4 ms·

If you're a poor kid that manages to mingle with the rich and famous, I'd imagine you'd have some pretty good opportunities come your way too regardless of educ

by Mz 10y ago

If you're a poor kid that manages to mingle with the rich and famous, I'd imagine you'd have some pretty good opportunities come your way too regardless of education. In theory. It is a theory I would like to believe in. But as a homeless woman who has managed to become the top ranked woman on HN, a forum that has plenty of people with quite a lot more money than me, as well as expertise in making money online (the thing I desire to do to resolve my personal problems, rooted in an incurable medical condition), so far, it seems to have not done all that much for me. Being homeless has been incredibly eye-opening as to just how invisible you can be to people who think you aren't good enough for some reason. So saying "well, you just need to meet the right people..." sounds like yet another excuse to me for The Haves to wash their hands of improving the world and justify the suffering of The Have Nots as somehow all their fault. FYI: I was not only one of the top students of my graduating class, I was one of the top students in my state and in the country. I was state alternate for the Governor's Honors program at age 15 and I won a National Merit Scholarship at age 17. So my lack of ability to make connections that benefit me isn't because I am inarticulate or incompetent.

dreamdu5t 10y ago
Why do you think you're homeless?
- Mz 10y ago
  It is a long story, rooted in the aforementioned incurable medical condition. Serious health problems are a common root cause or contributing factor to homelessness. (Source: I had a college class on homelessness and public policy some years prior to ending up on the street.) At this point, if I could come up with a few thousand dollars in relatively short order, I believe I could get off the street under circumstances that would not make my health worse. But that's a rather tall order to fill, given my current circumstances.
  - photogrammetry 10y ago
    Could you elaborate on your living conditions a little more? What is stopping you from gaining a place of residence?
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    - Mz 10y ago
      Could you elaborate on your living conditions a little more? What is stopping you from gaining a place of residence? I am quoting you this time so that if you change your comment completely for a fourth time, people will at least know what I am replying to. I have a deadly genetic disorder. I need a high degree of control over my living space. Renting is a no go. I need to go from homeless to homeowner. I think I could arrange that for around $10k, but, alas, I don't happen to have that kind of money just laying around somewhere.
      - photogrammetry 10y ago
        My condolences for your illness. Best of luck in your endeavours.
LouisSayers 10y ago
Being popular on HackerNews is not what I'd consider mingling with 'the haves'. Mingling to me is being invited to dinner parties, socialising in the real world, being called a friend. Of course if you start from homelessness, then you have a hard journey ahead of you. I'm not saying it's easy - it's a long and arduous affair no doubt. I resent your tone somewhat, I can assure you that I did not start from the top at all - that my views are extremely well balanced. It sounds as though you are quite competent intellectually, but as we can see from the research, competence does not equal effectiveness at least not in the financial sense. This is why I say - it is who you know. And not just 'who knows you', but who likes you, who has a feeling of obligation towards you or someone close to you. I don't say this to beat down on people that haven't 'succeeded' in life, I say this as a pragmatist - as someone that recognises inequality, recognises that the world is not fair (and may never be), and offers a view of how to cheat the system somewhat. It's a hack, but it seems to work so why not give it a go?
- Mz 10y ago
  You resent my tone. I resent your implicit dismissal that I have a point at all. That is something routinely done to people who are "the wrong kind of people," whether it is their gender, sexual orientation, social class or some other Othering category. Calling it a hack that you are suggesting is an extremely different idea from your initial framing. I am someone who focuses a lot on what the disadvantaged individual can do for themselves in the here and now, in spite of the system being broken. I have learned to be more careful about how I speak of such things because if you aren't careful, it absolutely reads as blaming the victim and dismissing the idea that the system itself needs to change. Your initial framing of "It's not what you know, it's who you know" is an incredibly problematic framing. It implies that you don't really need to study or make an effort or have ambition. That works for the rich kids, as this article suggests. If you are poor and trying to find a hack to get ahead, you better be smart, knowledgeable, hard working and ambitious and have a plan. Then finding the right person to connect with might open doors for you. But when a poor person hears It's not what you know, it's who you know, there is the danger that they will interpret that to mean that they just need to find a rich person to latch onto and take advantage of. It also is very disrespectful of the few who do make it that way, like their sorry ass got saved, not that they succeeded against long odds, in part due to using a social hack. Some of your implicit assumptions seem to be that we are talking about people with entrepreneurial ambitions. Not everyone has that. Furthermore, my mom and aunt used to work dinner parties at rich folks' houses. Most folks at those parties are pretty well heeled. Most poor people at such events are serving the food and cleaning up, not hobnobbing with the rich. I suggest you seriously rethink your dismissal of the value of meeting people online. Plenty of people make that work and it has the potential to bring down social barriers and allow poor folks to make connections and further plans in spite of not dressing right, not being able to get an invite to a cocktail party, etc. But one of the problems is that if people online learn you are poor, they turn a deaf ear to your efforts to further your entrepreunerial plans and dismis you as someone trying to hit them up for money rather than recognizing that your goal is to make money online -- just like a lot of them are currently doing. I will also note generally that you are not the first person to dismiss out of hand the idea that me having a few thousand karma on HN should mean something. I don't know if it is classism or sexism or what, but that is an example of "the rules are differemt for some folks, and not in a good way." Because when men here have several thousand karma points, it absolutely does get cited by people as evidence of their intelligence and the value they have to offer. (Recent example : https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12775170 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12775170) But if I say I have inordinately high amounts of karma for a woman here, that is routinely dismissed as not meaningful in any way, shape or form. Also, I am not "starting from homelessness." I was 46 when I ended up on the street. I am noting that as a PSA. People who are homeless routinely get treated like they were born homeless and never had a life. Their educational background and other relevant life experiences get completely dismissed. This is a significant social barrier for those who are homeless and would like to actually solve their problems. Best. Thanks for replying.

by Mz 10y ago

dreamdu5t 10y ago

Why do you think you're homeless?

