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Quitting your job to pursue your passion is a privilege

janellequibuyen.com

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Re: Quitting your job to pursue your passion is a privilege

#51

Post by morgante »

fao_ wrote: post #36
aub3bhat wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My favorite new ridiculous word is "silent technical privilege"[1] , according to which we now must apologize for having interests in technical subjects since childhood, rather than socializing and getting drunk like rest of the "unfortunate" kids. [1] http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2014/01/...

It isn't, and never has been, about apologising. It is about recognising that you had a step-up based on being part of a particular demographic, and then either acknowledging that other people won't necessarily have had those step-ups, helping to level the playing field by giving extra help to those who don't have that step-up, or both. So, basically equalising things a wee bit.

This is a new low. Apparently putting in the work to learn things is now a "privilege." We made the choice to spend our formative years immersed in technology. We suffered as a result.

Maybe the bullies should start by apologizing and inviting us to their parties instead of demanding that we give them jobs.

To be clear, I do agree that being middle class and having free time as a teenager is a privilege. What I disagree with is that my choice to spend that time programming instead of partying is a privilege.

Re: Quitting your job to pursue your passion is a privilege

#52

Post by jxm262 »

blackrose wrote: post #40

Was looking for something insightful, but I guess I haven't heard (and bought into) the same stories as the author. I quit my job half a year ago to do the "entrepreneurial lifestyle", but I'm not going around telling everyone to quit their job and be as ostensibly great and care-free as I am. Of course I'm thankful for my situation, and realize I'm luckier than many Americans, and lucky to live in a prosperous count…

I'm curious what you're working on for the "entrepreneurial lifestyle". I"m actually thinking of going a similar route to saving up a good few years worth of expenses, and then going solo. I'm trying to decide on contracting/consulting vs build my own product (I've done the latter fairly successfully before). Would you care to share your experiences or perhaps email for a couple questions?

Re: Quitting your job to pursue your passion is a privilege

#53

Post by lgessler »

spinPhysician wrote: post #12

Ten years ago, the rhetorical buzzwords of that period had gotten really, really tedious. Words like: - Patriot - Freedom - Terrorism - Never Forget - If we don't do X, they win Ten years later, and I'm glad those words are a joke by now. But only to face new words: - Privilege - Trigger - Victim Blaming - Social Justice - Perpetuating false narratives Buzzwords only have currency with people who want others to stop…

Could you explain why you think "privilege" is a buzzword? If it had been peppered into the article haphazardly that would be another matter, but I felt that the author used it to help emphasize how different circumstances are between, say, a jaded Google engineer who graduated with a BS debt-free, and a Bangladeshi mother of five who's worked in a sweatshop since she was 15.

Re: Quitting your job to pursue your passion is a privilege

#54

Post by thesimpsons1022 »

gxs wrote: post #30
paulcole wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"You can live at home with your parents and try out ideas" You say this like it's a privilege that everyone has. Not everyone has this option.

Omfg give it a rest already. Yes, some people are more privileged than others. But if you're going to hang out on an internet forum full of professional programmers only to lament how privileged everyone is youre going to have a bad time. In the context of this forum and this discussion, nothing about what the parent said screams privilege. Living with your parents after college is privilege now? Where the hell does…

geeze you're touchy. rush limbaugh got you too worked up today? All he is saying is that not everyone can go home and live with their parents when they fail. Not sure where guilt plays into this other than in your own mind/narrative.

Re: Quitting your job to pursue your passion is a privilege

#55

Post by wolfgoatcabbage »

paulcole wrote: post #11
[deleted] wrote: post #7

[deleted]

"You can live at home with your parents and try out ideas" You say this like it's a privilege that everyone has. Not everyone has this option.

Living at home with your parents seems to me like an example of a way to scale back a lifestyle to save money and work on your dream project even without a large financial safety net, i.e., the privilege the author cites. You could replace that example with: sharing an apartment with several friends, cooking cheap meals at home, foregoing a TV, using an old bike instead of a car, etc. I would be surprised if at least one of those options isn't available to the laptop-owning, English-speaking, tech-minded individuals who frequent this site. It doesn't seem very relevant to this discussion to nitpick the example given by the parent.

