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If America doesn't get a handle on wealth disparity we're going to see a lot more of this, and certainly worse. You can say that attacking the buses the wrong

If America doesn't get a handle on wealth disparity we're going to see a lot more of this, and certainly worse. You can say that attacking the buses the wrong thing to do, but the moral high ground isn't going to stop it from happening.

Meekro 9y ago
How did Google employees making $250k/yr become the symbol of unfair distribution of wealth? Why not shoot at some CEO who makes $100m/yr? The Google employees on those buses are much closer in income to the typical protester than they are to the CEO. For that reason, I say this is just senseless violence that has nothing to do with wealth inequality.
- deelowe 9y ago
  Because there's a concerted effort happening to point the blame at those who aren't the source of the problem.
  - cinquemb 9y ago
    PMC's sometimes get killed when they are protecting someone/something they are paid to protect/enable… Employees of organizations like these could be considered PMC's in the eyes for someone who has out out for their employer…
    - chrisbennet 9y ago
      “PMC” is what? Google didn’t help. Thx.
      - cinquemb 9y ago
        Private Military Contractors
- ajmurmann 9y ago
  Because there are lots more of those making $200k+ and they are competing for housing in more similar areas than poor people. The 100M CEO likely lives in a area that has been gentrified a very long time ago. Not saying it's justified or good. In fact I'm a pro gentrification [edit: typo was @verification"] market urbanist. Just trying to make sense of it as well.
  - SlowRobotAhead 9y ago
    >pro verification market urbanist Um, if you wouldn’t mind...
    - ajmurmann 9y ago
      Sorry, I should look more at what I'm writing when "typing" on a phone. That was supposed to be "gentrification".
- buttcoinslol 9y ago
  > Why not shoot at some CEO who makes $100m/yr? The CEO making 100 million a year has no-shit legit bodyguards that shoot back.
- glenra 9y ago
  Most CEOs earn less than the average dentist. When you refer to "some CEO who makes 100m/year", that phrase describes a minuscule fraction of CEOs - it's less than a dozen people, none of whom you're likely to have met, heard of, or shared freeway space with. For instance, the 2012 Forbes list of highest-paid executives found only ONE CEO earning over 100m - his name was John H Hammergren. The average CEO in the US makes 164k, which is almost identical to the salary for "Senior Software Engineer" at Google. Including options and benefits, a (senior) Google engineer is almost certainly earning much MORE than most CEOs. Sources: Source: https://www.forbes.com/lists/2012/12/ceo-compensation-12_land.html https://www.forbes.com/lists/2012/12/ceo-compensation-12_lan... https://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/Google-Senior-Software-Engineer-Salaries-E9079_D_KO7,31.htm https://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/Google-Senior-Software-Engi... https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Chief_Executive_Officer_(CEO)/Salary https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Chief_Executive_Off...
pdkl95 9y ago
Mark Blyth[1] has a simple warning: "It is a no win scenario until basically until elites figure out that at the end of the day, as I like to say to my American hedge fund friends, the Hamptons is not a defensible position. The Hamptons is a very rich area on Long Island that lies on low lying beaches. Very hard to defend a low lying beach. Eventually people are going to come for you."[2] I encourage everybody interested in trying to prevent that outcome to listen to this[3] talk where Blyth summarizes the root cause and suggests a few reasonable steps towards a solution. [1] prof. of political economy at Brown [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGvZil0qWPg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGvZil0qWPg [3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsqGITb0W4A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsqGITb0W4A
- rorykoehler 9y ago
  What i don't understand is why the mega rich don't realise that wealth inequality is hurting their quality of life too. Having a safer world benefits everyone.
  - pdkl95 9y ago
    They literally don't live in the same reality the rest of us live in. In the above talk[3], Blyth mentions how someone geolocated every mentioned location in the infamous Podesta emails released by WikiLeaks. The most frequent location mentioned across all the emails? "Martha" ['s vineyards]. The 2nd was "Hampton", followed by SF and NY. Everything[4] else was two standard deviations lower. [4] I might be forgetting another city
    - rorykoehler 9y ago
      I've spent time in both Marthas Vineyard and New York and can say that everyone in NYC would definitely benefit from having a more equitable society with less poverty.
    - ryandrake 9y ago
      Seriously. Find any CEO who makes 100m, and ask them when was the last time they had an actual in-person interaction with someone who made minimum wage or less.
crag 9y ago
History repeats itself. I mean, how many times does this have to happen? And in the end, the "elite rich" get their heads chopped off. Because when it comes down to it, it's a numbers game. Russia, France, Spain, etc. etc.
mc32 9y ago
People shooting at vehicles is not new. While in most cases they target what appear to be random vehicles, and in this case it's been determined the targets are tech bosses, I'm not sure we can be certain this is not a mental disorder manifesting itself as "fighting the man" in the form of various tech staffers who while symbolic, are not what most people would imagine as wealthy.

