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Privilege and Inequality in Silicon Valley

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Re: Privilege and Inequality in Silicon Valley

#61

Post by sandstrom »

brudgers wrote: post #32
dtran wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks-- that's useful: "More than 90 percent of the entrepreneurs came from middle-class or upper-lower-class backgrounds and were well-educated." I'm curious about the socio-economic background of the parents as well.

My understanding is that there is a very strong correlation between a person's educational and socio-economic attainment and those of their parents. The number that sticks in my head is that parental status accounts for 80%+.

This is an article I read on the topic.

If you are born to parents in the lowest quartile you have ~10% chance of making it into the highest by age 26. For people born in the highest the probability is ~30%.

(and if it was random it would, obviously, be 1/4 = 25%)

http://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21595437-america...

Re: Privilege and Inequality in Silicon Valley

#64

Post by nickff »

yeureka wrote: post #38

This sounds very familiar. When I was in University I didn't understand why some people didn't care about grades and partied so much. When we left school and got into the real world I understood why: they had rich parents with contacts that could get them good jobs or seed capital for their own businesses. I had lots of ideas and worked in a lot of startups for more than 10 years but now the following phrase from the…

The other possibility is that going to the parties is a good use of time, and that is where many students develop their networks. In addition to that, signalling theory would indicate that what classes you take and how well you do are much less important than the university you attend and the faculty you graduate from.

Re: Privilege and Inequality in Silicon Valley

#65

Post by WalterBright »

ryandrake wrote: post #27
rezistik wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd like that survey. The lower class is completely unrepresented in tech. It's been one of the weirdest and hardest things for me to handle personally.

You know what's weird and uncomfortable sometimes? Going to lunch with your co-workers and listening to them talk about the awful problems of their lives, like how they wish their maids could come twice a week instead of every two weeks, and how difficult it is that they have to pay [my salary * 0.5] for their kid's private school. How worried they are about things like the stock market and how high the property taxe…

My dad returned from combat in WW2 where 80% of his group were casualties and he expected to die in combat. He said he was amused at the triviality of everyday concerns. "What's your problem, you're not going to die tomorrow!"

And really, if you're able-bodied and able-minded and nobody is trying to kill/maim/imprison you, then life is good. I went to retrieve the mail this morning, and was greeted with a bright blue sky, and an eagle sitting on top of a nearby doug fir tree giving me the eye. Pretty damn awesome to be alive.

Re: Privilege and Inequality in Silicon Valley

#66

Post by BurningFrog »

paulv wrote: post #28
67726e wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or you could stop using the fact that someone is white, male, or straight as some kind of attack, insult, or excuse. There are certainly issues in society, real problems but I'm tired of hearing it. Somehow all of my hardships in life are reduced to nothing, because I'm "privileged".

"...if you think having privilege means that you’re a bad person, or that you haven’t had struggles, or that you haven’t worked hard for what you have – then I can totally feel why you might be frustrated. If that were the case, then yes, it’d be completely unfair of me to claim that all white people or straight people or men or people of any other dominant group are living easy off their unearned privileges. But hav…

That's the formal definition, used when being scrutinized. The angrier one is far more common in real life debate.

http://slatestarcodex.com/2014/07/07/social-justice-and-word...

Re: Privilege and Inequality in Silicon Valley

#67

Post by npkarnik »

pfarnsworth wrote: post #34
Xyik wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Yet this OP disproved this. So I don't get what the point is." From the blog: "David and I are living proof that if we can upgrade and improve the way we think, and overcome our mindset inequality, then maybe we can help others do the same" Yes the blog clearly states that its not impossible, the OP is simply sharing how he overcame hurdles despite the challenges he faced being poor. It's meant to help others do the…

The title of the post is Privilege and Inequality in Silicon Valley. But the post proves that there isn't. So at best, the title is terrible.

Your claim doesn't make sense to me. The author does not prove there isn't privilege and inequality in SV. He only shares his story of how he overcame a decidedly unprivileged background. If the expected value of my bet in a game of craps is negative and I still win, that doesn't mean the odds weren't against me.

Re: Privilege and Inequality in Silicon Valley

#68

Post by TheOtherHobbes »

Karunamon wrote: post #41
sharemywin wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

mentoring. poor students.

Couldn't hurt, don't get me wrong, but it doesn't really solve the problem. The author was poor, but appeared to have a positive, if difficult home life. Mentoring would have helped the knowledge problem, but his problem was lack of resource above everything else. Lack of resource leads to instability, and it taints literally everything you do, even mentally. I know, I know, don't let the perfect be the enemy of the…

The mental training poor people, middle class people, and rich people get is completely different.

If you grow up poor there's a huge amount you need to learn - about law, politics, business ethics, finance, negotiation, social signalling, confidence and assertiveness, and how to find and deal with influencers - that the rich seem to be taught effortlessly.

Having more money doesn't change the basic life training, because the life training is itself a form of positional social signalling.

If you're middle class you're half in and half out. You have some idea how the world really works, but your ability to act on that learning is limited because you won't naturally have the right contacts - unless you cultivate them deliberately.

Most of the poor have no idea that any of this matters. They're caged inside a media-managed world view, and it takes exceptional ability to break out of that.

Mentoring can help some, but nothing helps as much as confidence and contacts.

Re: Privilege and Inequality in Silicon Valley

#69

Post by luckydata »

namenotrequired wrote: post #63

Finally someone who talks about the consequences of economic inequality. PG seemed to think all that mattered is the causes.

I don't think PG had to face any of this, is aware or even cares about it. That article he wrote was pretty indicative of his mentality.

Re: Privilege and Inequality in Silicon Valley

#70

Post by TrevorJ »

ebola1717 wrote: post #33
67726e wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or you could stop using the fact that someone is white, male, or straight as some kind of attack, insult, or excuse. There are certainly issues in society, real problems but I'm tired of hearing it. Somehow all of my hardships in life are reduced to nothing, because I'm "privileged".

If people are invalidating your hardships because of your privilege, they are wrong. But that doesn't mean the term isn't useful. "Having Privilege Refers to Systematic Benefits for Your Identity (But the Same Identity Trait May Still Attract Incidents of Prejudice)" http://everydayfeminism.com/2015/07/what-privilege-really-me...

I don't have a problem with that specific definition. The problem that arises is that we sort of assume as a society that certain privileges trump everything else and are the primary drivers in terms of the experience an individual will, or has had in their life.
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