I think the author might be confusing nationalism and patriotism? I'm not sure what's unpatriotic about working with other countries while recognizing that those countries have their own interests.
This article had me cringing.<p>Peter Theil was right to criticize Google cozying up to China. But rather than respond to that point, this guy calls him a hypocrite for backing a seasteading company and gaining dual citizenship in another country. Why argue with his original point when you can just throw ad hominem attacks around?<p>Plus all of the dog whistles in this article are below the NY Times. Implying that Zuckerberg speaks Mandarin and therefore can't be trusted on China is beyond ridiculous. Or that Google is "rallying around the flag" just because they met with Trump once (I mean, he's the president... ignoring him isn't exactly an option.)
Can we just all agree most big tech companies are systems of power, and they will gravitate to other systems of power (the US, China) based on whatever best advances their own interests at a particular moment in time?
This opinion column, written with an argument "These hypocritical tech company execs" is missing the actual story: In the United States right now, companies feel that making statements in line with government propaganda and actions that symbolically support it, is what will make the difference between being regulated or not, in business success. The regulators will decide what and how to regulate based on how much a company is liked by the President.<p>From drain the swap to a political commissar in every swamp. (These are the people that don't like socialism? This is the worst part about socialism! This is the worst kind of 'political correctness', government-enforced) Support our political program, we'll leave your business alone. It's practically a protection racket.<p>(of COURSE they're all hypocrites, in business and government both, it's just not news, and not nearly as alarming as the part that is news).
Full-blown globalists until they want something, whether less regulation or $8/hr foreign slave labor.<p>Late stage capitalism clearly isn't compatible with actual patriotism. Most patently patriotic business (and government) decisions would nowadays be called "isolationist" or whatnot. We're a long way from the Mad Men era.