Category Archives: Silicon Valley

Robert Stark talks about Andrew Yang’s Campaign for President

Alt Center, Alternative Left, Alternative Right, American Culture, Andrew Yang, Architecture, Art, automation, Basic Income, Bernie Sanders, Brandon Adamson, capitalism, conformity, Conservatives, Corporations, Culture, demographics, Donald Trump, Economics, Elections, Freedom of Speech, Immigration, income inequality, Liberalism, Malls, Matthew Pegas, Memes, Nationalism, NEETs, Neoliberalism, Politics, Radical Center, Silicon Valley, social capital, Social Isolation, Social Justice Warriors, Suburbia, Tulsi Gabbard, Urbanism, Vaporwave, Wealth, welfare state, Zoning

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robert Stark, Matthew Pegas, and Brandon Adamson discuss Andrew Yang’s campaign for president in 2020.

Topics:

Brandon’s articles Yang Time! and Yangster’s Paradise
Brandon’s past support for Tulsi Gabbard and why Bernie Sanders is no longer the anti-establishment candidate
Andrew Yang’s unconventional coalition of Dissident Rightest, Radical Centrist, NEETs, Bernie Bros, and Leftist
Reasons for Trump supporters turning to Andrew Yang
Andrew Yang’s identity neutral agenda and context of comments on White demographic decline
Automation as inevitable and something we must adapt to
Trickle Up Economics in contrast to failed Trickle Down Economics
The importance of a basic income for artist and innovators
How a basic income will enable people to liberate themselves from society
Human centered capitalism that creates measurements around people
Whether the basic income will change the debate on immigration
Regulating Tech Companies to protect free speech
The Mall Act and Zoning issues

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This show is brought to you by Robert Stark’s Paintings, Stark Truth TV, and his novel Journey to Vapor Island


The Swamp Swallows Donald Trump on Immigration

Andrew Yang, automation, Basic Income, Bernie Sanders, California, Corporations, Donald Trump, Economics, Elections, Globalization, Immigration, income inequality, India, Kamala Harris, Kevin Lynn, Oligarchy, Political Parties, Politics, Progressives for Immigration Reform, Silicon Valley, Tulsi Gabbard

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robert Stark talks to Kevin Lynn about the swamp swallowing Donald Trump on immigration. Kevin Lynn is executive director of Progressives for Immigration Reform and founder of US Tech Workers and Doctors without Jobs. PFIR exists to protect American workers from unemployment and wage suppression caused by unfair labor and trade practices, including importation of large numbers of foreign workers who are subject to exploitation by foreign and domestic corporations in the United States. PFIR seeks to enhance the working conditions of people worldwide through enhancing economic, health, social and environmental conditions in developing countries worldwide.

Topics:

Trump’s  support for dramatically increasing legal immigration in State of the Union Address
The need to view immigration as an issue of labor supply rather than legality
Trump’s past support for the Raise Act which would of reduced legal immigration levels
Trump’s statement that unemployment has declined does not take into account the underemployed or people who have given up searching
The defeated Yoder bill reborn as the Kamala Harris/Mike Lee Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act that would eliminate country caps
Special interest lobbying for this bill including Silicon Valley tech executives, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and GOP mega-donor Koch brothers.
How India would make up the majority of green card recipients under this bill
High-Skilled Immigrants Act would discriminate against Smaller Countries and the Austin Statesman’s Example of waiting periods by country under current law
Trump Plans ‘Potential Pathway to Citizenship’ for Foreign H-1B Workers
How 71% of Silicon Valley Tech Workers are foreign born
About 40% of H-1B Jobs Give Employers a $40,000/Year Discount
The potential impacts of automation on White Collar jobs including tech
Sen. Grassley Introduces Mandatory E-Verify Legislation
Plutocrats: The Rise of the New Global Super Rich

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This show is brought to you by Robert Stark’s Paintings, Stark Truth TV, and his novel Journey to Vapor Island




