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Zucktown, USA

thebaffler.com

1–10 of 152 posts

Re: Zucktown, USA

#2
This article's main topic is just "tech companies are building big offices", dressed up in some purple prose. And they're also to blame for high rents. But if they build apartments to help ease the housing shortage, that's a "company town" and we can't have that either. And Amazon is a "commandeering leech" which "suck[s] up our resources and refus[es] to participate in daily upkeep", but when Google offers Mountain View neighborhood benefits, that proves it's "seeking to wrest control of the city from its government".

I suppose the next step is to blame the Google buses for being "elitist" and "gentrifying", while in the next paragraph, blaming Google for putting cars on the road and making traffic worse....

“Friedrich Spee von Langenfeld, a priest who heard the confessions of condemned witches, wrote in 1631 the Cautio Criminalis (‘prudence in criminal cases’) in which he bitingly described the decision tree for condemning accused witches: If the witch had led an evil and improper life, she was guilty; if she had led a good and proper life, this too was a proof, for witches dissemble and try to appear especially virtuous. After the woman was put in prison: if she was afraid, this proved her guilt; if she was not afraid, this proved her guilt, for witches characteristically pretend innocence and wear a bold front. Or on hearing of a denunciation of witchcraft against her, she might seek flight or remain; if she ran, that proved her guilt; if she remained, the devil had detained her so she could not get away.”

Re: Zucktown, USA

#4
With an average tenure of < 2 years at these companies now, subsidized housing may force people to stay in companies longer especially if they have families. I'm not sure they can recreate Kodak/Rochester type place as there are so many rich companies vying for the same people.

Re: Zucktown, USA

#5
Oh Lord. A bunch of poor 19th century miners in a remote town is not the same as this at all. These are some of the richest and easily employable workers in the country living in one of the most populated regions.

They wouldn't have to do this if the local government wasn't so restrictive either. These companies don't care if their employees own their own homes or not. But unfortunately big companies are the only groups with enough power and resources to push through new housing development.

Re: Zucktown, USA

#6
post #2

This article's main topic is just "tech companies are building big offices", dressed up in some purple prose. And they're also to blame for high rents. But if they build apartments to help ease the housing shortage, that's a "company town" and we can't have that either. And Amazon is a "commandeering leech" which "suck[s] up our resources and refus[es] to participate in daily upkeep", but when Google offers Mountain…

These people only know how to tear things down. I don't like FB or even Mark personally. But this is ridiculous and would not unfairly be characterized as sour grapes or simply not wanting progress at all to spite some good careers.

Society never moves at the pace of life. It always lags --even in command economies like China's or to a degree S Korea and Singapore. Adjustment takes time. At the same time as you point out, often times it's damned if they do, damned if they don't.

It's almost as if they would feel better if FB automated all the jobs away --not just manual labor low hanging fruit, but all jobs so that they would not have anything to blame on FB --except now everyone who used to work for them is now unemployed (presuming much of the industry learns from FB and also automates --in a purposely extreme example)

Re: Zucktown, USA

#7
post #4

With an average tenure of < 2 years at these companies now, subsidized housing may force people to stay in companies longer especially if they have families. I'm not sure they can recreate Kodak/Rochester type place as there are so many rich companies vying for the same people.

> With an average tenure of citation needed :)

Re: Zucktown, USA

#8
post #7
post #4

With an average tenure of < 2 years at these companies now, subsidized housing may force people to stay in companies longer especially if they have families. I'm not sure they can recreate Kodak/Rochester type place as there are so many rich companies vying for the same people.

> With an average tenure of citation needed :)

Even if that were the case if they included temps, contractors, etc. The towns brought that upon themselves due to their aversion to growth and 1960s suburban utopia idyll that remains in their master plans.

Re: Zucktown, USA

#9
post #2

This article's main topic is just "tech companies are building big offices", dressed up in some purple prose. And they're also to blame for high rents. But if they build apartments to help ease the housing shortage, that's a "company town" and we can't have that either. And Amazon is a "commandeering leech" which "suck[s] up our resources and refus[es] to participate in daily upkeep", but when Google offers Mountain…

Funny how progressivism is cannibalized by progressives.It's almost like a disease or a mental disorder.

Re: Zucktown, USA

#10
post #2

This article's main topic is just "tech companies are building big offices", dressed up in some purple prose. And they're also to blame for high rents. But if they build apartments to help ease the housing shortage, that's a "company town" and we can't have that either. And Amazon is a "commandeering leech" which "suck[s] up our resources and refus[es] to participate in daily upkeep", but when Google offers Mountain…

Funny how progressivism is cannibalized by progressives.It's almost like a disease or a mental disorder.

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