September 07, 2023

How Tech Wields Its Power in San Francisco w/ Dean Preston

59 minutes

Paris Marx is joined by Dean Preston to discuss the havoc robotaxis are wreaking in San Francisco and the wider impacts the tech industry has had on the city.

Dean Preston is the District 5 Supervisor in San Francisco and the first democratic socialist elected in the city in 40 years. He’s also a tenant attorney and founder of Tenants Together. You can follow Dean on Twitter at @DeanPreston.

Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Follow the podcast (@techwontsaveus) and host Paris Marx (@parismarx) on Twitter, and support the show on Patreon.

The podcast is produced by Eric Wickham and part of the Harbinger Media Network.

Also mentioned in this episode:

Paris interviewed one of the activists placing cones driverless cars to disable them and draw attention to the California Public Utilities Commission’s pro-corporate regulatory decisions.

In 2011, Twitter got a massive tax break to stay in San Francisco instead of moving its offices elsewhere in the Valley.

Salesforce CEO Marx Benioff was a rare tech mogul to support San Francisco’s ballot measure to create a new tax to fund help for homeless residents.

A ballot measure to increase the transfer tax on properties over $10 million won in 2020, despite industry opposition.

The campaign against progressive district attorney Chesa Boudin was bankrolled by tech and real estate money. Jacob Silverman put this into wider context in a piece about the rise in the political influence of David Sacks.

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