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Observing super priviliged people whining about how unfair it is to get laid off is really something.
by hsn915 4y ago
Observing super priviliged people whining about how unfair it is to get laid off is really something.
- paxys 4y agoThere's nothing "privileged" about working at Google. It's a job, like anything else in tech.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- mediaman 4y agoGiven median comp at Google, working at Google is quite privileged. Going to Stanford is likewise privileged. Being privileged isn't an insult, just a recognition of fact.
- paxys 4y agoBy that logic everyone in the world is privileged compared to those earning 5% less than them, including every person here complaining about a Google employee's privilege. So what does that word mean exactly?
- nerdponx 4y agoYes
- postalrat 4y agoA wise woman once said: "Now is the envy of all of the dead"
- sanedigital 4y agoWith a few exceptions, everyone here on HN is wildly privileged. The .0001% of world-history.
- galactus 4y agoIf you go to the other extreme no one but the richest person on earth is priviledged. Come on, making 300k a year or more is privilege even within the context of US white collar jobs.
- paxys 4y agoRegardless of the number, getting paid for your labor & skills is not "privilege". Employees at Google are getting fleeced by the corporation and its shareholders just like the rest of us are by ours. Remember the big tech poaching scandal from a decade ago (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-Tech_Employee_Antitrust_Litigation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-Tech_Employee_Antitrust_L...)?
- gretch 4y ago> just a recognition of fact It's literally not a fact, it's an opinion. Hey what's your job? You don't need to tell me. But I'm gonna go ahead and say you're privileged compared to a rural chinese farmer that has never held a phone.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- sgtnoodle 4y agoThat farmer might be happier though.
- prewett 4y agoGiven how many of them leave their kids with the grandparents and move to Guangdong, etc. to work in the factories and live in bunk houses and send money back home, only seeing their kids once a year during Spring Festival, I think they might not be content. (On the other hand, I guess the ones still farming would be happier, by virtue of self-selection.)
- Gibbon1 4y agoChinese farmer probably has higher data rates on his phone for less per month.
- red-iron-pine 4y agoAnd isn't allowed to play gatcha games or WoW anymore
- ismokedoinks 4y agoWelcome to Maoism-Third Worldism comrade
- mediaman 4y agoPrivilege is necessarily a comparative concept. Most people in America are privileged compared to a rural Chinese farmer. The median Google employee is privileged compared to average American citizens. It's healthy to acknowledge this.
- mc32 4y agoIf you ask the people who were gentrified out of the mission when FAANGers decideed the Peninsula wasn't cool and would move into the Mission, if FAANGers are privileged or just a regular joes and janes, I'm pretty sure I can predict their answer.
- paxys 4y agoAsk the rest of the planet and they'll call these mission hipsters equally privileged.
- mc32 4y agoRelative to COL, it depends. I mean sure, If they moved to King City, maybe? But then why all the complaints about SF affordability if the answer is "move to a locale where your income allows you to afford rent without rent control" --if you can find a job"
- hsn915 4y agoEarning $200k/yr without doing anything special is a privilige very few people in the world get to enjoy. I have no sympathy for these people. Learn a real skill and do something useful. Before you jump and say they do have a skill: why are they whining then? People who have skills don't whine when they are laid off. They just go and find another place to work. The fact that they need to whine so loudly about it tells you everything you need to know: they have nothing of value to contribute, or they were getting paid many times more than their skill is actually worth.
- paxys 4y agoAnd I bet you think your $50K/$100K/$150K or whatever else salary is perfectly justified and you are adding great value to the world. Why is that? Or will you admit that you are privileged as well?
- hsn915 4y agoI have admitted multiple times on HN and elsewhere that I don't think anything I've done in my career has been particularly valueable or useful to society. I totally own it. I not only don't complain about being "laid off". I often quit jobs myself and spend some "gap" time doing nothing before I find the next job. Currently I'm not working for anyone because I'm sick of all tech jobs.
- paxys 4y agoOkay then I guess everyone on the planet with a steady job is privileged. What about the business/corporate class? Do you think they have more or less privilege than their workers?
- PenguinCoder 4y ago> Often quit jobs myself and spend some "gap" time doing nothing That is a privilege that not many people can afford, especially lower income workers. You're speaking from an enviable position of privilege while complaining about others having privilege. Perspective.
- girvo 4y agoIt’s privilege all the way down in our industry, after all
- bawolff 4y agoYou say that like bad things can't happen to privliged people or that it somehow doesn't suck for them when it happens.
- ClumsyPilot 4y agoThe priviliged were fired by the super priviliged. The middle class VS upper class is a perfectly legitimate conflict. Suppose you were are from a lower class, surely the middle class has more interests in common with you than the capital-class does?
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- piva00 4y agoPrivileged or not they're all workers, as any other person who depends on a salary. They earn more but it doesn't make them less workers than others, solidarity among workers is the bare minimum we should have...