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I suspect a lot of people feel that part of their conspicuous consumption is part of the effort to earn more. You have to wear the right clothes, look the right

I suspect a lot of people feel that part of their conspicuous consumption is part of the effort to earn more. You have to wear the right clothes, look the right way, have the right tech - or at a higher income bracket, be part of the right clubs, in order to socialise with the people who will pay you. So the two are sort of linked I suspect.

lsc 8y ago
I'm pretty sure that this is actually a thing; Like once you step outside of the technical field; most everyone else really needs to "dress for the job they want" in the form of, for example, having a class-appropriate car. I think this is one of the biggest bonuses you get as a technical person; you can live with roommates and drive a beater car, if you want, and it's not a problem when getting quarter-million dollar a year jobs. A long time ago, I had a roommate who was trying to make it as a realtor. He though his (actually quite nice) not exactly new honda accord was a big handicap for him. I mean, I don't know if it was or not; I know little about the selling side of real-estate, but I can tell you that most people who do sales or management feel that their symbols of wealth are really important to their job and their income.
- GreeniFi 8y ago
  I can believe this. Realtors, on a %-based fee, have to show their clients how much they’re making (for other clients). If a realtor turns up in a Mercedes, they’re basically saying: “I’m a good salesman/woman”. Devs in SF display status in other ways. HN karma? Exits? Economists call those “hard to fake” status displays.
  - lsc 8y ago
    lol. I'm pretty sure that on the scale of status displays... hn carma rates pretty low. No, developers display status more directly, by pointing at a thing and saying "I did that" - or on a lower level, simply displaying intelligence and domain specific problem solving ability.

lsc 8y ago

I'm pretty sure that this is actually a thing; Like once you step outside of the technical field; most everyone else really needs to "dress for the job they want" in the form of, for example, having a class-appropriate car. I think this is one of the biggest bonuses you get as a technical person; you can live with roommates and drive a beater car, if you want, and it's not a problem when getting quarter-million dollar a year jobs. A long time ago, I had a roommate who was trying to make it as a realtor. He though his (actually quite nice) not exactly new honda accord was a big handicap for him. I mean, I don't know if it was or not; I know little about the selling side of real-estate, but I can tell you that most people who do sales or management feel that their symbols of wealth are really important to their job and their income.

GreeniFi 8y ago
I can believe this. Realtors, on a %-based fee, have to show their clients how much they’re making (for other clients). If a realtor turns up in a Mercedes, they’re basically saying: “I’m a good salesman/woman”. Devs in SF display status in other ways. HN karma? Exits? Economists call those “hard to fake” status displays.
- lsc 8y ago
  lol. I'm pretty sure that on the scale of status displays... hn carma rates pretty low. No, developers display status more directly, by pointing at a thing and saying "I did that" - or on a lower level, simply displaying intelligence and domain specific problem solving ability.