THE PALO

DOES OUR CITY HAVE A CAPITALISM PROBLEM?

BIRTHPLACE OF Silicon Valley. Global center of technology and innovation. Home to over 69,700 residents.

Although the city is number 10 in Niche’s “Best Suburbs to Live in California,” people like Palo Alto High School alum Malcolm Harris are critical of the city’s role as the center of capitalism.

Harris’s new book “Palo Alto: A History of California, Capitalism, and the World” — published on Feb. 14 — traces back as far as Palo Alto colonialistic beginnings to examine the city’s history.

According to Harris, his book is best described by the subheading: “a history of California capitalism in the world.”

“It’s about the modern era from the second half of the 19th century to today, told through the lens of Palo Alto, California, but in a bulk context,” Harris said.

Through his book, Harris said he seeks to highlight that California’s history is shorter than many Palo Altans believe, pulling specific events from history to showcase Palo Alto’s role in capitalism.

“The history we’re talking about is not ancient history,” Harris said. “The world system under which we live is only 150-plus years old. It’s not ancient, and we should see ourselves in that context and the specific historical context, not an existential context.”

In the book, Harris states that Palo Alto leaders are responsible for the exploitation of middle-class workers, especially those of color, and thus the development of practices like eugenics. According to Harris, the capitalist mindset in Palo Alto only benefits existing millionaire leaders while giving false hope to laborers, magnifying the capitalist system.

Malcolm Harris

Harris began his writing career at Paly’s Campanile newspaper, where he was an editor-in-chief.

“The journalism education definitely helped me write for a deadline and edit,” Harris said. “I took it really seriously.”

Since graduating from Paly in 2007, Harris has published three books, the third of which is “Palo Alto,” which he said was prompted by an urge to write about the city he grew up in.

“So much of my connection to the world is mediated through Palo Alto and Palo Alto history,” Harris said. “So it [writing a book about Palo Alto] seemed like a good way to understand my place in the world.”

According to Harris, he started the book at the beginning of 2020, and although the