More broadly, the righteousness with which Thiel acted, and with which many on Twitter reacted, combined with a seeming lack of obliviousness to how this might look to the outside world, very much reconfirmed fears I have voiced repeatedly that the tech industry is headed for a regulatory disaster of its own making. Here's the deal: the tech industry is winning. Internet economics have destroyed the journalism industry, they are destroying the transportation and hospitality industries, and I still think we are only in the beginning of a fundamental reordering of business and the economy. Moreover, I think these changes will, on balance and in the long run, be a huge positive for humanity generally and the United States in particular. The short to medium-term, though, will be wrenching, and it would be nice if the tech industry acted with a bit more grace and humility and a with a bit less certainty about its own righteousness and superiority; success, particularly when ascribed entirely to one's own capabilities, inevitably breeds contempt.

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