Robert Stark interviews SF based Artist Merkley???

aesthetics, Architecture, Art, California, Cities, conformity, Conservatives, Culture, Dain Fitzgerald, Donald Trump, Economics, Fashion, Gender, Historic Preservation, humor, Immigration, Leftism, Liberalism, Libertarianism, Merkley???, Morality, Mormonism, Music, Philosophy, Photography, Political Correctness, Politics, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Social Justice Warriors, Social Media, Urbanism, Utah

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robert Stark and Dain Fitzgerald talk to SF based artist and photographer Merkley??? Check out Merkley??? on Twitter.

Topics:

Merkley’s ex Mormon background, and the role of art, creativity, and philosophy within religion
SJW culture as a religion with the state as the figure head
How traditional religion is now more tolerant in comparison
Being a political outsider in the SF Bay Area
The fusion of SJW culture and Neoliberalism
Conservatives adopting liberal ideas from the past that stand the test of time
Merkley’s view that multiple identities will lead to radical individualism
Merkley’s response to the argument that identities provide a sense of social cohesion
Left Wing Puritanism
Using nude photography to poke fun at photoshop, advertisement, and the fashion industry(objectifying the objects)
Bay Area Housing Crisis, Airbnb, supply and demand, and historic preservation concerns
The impracticality of open borders
Merkley’s Ska Band and friendship with Gwen Stefani
Singing the wisdom of the Luddites

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This show is brought to you by Robert Stark’s Paintings, Stark Truth TV, and his novel Journey to Vapor Island

Robert Stark talks to Adam Mayer about San Francisco Architecture

1960's, 1970's, 1980's, Adam Mayer, aesthetics, Architecture, arcology, Art Deco, Beverly Hills, Brutalism, California, Cities, Culture, Danville CA, Economics, Environment, Futurism, gentrification, Historic Preservation, History, John C. Portman Jr, Los Angeles, Los Gatos CA, Mass Transit, Matthew Pegas, Mid-Century Modern, Mount Diablo, Neon, Oakland, Postmodernism, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, Silicon Valley, Skyscrapers, Suburbia, Urbanism, Wilderness, Zoning

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robert Stark and Matthew Pegas talk to architect Adam Mayer about San Francisco’s architectural history and current trends. Check out his Twitter, Instagram, and Architectural Portfolio.

Topics:

Robert’s meetup and architectural tour with Adam in Downtown SF
Ghirardelli Square and the Cannery
SF Neon TOURS
Beaux-Arts Palace Hotel
Art Deco highrises Sir Francis Drake Hotel, Shell Building, and Pac Bell Tower
Mid Century Modern Joseph Eichler highrises, the Fairmont Hotel, and the Hilton
William Pereira’s Transamerica Pyramid and Louis Kahn’s use of concrete inspired by ancient monuments
Underappreciated 80’s post modernism, Art Deco revival, Marriott Juke Box, and Crocker Galleria
Philip Johnson’s 101 California Street and Union Square Neiman Marcus
The John Portman designed Embarcadero Center, it’s attributes of a self contained city and urban oasis, and the JW Marriott
Portman’s uniqueness in being both an architect and real estate developer
Jonathan Segal’s project ‘Architect as Developer’
SOMA highrise boom, Central SoMa Rezone, 5M development, and, Caltrain redevelopment 
New Transbay Transit Center
SOMA skyscrapers 181 Fremont, Salesforce Tower, and Rem Koolhaas’ Tower
The end of the high-rise boom cycle
The Missing Middle Housing
Addressing the housing crisis while respecting historic preservation and aesthetics
Current trends in architecture and marriage between modernism and post modernism(meta modernism)

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This show is brought to you by Robert Stark’s Paintings, Stark Truth TV, and his novel Journey to Vapor Island




