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Assuming you make something like 130k CAD you are in the top 5% of earners in Canada and the top 1% in the world. Hacker news and other online communities are e
by tensor 4y ago
Assuming you make something like 130k CAD you are in the top 5% of earners in Canada and the top 1% in the world. Hacker news and other online communities are extremely biased in terms of representation of income.
It's often hard for people to truly grasp how utterly poor the vast majority of the population is. This also leads the wealthy to be confused as to why tech workers are often so hated and also envied in the general population. Essentially we are the rich, meanwhile we pretend we are somehow "average" simply because we only look at those very few people even richer than us.
For the actual average person these conversations are wealthy people complaining that they are not as wealthy as other wealthy people. I don't blame them for having no sympathy. Then you get articles and comments talking about the "end of in person work" pretending as though the majority of people who will never work from home because their jobs are such that they cannot are somehow simply not even people. It's not a good look.
- akomtu 4y agoBeing rich is not about how much you earn, it's about how much you have.
- 3vidence 4y agoExactly this is the point I'm trying to get across. Additionally I don't think most people on HN know what it's like to come from generational poverty. Having to take out bad loans when you are young to afford basics. Having parents leave / die early. Having to take care of elderly / sick relatives who can't afford to take care of themselves. Just getting a "high paying" job does not automatically erase all those things and make you rich.
- tensor 4y agoYou have objectively more than 95% of the population. You are rich.
- akomtu 4y agoIt's not about percentiles. It's about not having to work. Otherwise we would need to call the top 5% of a homeless camp "rich", and the bottom 95% of a royal family "poor".
- tensor 4y agoIf you want to define rich as not having to work then the percentiles get even worse for your case. It is about percentiles. You just don't want to accept that you have way way way way way more than the vast majority of people already.
- uejfiweun 4y agoYes! Thank you! This is why I am always irked when people make a big fuss about income inequality. It's like dude, WEALTH inequality is the problem! In fact people should be HAPPY about income inequality as it offers one the opportunity to try and bridge the gigantic wealth gap between themselves and the oh-so-holy historical "winner" families of capitalism. I'm sure the super-rich are laughing maniacally while bankrolling clueless youngsters who try and fight against high wages for the workers of the US.
- tensor 4y agoNo one is fighting against high wages. And people with more wealth have vastly more income. People with low wealth have vastly less income. Income is not just what you earn working, it includes what your wealth generates. It's a fact that the majority of tech workers are the rich. They are simply not satisfied with what they have and want even more, exactly what they accuse the 1% of. But to the 95% you and the 1% are both the enemy.