Why do so many men who achieve success in the tech sphere and subsequently wade into politics seem to be problematic on issues of diversity and equity? Hedge fund analyst turned biotech executive, Vivek Ramaswamy, is the fifth-ranked candidate for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024 according to the RealClearPolitics polling average. He announced his candidacy in a Wall Street Journal opinion essay, pandering to the National Rifle Association at its convention and appearing on cable news. He has written several books, including “Woke, Inc.: Inside Corporate America’s Social Justice Scam” and “Nation of Victims: Identity Politics, the Death of Merit and the Path Back to Excellence,” and has largely based his campaign on anti-wokeness.
Ramaswamy has attempted to get close to Donald Trump, the Republican primary poll leader, by saying he doubted he’d become one of the targets of Trump’s trademark vitriol “because we’re friends.” He and Governor Ron DeSantis share many of the same anti-woke views and Ramaswamy’s tweets express a distaste for current identity politics and his desire to replace them with patriotism, faith, and hard work.
Many of Ramaswamy’s political views align with those of Republicans, including ending affirmative action, shutting down the F.B.I., and raising the voting age to 25 unless younger voters enroll in the military, work as first responders or pass citizenship tests. However, what came as a surprise was an essay in Politico Magazine by former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang, advising Ramaswamy on how to win the Republican nomination.
But after considering it, the surprise with Yang’s advice faded away. Yang had a refreshing way of providing clarity and charm to explain his policy proposals, particularly of the economic kind. A few months after he dropped out of the presidential race, he voiced qualified support for reparations, telling Time he believed “This country was built on the backs of slaves, and we owe them a massive debt.”
However, his campaign-trail jokes around Asian American model minority stereotype leaned into a stereotype instead of dispelling it and his attempt to address rising anti-Asian hate during the early days of the pandemic failed when he wrote, “We Asian Americans need to embrace and show our Americanness in ways we never have before.” Was this how he always felt and just hid it when he needed the votes of a diverse Democratic electorate? Or does it illustrate how tech bros, who separate themselves from career politicians and present themselves as forward thinkers, tend to perpetuate regressive positions on race issues?
These tech bros, including Elon Musk, have lent undeserved gravitas to free-speech claims and a gloss of being unconventional businessmen, which is how Trump came into power. Yet, they’re just pandering to voters who want to diminish the complexities of America’s story while condescending to generations who fought for equality. As political figures, they’re not innovating. They’re propagating ahistoric rubbish.
