December 19, 2025
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The New Right-Wing Tech Intelligentsia
SF tech happy hour sparks a left vs. right flame war — and memes
TLDR: A SF tech magazine mixer spotlights a rightward tilt in tech’s culture. Comments explode into jokes and arguments over fascism labels, billionaire class interests, and whether Effective Altruism is unfairly smeared—while readers demand hard evidence for claims about monarchists and extremists.
A genteel San Francisco bookish mixer turned into a comment-section cage match after a piece claimed tech culture’s cocktail hours now mix left-liberals with hard-right vibes. Kernel Magazine’s “progressive techno-optimism” and Asterisk’s Effective Altruism (EA) cred drew sharp lines: one camp sees a rising elite-friendly right, the other calls that framing overblown. The snarkiest jab? A commenter mocked the article’s fascism alarm with a “brownshirt” quip, accusing the author of wearing the same uniform he’s condemning. Another demanded receipts for claims that Palladium prefers monarchists and white supremacists, calling it “breathless hyperbole.”
Hot takes piled up: some say this shift is just “billionaires acting like billionaires,” not a grand ideological plot—plus a side of tech’s pet philosophy, transhumanism (link). Others dunked on the idea that print magazines magically spawn real-world movements, joking they’ve never attended a party for people who read Any Magazine Ever. EA defenders came in heated: why is “effectiveness” suddenly a dirty word? Meanwhile, the community chuckled at the scene—poetry bros, AI-doomers, startup fiction writers—arguing whether it’s a culture renaissance or a cosplay of power. The vibe: less revolution, more vibes warfare, with everyone demanding proof and serving memes over martinis.
Key Points
- •A San Francisco happy hour at Arion Press showcases a community of tech writers and publications amid a broader rightward shift in tech culture.
- •Kernel Magazine, formed by Stanford undergrads, blends techno-optimism with critical reporting and has received funding from Omidyar Network and the Mercatus Center.
- •Asterisk Magazine is aligned with effective altruism and is bankrolled by Dustin Moskovitz’s Coefficient Giving (formerly Open Philanthropy).
- •Asterisk’s recent content includes arguments to consider AI systems’ interests, concerns about environmental regulations delaying AI data centers, and discussions of rationalist community dynamics.
- •Sam Bankman-Fried is cited as a convicted crypto fraudster and past EA benefactor, and Samo Burja of Palladium Magazine is briefly introduced at the event.