Imagine writing a history of the world from the perspective of a small California town that spans less than 30 sq. miles. That’s exactly what Malcolm Harris did.
His new book Palo Alto: A History of California, Capitalism, and The World was published earlier this year by Little Brown and Company. This is a sweeping historical account of the founding of the suburb of Palo Alto; the creation of Silicon Valley; and the intermingling of Stanford University, some of the world’s richest people and companies, and a military industrial complex that fought multiple wars on many fronts. If that sounds vast, that’s because it is.
From a historical perspective, Harris’ book focuses on a relatively small amount of time, about 170 years, between 1850 and 2020. But in that time, he tracks the formation of this technological and capitalistic center of the world; this tiny suburb that now controls a large chunk of public and private interests.
Malcolm is less interested in exploring the technological and entrepreneurial innovations that have occurred here, but rather sees the entire project of Palo Alto as a symptom of capitalism that’s inextricable from the culture of the area. He’s focused on highlighting the most important resource of Palo Alto, which is the land itself. The land that Native American tribes were forced out of, and the land that became the center for the unrelenting waves of capitalism.
Eduardo Galeano wrote his famed book OPEN VEINS OF LATIN AMERICA to describe the economic, colonial, and imperial pillaging of an entire continent. To use his metaphor Harris’ goals are set on exposing the veins of Palo Alto; and showcasing how institutions that were fundamentally created without a mandate, on stolen land, now have a level of wealth and influence that escapes control.
It felt increasingly necessary to have this conversation with Malcolm as the efforts—and often conquests—of Silicon valley figures seem to increasingly pervade our consciousness in every way.
We could only cover the highlights of this book in 40 mins, but a link to his Book and his recommendations are in the show notes.
Recommendation