Meekro 9y ago

How did Google employees making $250k/yr become the symbol of unfair distribution of wealth? Why not shoot at some CEO who makes $100m/yr? The Google employees on those buses are much closer in income to the typical protester than they are to the CEO. For that reason, I say this is just senseless violence that has nothing to do with wealth inequality.

deelowe 9y ago
Because there's a concerted effort happening to point the blame at those who aren't the source of the problem.
- cinquemb 9y ago
  PMC's sometimes get killed when they are protecting someone/something they are paid to protect/enable… Employees of organizations like these could be considered PMC's in the eyes for someone who has out out for their employer…
  - chrisbennet 9y ago
    “PMC” is what? Google didn’t help. Thx.
    - cinquemb 9y ago
      Private Military Contractors
ajmurmann 9y ago
Because there are lots more of those making $200k+ and they are competing for housing in more similar areas than poor people. The 100M CEO likely lives in a area that has been gentrified a very long time ago. Not saying it's justified or good. In fact I'm a pro gentrification [edit: typo was @verification"] market urbanist. Just trying to make sense of it as well.
- SlowRobotAhead 9y ago
  >pro verification market urbanist Um, if you wouldn’t mind...
  - ajmurmann 9y ago
    Sorry, I should look more at what I'm writing when "typing" on a phone. That was supposed to be "gentrification".
buttcoinslol 9y ago
> Why not shoot at some CEO who makes $100m/yr? The CEO making 100 million a year has no-shit legit bodyguards that shoot back.
glenra 9y ago
Most CEOs earn less than the average dentist. When you refer to "some CEO who makes 100m/year", that phrase describes a minuscule fraction of CEOs - it's less than a dozen people, none of whom you're likely to have met, heard of, or shared freeway space with. For instance, the 2012 Forbes list of highest-paid executives found only ONE CEO earning over 100m - his name was John H Hammergren. The average CEO in the US makes 164k, which is almost identical to the salary for "Senior Software Engineer" at Google. Including options and benefits, a (senior) Google engineer is almost certainly earning much MORE than most CEOs. Sources: Source: https://www.forbes.com/lists/2012/12/ceo-compensation-12_land.html https://www.forbes.com/lists/2012/12/ceo-compensation-12_lan... https://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/Google-Senior-Software-Engineer-Salaries-E9079_D_KO7,31.htm https://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/Google-Senior-Software-Engi... https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Chief_Executive_Officer_(CEO)/Salary https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Chief_Executive_Off...

pdkl95 9y ago

Mark Blyth[1] has a simple warning: "It is a no win scenario until basically until elites figure out that at the end of the day, as I like to say to my American hedge fund friends, the Hamptons is not a defensible position. The Hamptons is a very rich area on Long Island that lies on low lying beaches. Very hard to defend a low lying beach. Eventually people are going to come for you."[2] I encourage everybody interested in trying to prevent that outcome to listen to this[3] talk where Blyth summarizes the root cause and suggests a few reasonable steps towards a solution. [1] prof. of political economy at Brown [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGvZil0qWPg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGvZil0qWPg [3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsqGITb0W4A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsqGITb0W4A

rorykoehler 9y ago
What i don't understand is why the mega rich don't realise that wealth inequality is hurting their quality of life too. Having a safer world benefits everyone.
- pdkl95 9y ago
  They literally don't live in the same reality the rest of us live in. In the above talk[3], Blyth mentions how someone geolocated every mentioned location in the infamous Podesta emails released by WikiLeaks. The most frequent location mentioned across all the emails? "Martha" ['s vineyards]. The 2nd was "Hampton", followed by SF and NY. Everything[4] else was two standard deviations lower. [4] I might be forgetting another city
  - rorykoehler 9y ago
    I've spent time in both Marthas Vineyard and New York and can say that everyone in NYC would definitely benefit from having a more equitable society with less poverty.
  - ryandrake 9y ago
    Seriously. Find any CEO who makes 100m, and ask them when was the last time they had an actual in-person interaction with someone who made minimum wage or less.

crag 9y ago

History repeats itself. I mean, how many times does this have to happen? And in the end, the "elite rich" get their heads chopped off. Because when it comes down to it, it's a numbers game. Russia, France, Spain, etc. etc.

mc32 9y ago

People shooting at vehicles is not new. While in most cases they target what appear to be random vehicles, and in this case it's been determined the targets are tech bosses, I'm not sure we can be certain this is not a mental disorder manifesting itself as "fighting the man" in the form of various tech staffers who while symbolic, are not what most people would imagine as wealthy.