On May 30th 2020, SpaceX successfully launched two astronauts from American soil and that singular achievement broke records as one of the cheapest flights in history and the first space launch from America since 2011.This represented a moment in human history and was at the forefront of the innovation and technological class of the United States. However, that wasn’t the only moment that was making history, as news flashes on most American television channels immediately after the launch was covered were headlined “Black Lives Matter protests”, as it was the 7th day of nationwide protests after the death of George Floyd. It is surprising that such opposing events were happening in history, and how the world could get to such a point, I would like to call the great divide. But for us to properly understand why this was happening, we must first go back in time.

 

With a history of 250 years, America has accomplished so much and has sold it itself as the “greatest salesman” working for a company called “capitalism” with a bestselling product called the “American Dream”. However, It should be noted that like most other products, this was simply under the effect of deceptive advertisement.

America received its independence in 1776 after winning the war against the British whose oppression they revolted against. This further emphasizes the irony of the current situation facing the African-American community. This country has faced two World Wars, has undergone about half a century of probably the greatest technological advancements that ran from 1875 to 1925 and a phenomenal tech boom which has produced the greatest Tech oligopoly in recent history called MAGA (Microsoft, Apple Inc, Google, Amazon), no political pun intended. How then could a country with such great history be so chaotic?

To answer this, we have to explore another perspective, as to history, there are always different perspectives. America was built on the back of bloodshed, slavery and oppression ranging from the Native Americans who were massacred by the British in their own homelands to enslaved Black Americans who were forced to produce cotton on farms amongst other things and then immigrants; some of whom were generally deceived into believing the American Dream only to be mistreated and oppressed for generations. It is easy to get lost in the glamour of America in all of its glory and this is why African countries with mine topping the list wishing to have an American system have failed to understand two important things.

First, is the fact that history never repeats itself as there will never be another American story with its culture and history. Peter Theil once stated in his book Zero to One on Startups “Great moments in history only happen once”, and this goes to further validate the fact that as nobody is ever going to invent the automobile, create the next Google, Apple, Tesla or Amazon, nobody is going to create the next America.

Secondly, the foundation of America is vastly different from these other countries. The book, “The Industrialization of America” shows that the reason why America was able to be industrialized so quickly was due to the cohesion of the “Big Three” which were the political, the economic and the technological factors that worked to together to make it so great. It is the same reason why no matter how many economist, entrepreneurs, politicians, scientists and engineers try to convince you with their hubs, hackathons and funding, there will never be another Silicon Valley. This is because according to the book “Industries of the Future” by Alec Ross there are conditions that must be satisfied. These conditions are:

-Build a big, beautiful, fully equipped technology park;
-Mix in Research & Development labs and university centers;
-Provide incentives to attract scientists, firms and users;
-Interconnect the industry through consortia and specialized suppliers;
-Protect intellectual property and tech transfer;
-Establish a favorable business environment and regulations.

 

It is understandable that everyone wants to have the same progress that America has had, but we shouldn’t blindly follow them in example and not see the costs of what made them who they are ranging from the inequality gap, inhumane healthcare system and the systematic racism that is currently being fought against. For if we do so we will simply be repeating the history of our enslaved ancestors by boarding their Ship and getting mistreated once again. We will never have a Silicon Valley, but we can position our communities to compete and succeed in those areas of innovation that are yet to be explored.

Details on how communities can come together are further illustrated in Alec Ross’s book; “Industries of the Future”. You may agree, or you may disagree and continue to dwell in your self- serving bias however, I will like to respond to all comments and opinions with a quote from one my heroes Napoleon Bonaparte in which he said “History is a set of lies agreed upon”.