They were none too respectful toward the federal government. Silicon Valley's tech-heads have become so obsessed with bandwidth they've forgotten balance of power. They've forgotten that without America on duty there will be no America Online. In fact, Silicon Valley executives aren't as self-consciously antigovernment as they're generally portrayed, by friends or foes. And many are involved in community groups and volunteer work, especially in the schools.
Time is short in Silicon Valley, and everywhere else.
The plenitude and prosperity we take for granted depend on specialized knowledge and concentrated efforts. High-tech executives are acutely aware of what they know and of what they can ignore to make time for their work. That's not necessarily a bad tradeoff. Friedman, after all, would be rightly offended if computer programmers demanded that foreign affairs pundits master the ins and outs of Java code. If people are free to allocate their necessarily limited attention spans, then the vast majority will make the rational decision to focus on private pursuits.