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Parent may not be advocating it, but one would have to be willfully blind not to see a tremendous spike in related chatter online ('eat the rich' comes to mind

Parent may not be advocating it, but one would have to be willfully blind not to see a tremendous spike in related chatter online ('eat the rich' comes to mind ). If it is not addressed, it will only fester. Open discussion is a way to release some of that pressure.

vkou 4y ago
There's 'Eat the rich' in the sense of 'They are taking way too much of the pie for themselves', which is a perfectly reasonable conversation to have. And there's this sense of 'Eat the rich', which is trying to find a scapegoat for a... Company whose operations depended on access to cheap credit is laying people off... In an environment where the Fed is actively trying to create unemployment, by raising the cost of credit.
- A4ET8a8uTh0 4y ago
  To Powell's credit, after the initial pushback, he toned that rhetoric down a little so that it is now a lot more benign. And, it seems for now, rates will not be raised as rapidly. I guess only time will tell.
refurb 4y ago
If it ever came down to eat the rich I’m sorry to say, but the tech crowd, including employees would be the first up against the wall. Hilarious how employees who make a salary 3-4X the US median somehow think they are the proletariat.
- _djo_ 4y ago
  Revolutions are usually led by members of privileged classes, backed by the angry masses. Nobody here is saying they desire that type of violent unrest, they're saying it's a likely outcome unless we change course, because as bad as it is for tech workers right now it's so much worse for those less privileged. There's also the realisation that if even the most highly skilled workers in society can be treated so cavalierly and have not have enough certainty of employment and success then the system is broken.
  - refurb 4y ago
    I think the issue is that the lower classes look at the average tech worker and consider them a part of the problem. When they start lining people up claiming you’re “middle class” making $400k per year isn’t likely going to work.
    - _djo_ 4y ago
      Sure, but I don't see how that contradicts what is being said here. You're assuming that commentators are welcoming a violent uprising because they think it would benefit them, but they're not. They're warning that one is likely if this continues, and even though it would be justified it wouldn't be pleasant. Least of all to people in more privileged positions. The social contract is out of whack, and just because a lot of people struggling might look at tech workers as part of the problem (and not be entirely wrong, given tech's role in automating away jobs), doesn't mean those of us in the industry ought to then side with billionaires and the ever more concentrated concentration of capital. It means we should be doing our best to make sure the system becomes more equitable.
      - refurb 4y ago
        You're assuming that commentators are welcoming a violent uprising because they think it would benefit them, but they're not. I see a lot of people talking like they’re on the same side as labor while lamenting their equity only returned 50% and not 300% like last year.
        _djo_ 4y ago
        The vast majority of workers in tech don't get equity, and certainly not at those scales, to be fair. Most are labor, as properly defined. They may earn less, but it's the same business relationship.
        refurb 4y ago
        They’d be called kulaks. “Wealthy” farmers.

vkou 4y ago

There's 'Eat the rich' in the sense of 'They are taking way too much of the pie for themselves', which is a perfectly reasonable conversation to have. And there's this sense of 'Eat the rich', which is trying to find a scapegoat for a... Company whose operations depended on access to cheap credit is laying people off... In an environment where the Fed is actively trying to create unemployment, by raising the cost of credit.

A4ET8a8uTh0 4y ago
To Powell's credit, after the initial pushback, he toned that rhetoric down a little so that it is now a lot more benign. And, it seems for now, rates will not be raised as rapidly. I guess only time will tell.

refurb 4y ago

If it ever came down to eat the rich I’m sorry to say, but the tech crowd, including employees would be the first up against the wall. Hilarious how employees who make a salary 3-4X the US median somehow think they are the proletariat.

_djo_ 4y ago
Revolutions are usually led by members of privileged classes, backed by the angry masses. Nobody here is saying they desire that type of violent unrest, they're saying it's a likely outcome unless we change course, because as bad as it is for tech workers right now it's so much worse for those less privileged. There's also the realisation that if even the most highly skilled workers in society can be treated so cavalierly and have not have enough certainty of employment and success then the system is broken.
- refurb 4y ago
  I think the issue is that the lower classes look at the average tech worker and consider them a part of the problem. When they start lining people up claiming you’re “middle class” making $400k per year isn’t likely going to work.
  - _djo_ 4y ago
    Sure, but I don't see how that contradicts what is being said here. You're assuming that commentators are welcoming a violent uprising because they think it would benefit them, but they're not. They're warning that one is likely if this continues, and even though it would be justified it wouldn't be pleasant. Least of all to people in more privileged positions. The social contract is out of whack, and just because a lot of people struggling might look at tech workers as part of the problem (and not be entirely wrong, given tech's role in automating away jobs), doesn't mean those of us in the industry ought to then side with billionaires and the ever more concentrated concentration of capital. It means we should be doing our best to make sure the system becomes more equitable.
    - refurb 4y ago
      You're assuming that commentators are welcoming a violent uprising because they think it would benefit them, but they're not. I see a lot of people talking like they’re on the same side as labor while lamenting their equity only returned 50% and not 300% like last year.
      - _djo_ 4y ago
        The vast majority of workers in tech don't get equity, and certainly not at those scales, to be fair. Most are labor, as properly defined. They may earn less, but it's the same business relationship.
        refurb 4y ago
        They’d be called kulaks. “Wealthy” farmers.