Robert Stark talks to Joshua Zeidner about Bobos in Paradise

1960's, 1980's, 1990's, aesthetics, Alt Center, Alternative Right, American Culture, Art, Baby Boomers, capitalism, Cities, Class, Consumerism, Corporations, counterculture, Culture, David Brooks, Economics, Environment, Fashion, gentrification, Hipsters, History, Immigration, income inequality, Joshua Zeidner, Labor Movement, Leftism, Liberalism, materialism, Matthew Pegas, Middle Class, Millennials, Morality, Neoliberalism, New York, Religion, Silicon Valley, Urbanism, Wealth

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robert Stark and Matthew Pegas talk to Joshua Zeider about the cultural phenomenon and book by David Brooks Bobos in Paradise: The New Upper Class and How They Got There.

Topics:

Bobos as Bourgeois Bohemians or Capitalist Hippies
Concepts that emerged after the French Revolution
How all three of us overlap with this group(interconnected yet outside)
Those who know the inner workings of the privileged class yet not quite in it
David Brooks, his political ideology, and Mid Atlantic old wealth culture
The Boomers’ transition in values
How the elites reinvented their cultural image
The blurring of cultural class as a mask for growing economic inequality
How Bobo culture coincided with the Neoliberal restructuring of our economy
Silicon Valley’s “socially conscious” cutthroat capitalism
Fake social climbing, virtual signaling, and self appointed moral leadership
Historic parallels to using Christianity to justify slavery and imperialism
Paying high prices for cheap looking merchandise
Hipsters as the Millennial offshoot of the Bobos
Political dissidents and cultural outsiders’ fascination with the culture of past elites
Alt-Subcultures and Alt-Urbanism as positive alternatives to Bobo culture

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This show is brought to you by Robert Stark’s Paintings, Stark Truth TV, and his novel Journey to Vapor Island




Robert Stark talks to Joshua Zeidner about Bernie Sanders’ anti-Corporate Welfare Bill & The Tech Oligarchy

Anti Trust Legislation, automation, Baby Boomers, Bernie Sanders, capitalism, censorship, Class, Conservatives, Corporate Welfare, Corporations, Donald Trump, Economics, Immigration, income inequality, Joshua Zeidner, Law, Millennials, Neoliberalism, Oligarchy, Police State, Silicon Valley, Social Media, Socialism, technology, Wealth, welfare state

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Topics:

Bernie Sanders bill targets Jeff Bezos and Amazon’s pay practices
How the bill would tax companies for state benefits that their workers receive
How state benefits for low wage workers are a form of corporate welfare
The role that corporate HR and temp agencies play in modeling their employment payment program on state benefits
The disturbing part about Amazon’s HQ2 competition
The emphasis on job creation rather than creating high quality jobs and living standards
The deregulation of labor rights in the Tech Industry
Joshua’s advice that it’s not worth it for young people to go into tech
Rep Yoder’s immigration bill and the Tech Industry’s lobbying for mass immigration 
Bernie Sanders’ flip flop and Trump accomplishing little on immigration enforcement
The monopoly-busting case against Google, Amazon, Uber, and Facebook
Social media as a public utility
National Review Denounces “Internet Fairness Doctrine”
Social media censorship and manipulation of content
The Safe harbor (law) which makes social media immune from libel laws
Surveillance Valley — Yasha Levine
Why Did Walmart Leave Germany?

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This show is brought to you by Robert Stark’s Paintings, Stark Truth TV, and his novel Journey to Vapor Island




Robert Stark talks to Joshua Zeidner about Social Nationalism & Israeli Internal Affairs

aesthetics, Alt Center, Alternative Right, Arabs, Architecture, Baby Boomers, Bauhaus, Bernie Sanders, Bibi Netanyahu, Brutalism, California, capitalism, Class, Conservatives, Corporations, Culture, demographics, Economics, Germany, History, Immigration, income inequality, Israel, Italian Futurism, Joshua Zeidner, Le Corbusier, Leftism, Liberalism, Libertarianism, Matthew Pegas, Millennials, Nationalism, Neoliberalism, Oligarchy, Police State, Politics, Retro Futurism, Russia, Silicon Valley, Skyscrapers, Socialism, technology, Urbanism, War, Wealth

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robert Stark and co-host Matthew Pegas talk to Joshua Zeidner about Israeli Politics and Social Nationalism.

