The Technological Republic - Hard Power, Soft Belief, and the Future of the West

The Technological Republic is a book about culture, both Silicon Valley and broader American culture. The main argument that Karp opens with is that Silicon Valley has shirked its responsibilities and has been dragged away from making things that truly aid America. The focus on Apps for the last 15 years was to the detriment of real world tools and technology that actually matter. He describes Soldiers in Afghanistan facing roadsided IEDs asking for better tech to help them, but being unable to get it due to outdated and overly bureaucratic methods of getting tools into their hands. I would describe the book as philosophical, Karp and Zamiska see the U.S. as a continuance of western culture following in the footsteps of Greece and Rome, and see a kind of decadence in modern society, where Engineers and Computer Scientists would rather get rich making useless software than provide something that helps America survive and thrive.