Re: Quitting your job to pursue your passion is a privilege

#56

Post by TeMPOraL »

RGamma wrote: post #38
aub3bhat wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My favorite new ridiculous word is "silent technical privilege"[1] , according to which we now must apologize for having interests in technical subjects since childhood, rather than socializing and getting drunk like rest of the "unfortunate" kids. [1] http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2014/01/...

That dichotomy is a false one, since you can do both (see e.g. demoscene) :)

I've been to a demoscene party and I agree wholeheartedly. Sceners really defy Ballmer Peak[0]. They can crank out coding awesomeness while being totally shitfaced.

[0] - https://xkcd.com/323/

Re: Quitting your job to pursue your passion is a privilege

#57

Post by ZenoArrow »

withdavidli wrote: post #34
shopkins wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What was the old American Dream, if not exactly that?

Good grades->good college -> good job -> marry -> buy house -> have kids. All on a middle class salary. In the bay area that's probably about 100k/yr for a household. Impossible these days.

I think the American Dream was a little less specific than that. AFAIK the American Dream was that if you applied yourself, you could be anything that you wanted to be. You see it with the movie trope of the kid who wants to prove everyone wrong and be the next president of the United States.

Re: Quitting your job to pursue your passion is a privilege

#58

Post by shopkins »

withdavidli wrote: post #34
shopkins wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What was the old American Dream, if not exactly that?

Good grades->good college -> good job -> marry -> buy house -> have kids. All on a middle class salary. In the bay area that's probably about 100k/yr for a household. Impossible these days.

Ah, I guess that's part of it. I was thinking of the more general perspective, i.e. "Anyone can make it with a little hard work and determination."

Re: Quitting your job to pursue your passion is a privilege

#59

Post by AlexC04 »

gcheong wrote: post #16
spinPhysician wrote: post #12

Ten years ago, the rhetorical buzzwords of that period had gotten really, really tedious. Words like: - Patriot - Freedom - Terrorism - Never Forget - If we don't do X, they win Ten years later, and I'm glad those words are a joke by now. But only to face new words: - Privilege - Trigger - Victim Blaming - Social Justice - Perpetuating false narratives Buzzwords only have currency with people who want others to stop…

Wrong post?

Not really, the title of the BLOG uses 'bullshit', but the post as it appears on backser-news reads 'privilege' (at least via this link https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11802664, it appeared on my front-page as bullshit so I'm wondering if this has been edited by a HN admin)

If you CTRL+F the blog post for "privilege" you will see that the rant eventually turns to the topic to underscore somethingorother.

So the comment you're replying to lamenting the use of "privilege" in a somewhat asinine and ranty way seems on target.

"Pissed off developer rants" are pretty tired though. I'm not sure I'm really a fan of this guy's line of thinking or his outrage over it.

Like it or not, stepping outside of the 9 to 5 / collect-a-regular paycheck is a risk. It is brave in some ways. He's right in others that it does require a safety net & confidence which people raised in low-income environments might not enjoy... but the blog-post doesn't help anything.

Re: Quitting your job to pursue your passion is a privilege

#60

Post by Malarkey73 »

spinPhysician wrote: post #12

Ten years ago, the rhetorical buzzwords of that period had gotten really, really tedious. Words like: - Patriot - Freedom - Terrorism - Never Forget - If we don't do X, they win Ten years later, and I'm glad those words are a joke by now. But only to face new words: - Privilege - Trigger - Victim Blaming - Social Justice - Perpetuating false narratives Buzzwords only have currency with people who want others to stop…

I also find these buzzwords annoying - but they're different. 'Privilege' is the only term from that list in the article...

'Trigger' I find annoying in almost every context; with the exception of facilities for the clinically traumatised I abhor the idea.

'Victim Blaming' is a useful term but I'm sure overused.

'Social Justice' seems more often these days sarcastically used as in 'Social Justice Warrior'

'Perpetuating false narratives' does seem just a pompous way of saying lies/propaganda.

... but returning to 'Privilege' I think that's a term that is overused - and annoyingly as in 'check your privilege' can be used to shut down a conversation or deny a viewpoint because of who someone is. A pernicious form of ad hominem.

And yet reading the article I think the argument is well made and the term 'privilege' is not used glibly. So perhaps it's unfair to write off the point just because that one word is used?

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