The British Political Disaster and Tech — Unsolicited Thoughts

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This week’s big news has been the collapse of the British Government. Some may feel this has little to do with the Tech sector, but I disagree. Here’s my unsolicited thoughts on the whole mess.

How is this related to tech?

1. The tech that made Silicon Valley wealthy is the same technology driving political division across the World.
2. Millennials took the money (myself included), instead of opting for public service. Politics is no longer an attractive career option, tech pays way more with none of the hassle. This has caused a huge drop in the talent pool for political leadership. At a gala for British people last night, I asked numerous folks, who’ve done well, if they’d consider running for office back in the UK: zero takers.

What needs to change?

Talented millenials need to switch from providing witty commentary on Twitter to public service. There’s a huge talent gap in global politics and the vacuum is currently being filled by the corrupt and incompetent. That said, I’m far from optimistic this will happen at the scale needed to effect change (and I have no plans myself).

What’s going to happen next?

I have been heartened by Gen Z’s acceptance of reality, and it seems more of them are taking public service seriously. Obviously, the geriatric class currently in charge is not going to hand over power; so we will likely see Gen Z vs. the Geriatrics over the next decade. This will cause continued geopolitical volatility, as we get large swings in policy between governments.

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