5 ms·

the core feature of their jobs is their own economic exploitation. Ugh, I know, being "economically exploited" is so rough -- making six figs in a top-tier pro

by kirse 10y ago

the core feature of their jobs is their own economic exploitation. Ugh, I know, being "economically exploited" is so rough -- making six figs in a top-tier profession with low single-digit unemployment that provides for a home/apt, family, regular health insurance, a warm bed and heating for the winter, cooling for the summer, multiple cars and a motorcycle (and maybe even a home for those too), an entire closet full of clothes, multiple pairs of shoes, regular healthy meals, spontaneous travel and vacations, hobbies, movies, TV, games, and entertainment nearly to our hearts' desire. Worse, at work I have to deal with shiny new gadgets, laptops, desktops, servers, giant monitors, a desk and chair to my liking, HVAC, plumbing, and free filtered water. And wait a second, did you say you get paid while taking a bathroom break!? Life really does suck being exploited like this. What's dead is not God, nor work, and the elephant might just be painted on the mirror on your wall.

Asooka 10y ago
But you have literally zero time to enjoy any of those things. You live in the office 80% of the time, your entire life is sitting pretending to be busy, then going "home", where you spend less time than you do at the office, getting a few hours of sleep and eating whatever you can get delivered, which is never really good, then trying to get a few hours of sleep and entering another day of meaningless toil. Your entire life is subjugated. You're practically a serf, with no real control of your own life, owned by a huge corporation that will discard you like wet tissue paper the moment you ask for the privilege of having a human life.
- rfrank 10y ago
  Nobody is holding a gun to your head and making you do the job or live in the bay area, move and do something else if you don't like it. Trust me, the service worker who commutes on public transit for three hours a day and makes 1/5th a tech salary would love to swap spots with the tech "serfs" if they had a chance.
  - kmicklas 10y ago
    Of course, but that doesn't mean both aren't being economically exploited.
    - rfrank 10y ago
      I mean, if you perceive "lack of free time with which to enjoy six figure salary" as economic exploitation, you have a pretty awesome life. The plight of the service worker and the plight of the software engineer aren't in the same galaxy, it's silly to group them together.
      - kmicklas 10y ago
        If the software engineer and the (American) service worker aren't in the same galaxy, then the service worker and the average global worker aren't in the same supercluster.
        rfrank 10y ago
        And those foreign workers have their very own governments to talk to about that. Who woulda thunk it?!
  - pascalxus 10y ago
    It's hardly 1/5th the tech salary. in the bay area, a BART worker can earn more than a Software engineer. Crate operators in new york earn 150K+, approaching 500K with overtime and benefits. And 120K isn't 4 times more than 30K, it's more like 2.5 times more when you factor in federal and CA taxes.
    - cma 10y ago
      What is the crane operator on-job mortality rate compared with a software engineer?
      - avisser 10y ago
- aianus 10y ago
  > You're practically a serf, with no real control of your own life, owned by a huge corporation that will discard you like wet tissue paper the moment you ask for the privilege of having a human life. To be fair, if you're willing to move somewhere cheap you could easily retire after 15 years as a software engineer in the Bay Area. So it's just ~20% of your life.
  - ryandrake 10y ago
    > To be fair, if you're willing to move somewhere cheap you could easily retire after 15 years as a software engineer in the Bay Area. So it's just ~20% of your life. I don't know if this is true. I think my savings would have ended up much larger had i NOT moved to the Bay Area due to the cost of living difference. I make about 1.5X here what I used to in Nowheresville, USA, but my cost of living is 5X. My savings rate here is close to zero whereas I used to actually fund my retirement accounts. It's a complicated problem.
    - astrange 10y ago
      Did you buy a house or move into SF? At $2k/mo rent and the mistaken purchase of a new $19k car, I've paid off all my debt and am saving pretty well around here.
- astrange 10y ago
  > eating whatever you can get delivered, which is never really good Do you need some restaurant recommendations? Everything I get delivered is great.
st3v3r 10y ago
Other people having it worse is absolutely no reason to chastise others for trying to better their lot in life. Doing so is absolutely despicable.
- Clubber 10y ago
  It's the "race to the bottom" mentality and that's a big reason we got here. I heard it a lot when politicians were giving away jobs by embracing offshoring and union busting. "Your pay cut in half? That's nothing, so and so has it much worse."
eli_gottlieb 10y ago
>provides for a home/apt, family, I live in Boston and what is this? We can only afford rent with multiple professionals in the house working.
JDiculous 10y ago
He's not complaining that life is so tough, he's saying that there's a sense of meaninglessness is his work.

