Silicon Valley should welcome the scrutiny

Still at the same trough after all these years?

This article is ripe with good points but it misses one huge point, many if not most, hugely successful businesses make decisions that are not in the best interest of humanity. We need look no further than the insurance industry which makes decisions to deny coverage for services that are proven effective requiring lengthy and stressful appeals to the insured and their families. Or the pharmaceutical companies increasing the rates of an epi-pen to $600 simply because they can knowing that many families cannot afford them and that this decision will result in untold numbers of deaths. Or to insurance companies who are charging monthly premiums to consumers through Obamacare when they have few if any physicians accepting the insurance or new patients but that does not matter because consumers are were forced to purchase insurance or suffer tax penalties. While many were excited to see insurance available to everyone, we quickly saw that having insurance does not equal having healthcare.

I agree with the writer that 2017 has been a year of reckoning in many industries surrounding harassment, misconduct and unethical business practices. These transgressions have gotten a free pass for far too long.

And while I do not agree that any individual need accept poor treatment from others on sexual preference or any other reason in order to have a broader discussion on topics of relevance, I do understand the point that was being made. I think he was trying to say that sometimes we have to listen to viewpoints we do not agree with in order to participate in the broader discussion. That in no way equates to accepting those opinions in order to be at the table for the broader discussions.

Now before I am tarred and feathered for saying we have to listen does not mean that I have to agree or accept or allow disparagements. What I am saying is that if we want to try to learn from each other on any topic of consequence we all have to listen. We all have to have the opportunity to be heard. We do not have to agree. But we will never know where someone is coming from if we do not allow them the freedom to give their point of view and they will never know mine if I sit idly by and say nothing.

Finally, it is easy to see the result of the “disprutions” that have caused many apartment building to feel more like extended stay hotels but it was not as easy to see the result of these “disruptions” at the onset of these businesses. How to fix the outcomes is going to be debated for years to come I fear. It is incredibly difficult to rein in anything that is working to the benefit of many people even when it is at the same time a detriment to many others. Many people have been able to save their homes after divorce by renting out a spare room and at the same time areas of the country are suffering under dramatically increasing housing costs as homes are snapped up in order to be listed on every available short-term housing rental site. With yesterday’s press release about AirBnB and Brookfield Property Partners investment and 25% take in short-term rental income from 6 buildings to be built in FL it seems that the escalating property values are going to expand. Home ownership is becoming more of a dream than a reality for individuals in a number of states as properties are built focused on the short-term rental income over the long-term rental or for homes, over ownership and residential occupancy.

I guess it is true ‘for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction’. We need creative ideas and resolutions to many issues facing us today, but sadly we choose to fight against one another rather than find a common good we can unite around. It is not always as simple as it some would like to believe because while some improvements can be made we must face the facts that some damage will not be undone and new problems will arise as we attempt to unwind the path of destruction that has be wrought by unfettered growth and “disruption.”