Jeremy Lyons, a 54-year-old tech worker, joined a recent anti-Trump protest in San Jose, where “no tech executives were anywhere to be seen,” unlike earlier demonstrations.
“One of the things I’ve seen over that time is a shift from a nerdy utopia to a money first, move fast and break things,” Lyons said.
A growing political divide in Silicon Valley has emerged as tech leaders like Elon Musk and David Sacks embrace Trump, while many workers remain liberal but disillusioned.
“The trust is broken,” said Kamal Ali, an AI worker. “It’s going to be different forever.”
This is one of the reasons I really don’t want to move back to the SF Bay Area, even though my family are all there. Sure, I could probably make shitloads of money, but so much about the tech industry in Silicon Valley has become absolutely soul-sucking, and I really don’t think I could put up with that in terms of my own long-term mental health.