‘Deep Tech’: Did Balaji's San Francisco Network State ‘smoke test’ fail?
Grab the popcorn - it's Gray Tribe movie time
The Point: The Network State cult goes Hollywood – and ramps up “Gray Tribe” recruitment in San Francisco. It’s the closing event of San Francisco's “Deep Tech Week.”
Backstory: A Gray Tribe movie!
Balaji Srinivasan, the crypto figure and Network State evangelist who dreams of forming a tech-aligned “Gray Tribe” to purge Democrats from San Francisco, has made a film. “Technodemocracy,” as it’s apparently called, will be screening on Saturday, June 29.
The film was initially scheduled to screen at Gray Area, a nonprofit venue in San Francisco’s Mission District. This caught my attention, since Balaji’s whole idea for the city is to create Gray-controlled tech authoritarian zones. And he specifically calls for the Gray Tribe to produce propaganda films to promote their strange, anti-Democratic ideology.
So it hardly seemed coincidental that the would-be leader of the Gray tech cult would screen his political film at a venue called Gray Area. Despite the name, however, Gray Area seemed like a strange choice for a Balaji event. That's because the venue’s website features a robust code of conduct that expressly forbids any type of discrimination.
“Gray Area is committed to providing a friendly, safe and welcoming environment for all, regardless of gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, personal appearance, body size, race, ethnicity, age, religion, or nationality,” it says.
Gray Area, founded by a Queer Mexican woman, hardly seemed like the place to screen a propaganda film created by the guy who wants to colonize San Francisco with an authoritarian police state and expel all Democrats.
Curious, I reached out to Gray Area for an interview and received a swift response from Barry Threw, artistic and executive director of the venue:
Hi Gil, thanks for reaching out about this. This event is a space rental programmed by the external organizers, and the content doesn't represent any organizational position or endorsement from Gray Area.
I planned to follow up with questions about whether hosting a figure with such incendiary and discriminatory beliefs would violate Gray Area’s code of conduct. By the next morning, however, the event’s organizers announced that Balaji’s screening would move to a different venue. It will now screen at The Loom, an art space in Oakland.
And despite promises of a “live Q&A with the man himself,” Balaji won’t actually be setting foot in the Bay Area. Instead, he’ll beam in via video conference.
'Deep Tech' week
The screening of “Technodemocracy” will take place during the closing event of Deep Tech Week, a weeklong networking event designed to highlight SF’s status as a world tech capital.
So far, over 600 people have signed up to attend the closing party – but it’s not clear how many of them actually plan to watch Balaji’s film. The website currently says there are 761 tickets still available for the film screening – not exactly a sign of great enthusiasm. It's quite possible that few of the people participating in Deep Tech Week know anything about Balaji. This hasn't stopped him from crowing on Twitter that hundreds of people are coming to the event.
But here's the question: Did SF Deep Tech Week just get its party kicked out of San Francisco? Gray Area, whose Grand Theater has a capacity of 800 – certainly had enough space for such an event. And the Mission Street venue has a snazzy old school theater marquee where Balaji would certainly have enjoyed seeing his name in lights.
Instead, after first announcing the party would be held at Gray Area, the Deep Tech folks canceled it and then apparently spent a few days searching for a new venue. It certainly seems strange to force hundreds of people to travel to Oakland’s Jingletown – an inconvenient journey from SF – to celebrate the end of something called “SF Deep Tech Week.”
Analysis: A failed Smoke Test?
In the six-hour-long podcast interview where he laid out his techno-fascist vision for San Francisco, Balaji mentioned something called a “smoke test.” A smoke test is when you put up some visible symbol of tech dominance – a stenciled image on a sidewalk, a sign on a light post – and wait to see if it gets torn down.
If it stays up, Balaji said, you have now established Gray Tribe territory. If it gets torn down or crossed out, the Gray Tribe has lost. (“Mark it Blue,” he said, suggesting that areas which reject Gray Tribe markings are securely in the hands of Democrats.)
So, it would appear that Balaji and his Deep Tech acolytes just failed a smoke test on Mission Street.
Ironically, the party will now be held in Oakland, a city Balaji’s tech allies continually portray as an unsafe apocalypse zone. But now they’re charging hundreds of aspirational young techies $40 a pop ($300 for VIP tickets!) to fill up a warehouse in Jingletown. So it appears the hysteria re safety in Oakland is purely situational. It's party time in Shengtown!
Balaji Block Party
We may never know the full back story about Balaji's canceled SF premiere, but here's a clue: As the drama over his film premiere unfolded, Balaji suddenly decided to block me on Twitter.
Was it something I said?
I'm out of state and can't attend the big film premiere. But if you manage to swing a ticket (over 700 available!) please feel free to provide me with a full review. Confidentiality guaranteed!
Further reading:
Gil Duran
