Since when is a bunch of nerds “techbros”? I really hate this term. If I like programming and computers and databases, am I a techbro? Is this supposed to be a bad thing?
Nobody dislikes a good-natured nerd. As someone from Germany maybe to give some local perspective, what people here really don't like is the sort of tech entrepreneur who builds themselves a castle in the middle of the city, considers the local population to be "riff-raff" and doesn't respect the communal nature of a city.
That's the sort of thing that invokes the image of a "tech bro" and this is what people don't want in Berlin. People don't want the local scene replaced with overpriced chain stores and electric scooters and multinationals dictating city development policy.
The CCC has its roots in Germany and we've always had a hacker and nerd friendly culture.
"what people here really don't like is the sort of tech entrepreneur who builds themselves a castle in the middle of the city, considers the local population to be "riff-raff" and doesn't respect the communal nature of a city."
What on earth are you talking about?
Who are these magical people who build castles?
And Berlin is not hugely more 'communal' than anywhere else.
Amazon, Google, Facebook. Look at the castles they've built in Seattle, you aren't getting in unless you are an employee or are escorted by an employee. None of those companies need this level of security, and most other businesses you can literally wander into during office hours, but that is generally not the case with these three.
You are not allowed into any corporate office, in any city - unless you work there.
Every company definitely has security, even small one's, and this has nothing to do with the FANGs.
Try to waltz into the UBS or Deutchebank building and see if you can just wander around.
Most banks have considerably more security than the FANGS and ever since 9/11 many NYC buildings have a ton of security.
You need to get a visitors badge with a photo they take of you on the spot to simply go to a meeting in some towers in the US. You need 15 minutes just to get in.
> You are not allowed into any corporate office, in any city - unless you work there.
Not sure what you've been exposed to, but having wandered many office towers up and down the west coast, vanishingly few have any form of security beyond perhaps a receptionist or a maintenance man who may harass you if requested to do so. Some do have elevators that attempt to enforce access control during certain hours, but this is generally a non-issue in the daytime.
> You need to get a visitors badge with a photo they take of you on the spot to simply go to a meeting in some towers in the US. You need 15 minutes just to get in.
This is an extremely rare request, and complying with it is consistently not worth it in my experience.
It started a few years ago when there were stories about how many new programmers don't have the traditional nerdy background and instead there are an increasing number of frat boy stereotypes getting in on the industry because it's lucrative (brogrammers). It slowly warped into a convenient catch-all for both misplaced anger at tech workers for causing gentrification* and frustration at a class of people who oblivious to social and economic problems, oblivious to how much power they have, and who think everything can be fixed with an app or the most intellectually lazy application of libertarianism.
* Gentrification is caused by landlords. If being a landlord was illegal it wouldn't happen (or at least the problems caused by it wouldn't).
