Picture a hub of military technology and manufacturing in the U.S. that’s focused on a possible future conflict with China or Russia.
Men — they’re almost all men — hang giant American flags, smoke cigarettes, pray and quote the Bible, and partake in other trends among typically conservative people, such as drinking raw milk.
In today’s polarized America, a group of such workers would likely be based in a red state like Texas or Florida, far away from the innovation hub that is Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area.
This hub, however, is called “the Gundo,” short for El Segundo, the beachside industrial city in Los Angeles County.
As detailed by Vanity Fair, the entrepreneurs and workers are in El Segundo because it is “a place where they can act as faithful foot soldiers of American industry as well as bold incubators upending Silicon Valley’s status quo.”
Companies like Neros, which manufactures drones used by Ukraine in their war against the Russian invasion, and Valar Atomics, a nuclear energy company, call El Segundo home.
Though the companies differ, one thing largely stood out to reporter Zoë Bernard: the fervent displays of patriotism in largely liberal Los Angeles County.
“Maybe we just really like America,” said Valar Atomics founder Isaiah Taylor, 25. “For me, being patriotic is like asking me if I love my mom. Like, you love your mother, right? I don’t know why we in the US have such a hard time with that.”
The patriotism, the cigarettes and everything else is all done (and posted to social media) with one thing in mind, said Cameron Schiller, the cofounder and CEO of the aerospace manufacturer Rangeview.
“It’s totally intentional. You have to make it cool,” he said. “We’re trying to bring more young people into manufacturing.”