by kirse 10y ago

Asooka 10y ago

But you have literally zero time to enjoy any of those things. You live in the office 80% of the time, your entire life is sitting pretending to be busy, then going "home", where you spend less time than you do at the office, getting a few hours of sleep and eating whatever you can get delivered, which is never really good, then trying to get a few hours of sleep and entering another day of meaningless toil. Your entire life is subjugated. You're practically a serf, with no real control of your own life, owned by a huge corporation that will discard you like wet tissue paper the moment you ask for the privilege of having a human life.

rfrank 10y ago
Nobody is holding a gun to your head and making you do the job or live in the bay area, move and do something else if you don't like it. Trust me, the service worker who commutes on public transit for three hours a day and makes 1/5th a tech salary would love to swap spots with the tech "serfs" if they had a chance.
- kmicklas 10y ago
  Of course, but that doesn't mean both aren't being economically exploited.
  - rfrank 10y ago
    I mean, if you perceive "lack of free time with which to enjoy six figure salary" as economic exploitation, you have a pretty awesome life. The plight of the service worker and the plight of the software engineer aren't in the same galaxy, it's silly to group them together.
    - kmicklas 10y ago
      If the software engineer and the (American) service worker aren't in the same galaxy, then the service worker and the average global worker aren't in the same supercluster.
      - rfrank 10y ago
        And those foreign workers have their very own governments to talk to about that. Who woulda thunk it?!
- pascalxus 10y ago
  It's hardly 1/5th the tech salary. in the bay area, a BART worker can earn more than a Software engineer. Crate operators in new york earn 150K+, approaching 500K with overtime and benefits. And 120K isn't 4 times more than 30K, it's more like 2.5 times more when you factor in federal and CA taxes.
  - cma 10y ago
    What is the crane operator on-job mortality rate compared with a software engineer?
    - avisser 10y ago
aianus 10y ago
> You're practically a serf, with no real control of your own life, owned by a huge corporation that will discard you like wet tissue paper the moment you ask for the privilege of having a human life. To be fair, if you're willing to move somewhere cheap you could easily retire after 15 years as a software engineer in the Bay Area. So it's just ~20% of your life.
- ryandrake 10y ago
  > To be fair, if you're willing to move somewhere cheap you could easily retire after 15 years as a software engineer in the Bay Area. So it's just ~20% of your life. I don't know if this is true. I think my savings would have ended up much larger had i NOT moved to the Bay Area due to the cost of living difference. I make about 1.5X here what I used to in Nowheresville, USA, but my cost of living is 5X. My savings rate here is close to zero whereas I used to actually fund my retirement accounts. It's a complicated problem.
  - astrange 10y ago
    Did you buy a house or move into SF? At $2k/mo rent and the mistaken purchase of a new $19k car, I've paid off all my debt and am saving pretty well around here.
astrange 10y ago
> eating whatever you can get delivered, which is never really good Do you need some restaurant recommendations? Everything I get delivered is great.

st3v3r 10y ago

Other people having it worse is absolutely no reason to chastise others for trying to better their lot in life. Doing so is absolutely despicable.

Clubber 10y ago
It's the "race to the bottom" mentality and that's a big reason we got here. I heard it a lot when politicians were giving away jobs by embracing offshoring and union busting. "Your pay cut in half? That's nothing, so and so has it much worse."

eli_gottlieb 10y ago

>provides for a home/apt, family, I live in Boston and what is this? We can only afford rent with multiple professionals in the house working.

JDiculous 10y ago

He's not complaining that life is so tough, he's saying that there's a sense of meaninglessness is his work.