Time for change

San Francisco and the tech industry is a bit rocked today as we heard that the former CTO of Square and inventor of the CashApp, Bob Lee was stabbed to death in San Francisco. I didn’t know Bob, but from everything I read, he was a great person and a father.

It’s incredibly sad news as it seems like yet another random act of violence in our streets. I’m angry at the entire situation. From the fact that this happened all the way to the people using this to shit on San Francisco.

My stance on the issues here in San Francisco have been that it’s not nearly as bad as the way some folk love to paint it on Twitter, but at the same time it’s a real and growing problem. No it is not a lawless waste land where you can’t walk down the street during broad daylight, but yes it is common to see gross things all the time.

A lot of the criticism for the city comes from people who probably grew up in nice suburban areas. A city the size of San Francisco will never be their version of “paradise”. I’m very much happy to see those folks leave the city and flock for greener pastures like Miami. But at some point, change needs to happen. The problem is getting worse and it’s hard to ignore a lot of their valid complaints.

This city is wealthier than a lot of countries. If the politicians can pull their heads out of their asses, progress will be made for the better. Yet it seems like everyone is focused on the wrong things like blaming the tech industry for the problems we’re facing.