If SV is as severely broken as you say, then it should be possible to repeat the same phenomenon elsewhere, but better, provided you can manage to attract true talent which has been cast-off by SV for the wrong reasons. Create an alternative without the sexism, ageism, and groupthink, and it will attract the mistakenly rejected talent. Getting the right ingredients together might take the resources of a state, however.
I can't speak for michaelochurch, but I have been reading his comments for the last while. I think his point is that the root problem of Silicon Valley isn't the sexism, ageism, groupthink, etc - those are just symptoms of a larger core systemic problem.
By putting all the power and attention on a few extremely wealthy key funding players (aka VCs) the cultural distortion is all but inevitable.
Picking up and setting up shop elsewhere is in the long run pointless if we're just going to mint a few new extremely wealthy VCs and continue to cycle.
I think his point is that the root problem of Silicon Valley isn't the sexism, ageism, groupthink, etc
Of course, but it is such alienation that provides an opening for the establishment of alternative scenes. The real difficulty is setting up the right context. (Culture that attracts creatives, high quality educational institutions with enlightened attitudes about IP, presence of capital.) hence the need for the "resources of a state."