Mz 10y ago
It is a long story, rooted in the aforementioned incurable medical condition. Serious health problems are a common root cause or contributing factor to homelessness. (Source: I had a college class on homelessness and public policy some years prior to ending up on the street.) At this point, if I could come up with a few thousand dollars in relatively short order, I believe I could get off the street under circumstances that would not make my health worse. But that's a rather tall order to fill, given my current circumstances.
- photogrammetry 10y ago
  Could you elaborate on your living conditions a little more? What is stopping you from gaining a place of residence?
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
    - deleted 10y ago
      [deleted]
    - deleted 10y ago
      [deleted]
  - Mz 10y ago
    Could you elaborate on your living conditions a little more? What is stopping you from gaining a place of residence? I am quoting you this time so that if you change your comment completely for a fourth time, people will at least know what I am replying to. I have a deadly genetic disorder. I need a high degree of control over my living space. Renting is a no go. I need to go from homeless to homeowner. I think I could arrange that for around $10k, but, alas, I don't happen to have that kind of money just laying around somewhere.
    - photogrammetry 10y ago
      My condolences for your illness. Best of luck in your endeavours.

LouisSayers 10y ago

Being popular on HackerNews is not what I'd consider mingling with 'the haves'. Mingling to me is being invited to dinner parties, socialising in the real world, being called a friend. Of course if you start from homelessness, then you have a hard journey ahead of you. I'm not saying it's easy - it's a long and arduous affair no doubt. I resent your tone somewhat, I can assure you that I did not start from the top at all - that my views are extremely well balanced. It sounds as though you are quite competent intellectually, but as we can see from the research, competence does not equal effectiveness at least not in the financial sense. This is why I say - it is who you know. And not just 'who knows you', but who likes you, who has a feeling of obligation towards you or someone close to you. I don't say this to beat down on people that haven't 'succeeded' in life, I say this as a pragmatist - as someone that recognises inequality, recognises that the world is not fair (and may never be), and offers a view of how to cheat the system somewhat. It's a hack, but it seems to work so why not give it a go?

Mz 10y ago
You resent my tone. I resent your implicit dismissal that I have a point at all. That is something routinely done to people who are "the wrong kind of people," whether it is their gender, sexual orientation, social class or some other Othering category. Calling it a hack that you are suggesting is an extremely different idea from your initial framing. I am someone who focuses a lot on what the disadvantaged individual can do for themselves in the here and now, in spite of the system being broken. I have learned to be more careful about how I speak of such things because if you aren't careful, it absolutely reads as blaming the victim and dismissing the idea that the system itself needs to change. Your initial framing of "It's not what you know, it's who you know" is an incredibly problematic framing. It implies that you don't really need to study or make an effort or have ambition. That works for the rich kids, as this article suggests. If you are poor and trying to find a hack to get ahead, you better be smart, knowledgeable, hard working and ambitious and have a plan. Then finding the right person to connect with might open doors for you. But when a poor person hears It's not what you know, it's who you know, there is the danger that they will interpret that to mean that they just need to find a rich person to latch onto and take advantage of. It also is very disrespectful of the few who do make it that way, like their sorry ass got saved, not that they succeeded against long odds, in part due to using a social hack. Some of your implicit assumptions seem to be that we are talking about people with entrepreneurial ambitions. Not everyone has that. Furthermore, my mom and aunt used to work dinner parties at rich folks' houses. Most folks at those parties are pretty well heeled. Most poor people at such events are serving the food and cleaning up, not hobnobbing with the rich. I suggest you seriously rethink your dismissal of the value of meeting people online. Plenty of people make that work and it has the potential to bring down social barriers and allow poor folks to make connections and further plans in spite of not dressing right, not being able to get an invite to a cocktail party, etc. But one of the problems is that if people online learn you are poor, they turn a deaf ear to your efforts to further your entrepreunerial plans and dismis you as someone trying to hit them up for money rather than recognizing that your goal is to make money online -- just like a lot of them are currently doing. I will also note generally that you are not the first person to dismiss out of hand the idea that me having a few thousand karma on HN should mean something. I don't know if it is classism or sexism or what, but that is an example of "the rules are differemt for some folks, and not in a good way." Because when men here have several thousand karma points, it absolutely does get cited by people as evidence of their intelligence and the value they have to offer. (Recent example : https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12775170 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12775170) But if I say I have inordinately high amounts of karma for a woman here, that is routinely dismissed as not meaningful in any way, shape or form. Also, I am not "starting from homelessness." I was 46 when I ended up on the street. I am noting that as a PSA. People who are homeless routinely get treated like they were born homeless and never had a life. Their educational background and other relevant life experiences get completely dismissed. This is a significant social barrier for those who are homeless and would like to actually solve their problems. Best. Thanks for replying.