I think it's fine for one person to not uphold these values, but I remember coming to hackernews because I was excited about progress. Now it seems like self interest has taken over as the primary value.
Maybe it’s the aggregate cynicism of seeing all that “progress” amount to little else than hype, shifting market share from older giants in every sector to new exciting new startups that almost immediately become just as bad as the old giants or in many cases worse. Ten years ago I also couldn’t wait for my plot of land on Mars. 2021-Me Cannot imagine being truly inspired by a software company.
I can see how the hype not matching up with reality leads to cynicism. At the same time, I believe cynicism is worth fighting because we have 50 or more years ahead of us while we are alive to make progress, and just because the last 30 years of hypercapitalism has led to a lot of pain doesn't mean we should throw up our hands and despair.
