Tech titans raise millions to enter the political arena: but what is it they want?

As Facebook and Google are starting to flex their muscles lobbying, critics warn that their values ??are very different from those of millions of ordinary Americans

One day last month, about 40 protesters gathered outside the house noise Mark Zuckerberg Facebook co-founder Mark in Palo Alto in Silicon Valley, California. They chanted slogans and waved placards as a small select group of people who arrived in stylish sports car and escorted inside the residence where the billionaire relatively modest life with his wife, Priscilla Chan.

must have been an unusual experience for Zuckerberg, 28, whose position at the head of Facebook is more likely to arouse admiration or curiosity normal and ordinary Americans are outraged, Poster waving protesters conducted by the local police. But it was not a normal part Zuckerberg was chosen. It was his first collection policy and the election of its candidate attention. The Republican governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie

Under the eyes of the protesters, Republican bigwigs, Condoleezza Rice began arriving to pay tribute to - and write checks - a governor who took a stand against gay marriage and higher taxes Meanwhile rich embarking on a crusade against the attacks on teachers' unions in his home state.

But fundraising was one of Zuckerberg movements in politics. This week, the

Wall Street Journal

said he was in the middle of helping to organize a support group with other technology leaders political superiors. The as yet unnamed organization to demand reforms in areas such as research on immigration, education and science. The newspaper said it had raised millions of dollars from their cash-rich donors had an initial target of $ 50 million.

is a remarkable development, but also inevitable. The technology sector has emerged in Silicon Valley and other areas of development in the United States has become a multimillion dollar industry whose largest companies - including Google, Facebook and Twitter - have fundamentally reformed the way most of us live. As he grew in power and influence, was forced to enter the field of politics, trying to change the policy and gain allies across the political spectrum. For Big Oil, Big Pharma, tobacco and big banks, you can now add High Tech. This raises an important question that is rarely asked: more as they try to shape American politics, it is the technology giants really want

Kate Losse think

issue needs a lot of attention. She should know. It was one of the first employees of Facebook and Zuckerberg became a speech writer before leaving to write a book about his experiences,

The Boy King

seems aptly titled book was, and the latest technological advances in the world of politics, including the creation of a well-funded organization policy, are probably only the tip of the iceberg. "The fact that this type of development is happening suggests that there is a political project," said Losse. "So it is important to ask questions now. Otherwise, you might wake up one day and there is a system in place that we did not see coming. "

As with any other major industry, those involved in the Silicon Valley have political views across the spectrum. But, in general, are usually a mix of social liberalism and free market economy. It is a world where people are happy with the ethnic and sexual freedom, but the distrust of big government and see the "heroic entrepreneur" as an ideal ambitious. It is a political culture that has a debt with the libertarian novelist and philosopher Ayn Rand, who preached that the free market was the interest of the future and the government's hand was a little more dead weight in human creativity.

For many, this kind of belief in young minds, Silicon Valley is very rich and powerful could be a dangerous mix. "Youth is in the Silicon Valley culture and arrogance is quite high too," said Paul Argenti, professor of communication at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, New Hampshire.

• part of the agenda can be seen in the political and industry is looking backwards. For example, aggressively pushing to relax the immigration of highly skilled workers. This may or may not be a good policy, but as a system of values ??which is a vision of egalitarianism chance that America was founded. It replaced the huddled masses yearn to be free with not so crowded elites have doctorates. This could fit the belief system of people start technology, but unless the union members, the working class or the millions of Americans still struggling with high unemployment. "By joining personally this type of problem, Mark Zuckerberg is young, arrogant and naive," said Argenti.
• The way the industry tries to exercise political power is not naive, and really old school. Technical managers invest millions of dollars into lobbying firms. They are reversing a trend too. In general, the amount spent on lobbying in all sectors has decreased since 2010 and the number of lobbyists in Washington has been declining since 2007. But it is not the technology, the industry has increased every year since 2009, until the signing largest company and pay millions of dollars more
Google, is a leading company in the sector, and has hired former senior politicians - including former Congressman Richard Gephardt, Former Congressman Susan Molinari - to fight for their interests. Facebook lobbied on bills privacy, trying to protect their business model to exploit its content and user data as a form of marketing for advertisers. A former congressman onboard and on the form of John Shadegg.

senior technology also courted at the highest political level. Zuckerberg and Google CEO Eric Schmidt, were two dozen technology titans who attended a private dinner with Barack Obama in 2011. In one of his State of the Union, Obama called on Google and Facebook by name as the natural heirs of the great innovators of the industrial past of America. Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, recently published a book dedicated to the creation of a social movement of women in the office. It also extends to public and private sectors, having worked as a senior U.S. Treasury official: No doubt, your address book contains a lot of powerful officials Speed ??Dial

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