Marc Benioff: I no longer believe National Guard is needed for SF

He seemed to want free security for his event (he talked about all the extra security he was hiring). I suspect he learned he'd get free protests too.

The San Francisco reddit discussion of this included such lines as "Welp, picking up my frog costume from Temu asap.", and "San Francisco must out gay them": https://www.reddit.com/r/sanfrancisco/comments/1o7mexv/trump...

It boggles my Detroit-grown mind that so many people claim this about so many thriving cities.

I live in the PNW and regularly visit most of the major cities there and in NorCal. What exactly is more depressing there than any other city of any economic relevance in the nation?

Funny, that's how I feel about the USA as a whole. Used to be a nice country.

I might care a little more about how they fix the problem, but only barely. Somebody had better fix the country soon.

The end justifies the means, right? Maybe SF should go all Singapore and execute people for pooping on the sidewalk, problem of sidewalk-pooping will soon be solved!

Getting downvoted. I’m not thrilled by the idea of deploying the national guard, but folks have had a long time to fix the mess in SF and have failed, badly. It’s not crazy to try something new.

To those saying we never use the military for public security that’s simply false. NYC has had heavily armed national guard deployed as added security at transit hubs since 9/11 and they’re there to this day.

If leaders of cities don’t want others to step in, don’t give people a reason to step in.

There’s no way to fix San Francisco right now. If anyone disagrees with a proposed change, they just call it a “Trump policy.”

The sad part is that Trump talked so much nonsense and sh*t that you can find a quote to match almost any idea or policy, so any policy can be branded as his.

> I care less about how they fix the problem

That's the logic that got Benioff in trouble.

FWIW: people like you have to realize that the Guard is not and has never been a law enforcement apparatus. The policy goal of "sending in the troops" to US cities is not and has never been crime (the metrics for which are getting better and not worse, yes even in SF).

The goal of putting military force in charge of directing civilians on city streets is and has always been giving the President, who commands that military, direct control over city streets. Right now if the white house doesn't like a protest or doesn't want it to happen, there's nothing they can do bureaucratically using their executive power to prevent it. It's a local thing. If the guard is already there waiting for orders, they can.

It sounds like hyperbole, but it's really not: the transparent purpose to this big National Guard kerfuffle is the military suppression of dissent at the direction of the President.

The problem is massive inequality putting people on the streets, driven by people like Mr. Benioff.

You are being downvoted, but your post is obviously truthful.

I’ve gone to SF several times over the years for tech conferences. It started out as standard tourist excellence. Then it started rotting. The last year I went to Moscone Center, the afternoon walk back to the nearby hotel was horrific. Druggies lounging around, poop on the sidewalk, conference attendees speed marching through the maze, trying not to make eye contact.

Once back at the hotel, it was nonstop sirens after dark.

Compared to a decade back, it was a nightmare.

Update: Just saw this article, SEMICON West skipped SF and went to Phoenix this year. It was a success.

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/10/17/tech-conference-tha...

SF deserves better, much better.

Wearing a MAGA hat in this specific political moment is a a statement of callousness and overt approval of military and masked goons in our streets.

If I was a police detective in the US I would be pretty angry at the notion of a bunch of rural weekend warriors taking over my job.

I mean if it was this easy why was the police created at all? We've always had soldiers.

Reminds me of the plugin I used to have that replaced every instance of “millennials” with “snake people” and every instance of “Great Recession” with “Time of Shedding and Cold Rocks.”

Do you remember his Dalai Lama billboard?

I'm certain it was sincere reverence.

Seems like the lack of values and "flexibility" is what's required to be a billionaire. Remember who was at the front row of Trump's Inauguration II? Musk, Bezos, Zuck...

He's never been a 'Trumper', at least not publicly. He got into a very public spat with the Harris campaign over failed attempts to set up an interview in his role as the owner of Time magazine, and seems to have soured on the Dem Party establishment since.

The trade war with China could be a turning point.

Right now the Chinese are still relying on US tech but what happens if they actually manage to become self sufficient? What if those data centres at the Tibetan Plateau no longer needs Nvidia?

The best way to fight the mean bullies is by using the military with like tanks and rifles. That'll keep us safe from blue haired queers with... ummm... Instagram?

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