Topics:

Israel’s Social Nationalist origins
The book Perfidy by Ben Hecht about the Kastner trial
The rise of the far right in Israel
The corruption of Bibi Netanyahu and the Likud Party
Likud’s suppression of civil liberties and political dissidents
Israel’s shift to neoliberal economics
The influence of American elites on Israel’s political and economic affairs
The book Start-up Nation and Joshua’s experience working in Israel’s tech industry
How the state is responsible for more innovation in tech than the free market(ex. DARPA)
Joshua’s observations on Germany’s labor environment
Real Estate: investors buying up unoccupied apartments, NIMBYism, and renters rights
The need for an economic outlook based on socialism and the national good
The need for a fusion of the dissident left and right under the banner of social nationalism
The divide between capitalist boomers and socialist millennials in both Israel and the West
Bauhaus architecture, White City (Tel Aviv), Italian Futurism, Brutalism, and Le Corbusier’s Architecture and Politics
Why are Israel’s top models blonde and European looking?
Shlomo Sand

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This show is brought to you by Robert Stark’s Paintings, Stark Truth TV, and his novel Journey to Vapor Island




Alt-Urbanism: Building a Based Urban Middle Class SWPL Utopia

1950's, 1970's, 1980's, 1990's, aesthetics, Alt Center, American Culture, Architecture, Asia, Asian Culture, Baby Boomers, California, Cities, Class, Conservatives, Culture, demographics, Economics, Environment, Falling Down, gentrification, Giovanni Dannato, Immigration, income inequality, Korea, Le Corbusier, Los Angeles, Middle Class, New Urbanism, Silicon Valley, Singapore, Skyscrapers, Suburbia, SWPL, Urbanism, Utopia, Wealth, Zoning

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By Robert Stark: Originally Published on Alt of Center

Prior to the 1950’s, the urban core of LA, centered around Downtown, was relatively small. It was also much more compact and vibrant, however, than it became in the second half of the 20th Century. In recent years, there has been renewed interest in urbanism and walkable communities, and LA’s downtown, historic core is now revitalized and booming with new highrise construction.

While LA is just in the early stages of creating an integrated metro system, the region once had a vibrant street car system connecting the urban core with extensions to street car suburbs such as Santa Monica and Pasadena.

According to Curbed LA : “in 1945, a sinister corporation called National City Lines took over the thriving Los Angeles Railway, which served most of the sprawling region. Then, over the course of the next two decades, LA’s extensive streetcar network was eliminated and the iconic Red Cars that Judge Doom mentions were replaced with shiny new buses.

Continue reading Alt-Urbanism: Building a Based Urban Middle Class SWPL Utopia →

Robert Stark talks to Kevin Lynn about Tech Visas & Rep Yoder’s Immigration Bill

automation, Bernie Sanders, Corporations, Donald Trump, Economics, Immigration, income inequality, India, Kevin Lynn, Leftism, Liberalism, Neoliberalism, Oligarchy, Political Correctness, Politics, Progressives for Immigration Reform, Silicon Valley, Wealth

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kevin Lynn is executive director of Progressives for Immigration Reform and founder of US Tech Workers. U.S. Tech Workers is sponsored by Progressives for Immigration Reform (PFIR). PFIR exists to protect American workers from unemployment and wage suppression caused by unfair labor and trade practices, including importation of large numbers of foreign workers who are subject to exploitation by foreign and domestic corporations in the United States. PFIR seeks to enhance the working conditions of people worldwide through enhancing economic, health, social and environmental conditions in developing countries worldwide.

