters. And then the media comes to you. You have activists coming to you. Then you have a (federal) government coming to you.
Wondering: But wait a minute. The federal government is being run by Donald Trump these days, right?
Andreessen: Not really.
But if you really listen to the sound This is what you hear:
Andreessen: You are on this sandwich from all your voters. And then the media comes to you. You have activists coming to you. And then you have the government coming at you, and of course the federal government has been heavily radicalized under Hillary. And even, sorry… the federal government… We'll talk more about that.
Wondering: But wait a minute. The federal government is run by Donald Trump…
Andreessen: Not really.
Wondering: …Right now, right? I mean, this is the weird thing about storytelling, right?
It's perfectly normal to clean up transcripts to remove duplicate words or “ums” and “ahs” to make them easier to read. But deleting all lines that claim “The federal government is heavily radicalized under Hillary” is nonsense.
The New York Times defended the decision to omit the line in an email to Gizmodo on Friday.
“In an audio interview It was clear to listeners that Marc Andresen was wrong about Hillary (you can hear him try to correct himself),” wrote Times Executive Director of Communications Jordan Cohen. “We generally edit transcripts for clarity so they don't. causing errors in the facts Which is what happened here.”
The problem with that explanation is that Adreesen doesn't actually correct himself, but actually doubles down on that idea. Douthat next asked Andreessen about how Hillary's influence has Trump's. On “real power” as president, Andreessen questioned the assumption, asking, “Can you describe Donald Trump running the federal government from 2016 to 2020?”
“Totally ineffective. I wouldn't say that,” Douthat said. “At the same time It is not the case that the Democratic Party in 2018 or 2019 is in a position to pass comprehensive new legislation. Whether it be raising taxes or regulating Silicon Valley in all its forms.”
While 2016 and 2020 were US presidential election years, Trump took office in January 2017. So Andreessen is technically correct that Trump doesn't have any power. During the first year he was referring to 2016, but that's not exactly what he meant. He was trying to suggest that Trump didn't really control the government because there was a “deep state” thwarting his will.
When Gizmodo reached out to the Times, we noticed that people like far-right blogger Curtis Yarvin believe in the idea of a “cathedral” where “real” power supposedly resides. Yarvin thinks liberal institutions Including media agencies and academics, they have real influence over society. Little did we know while emailing the Times that they were about to publish it. Interview with Yarvin On Saturday morning, Yarvin mentioned in an interview that he communicated with Andresen.
The rest of the Times interview with Andreesen is so ridiculous that it almost feels like a waste of time to even mention it. Andreessen seems to feel like a horrible victim of the modern world. With enemies from all sides judging him at all times, Andreessen sees tech founders as real heroes in the society that once founded companies. Generate huge income Then give that money away as they see fit to receive endless rewards.
But now people are questioning why billionaires should be allowed to create enormous wealth without being held accountable. Often while grimacing at government teats. only to have sole say in how charity is distributed in life. Of course, the real answer is to tax those billionaires to fund public benefits, but Andreessen doesn't like that idea. You can listen to the whole episode at Youtube If you really feel like drowning in this garbage.
These people have billions of dollars in power and influence. And they still see themselves as victims in a society that is Donald. Trump is about to become president. They want so badly to have the one thing they can't afford. And that's the love and admiration they believe once came with being a philanthropist. Ordinary people have dared to ask in recent years why rich people should give money when and how they feel in a system that is far from meritocratic. And the ruling class couldn't stand it.