Topics:

The responses from tech workers to Kevin’s Ad Campaign against H-1B Visas on SF’s BART
The misconceptions that H-1B visa holders are high skilled workers and that there is a shortage of domestic STEM grads
Tech worker’s Stories
Discrimination against US citizens in the Tech Industry
Yoder Slips Poison Pill For Tech Workers Into Appropriations Bill
Yoder ushered through a Democrat amendment to undermine Attorney General Jeff Sessions, expanding the legal definition of asylum
Yoder’s bill would remove the per country caps for immigration
The Indian Lobby and favoritism towards immigration from India in the Tech Industry
Illegal immigration as a disincentive for automation in the agriculture industry
How the left has adopted corporate talking points in regards to immigration
How mass immigration and neoliberal economics are now impacting the professional classes
Kevin’s upcoming project “Doctors Without Jobs”
The coalition of corporate and ethnic interest lobbying for mass immigration
Koch-backed group gives boost to Democrats on immigration
Class Warfare and inter-generational wealth

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This show is brought to you by Robert Stark’s Paintings and his novel Journey to Vapor Island




Robert Stark talks about The YIMBY Movement & The Alt-Center

aesthetics, Alt Center, Alternative Left, Alternative Right, American Culture, Architecture, Black Culture, California, Cartrell Payne, Cities, Class, Conservatives, Crime, Culture, decentralization, demographics, Donald Trump, Dystopia, Economics, Environment, Falling Down, Film, gentrification, Historic Preservation, Huey Long, Immigration, income inequality, John C. Portman Jr, Las Vegas, Leftism, Liberalism, Libertarianism, Los Angeles, Malibu, Market Urbanism, Mass Transit, Middle Class, New Urbanism, New York, Norman Mailer, Oligarchy, Police, Police Brutality, Police Corruption, Police State, Political Parties, Politics, Pornography, Portland, Race Relations, Radical Center, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Skyscrapers, Suburbia, SWPL, The Adventure Kid, The American South, Third Way Economics, Twin Peaks, Urbanism, Wealth, Zoning

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robert Stark joined with Cartrell Payne(aka The Adventure Kid) to discuss the YIMBY movement, the Alt-Center, and how those issues relate.

Topics:

California Senator Scott Wiener’s housing-transit measure Derailed
Factions of the YIMBY movement including left leaning housing advocates, real estate developers, and the Market Urbanist
Left Wing anti-gentrification activists and their alliance with NIMBY’s
Cartrell’s observations on gentrification in Memphis, Tennessee
The hypocrisy of pro-immigration Limousine Liberal NIMBY’s, and how that combination exacerbates the housing crisis
How the YIMBY movement is also very pro immigration
Income Inequality in California and the mass exodus of the middle class
The film Falling Down which is set in LA in the early 90’s and a warning of a dystopian future
What makes California great and can it be saved?
The New Great Migration of Black Americans back to The South
White Middle Class Conservative NIMBY’s, their motivations, and how they are sabotaging their own self interest
Why YIMBYism and immigration restriction are compatible, and why the Alt-Center should take up those causes
Why YIMBYs need to address aesthetic concerns
Why YIMBYism is compatible with environmental and historic preservation
Citylab and City Journal; their writings on urbanism and political agendas
Why mass transit is inefficient in LA and other Sun Belt cities
The political and cultural flaws of both Blue and Red States
A vision of an Alt Center which include alternative economics, pro middle class policies, New Urbanism, environmentalism, SWPL culture, and socially centrist
Cartrell’s political orientation as an Old School Southern Democrat minus the racism
Cartrell’s critique of both the Black Liberal Establishment and Black Conservatives
Conservative views on the poor and police issues and Conservative Class Cucks
The early 20th Century Populist movement
Norman Mailer’s plan for breaking up New York City which addressed both the concerns of the Left and the Right

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This show is brought to you by Robert Stark’s Paintings and his novel Journey to Vapor Island