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Poor in Tech

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Re: Poor in Tech

#271

Post by roenxi »

isomorph wrote: post #116

Many of the comments on this article are so cold. I can’t believe it. When I read the original article I was imagining all the constructive ways HN readers would interpret it and hold a mirror up to their own behaviour. Some commenters are doing this. But it surprises and depresses me how many people are commenting saying “no, this list isn’t what it says it is, it’s a list showing the author has a negative mindset /…

The author is complaining of being poor and talking about a lifestyle that her coworkers enjoy that I, who am quite well off, can't afford either. That doesn't make her poor, it makes her not wealthy.

While I'm sure if I met her in person I'd feel very sympathetic, it is difficult to read about someone being unhappy because they can't take a 3-day holiday in Greece; can't collect antiquities or be driven to work by a chauffeur every day. These are not goals I'm sympathetic with either.

I honestly don't care if someone is poor in relative terms to their co-workers either. I'm only interested in what my coworkers earn in the first place because it strengthens my bargaining position.

Re: Poor in Tech

#272

Post by LAC-Tech »

TulliusCicero wrote: post #137
codegeek wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yea I mostly agree. For example not greeting cleaning lady has nothing to do with being rich or poor. It is just manners and some of us do it and some don't.

Manners? I don't say hi to the cleaning staff for the same reason I don't say hi to most people I see in the office: I don't know them. If I did, then I would say hi. Do others greet every single person they see in the building?

> Do others greet every single person they see in the building?

Yes I always did. Would get into some long chats with one of the cleaning ladies actually. And if someone came into my office to do maintenance on the aircon unit I'd of course greet them.

Re: Poor in Tech

#273

Post by bsanr2 »

Applejinx wrote: post #155

"Three paychecks is a month and a half of income (rent and two car payments by my fevered calculations, which never stop)" Pay attention to those last three words. This is very important. I've been on both sides too, and to me those words are like a slap in the face: stark reality. If you're poor enough (relative to the costs of your life) you are at a constant exhausting deficit because you CANNOT stop calculating a…

Tl;dr Poor people (and racial and ethnic minorities, and women, and queer folk) are not dumb. They just have to turn their equal cognitive resources towards things other (and more fundamental to survival) than their magnum opus/business idea/etc. Those who overcome this are HIGHLY effective, but it's not fair that we ask it of them. That's not how an effective or efficient or just society runs, and we leave money on the table and room for any adversaries we might have to maneuver when we doom whole classes of people to constant, pervasive desperation.

Re: Poor in Tech

#274

Post by 8fGTBjZxBcHq »

npwr wrote: post #221
8fGTBjZxBcHq wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's normal and cool actually that we can take something that affects a MAJORITY of Americans and is tightly correlated to poverty and make it a matter of individual responsibility and moral weakness.

As someone who does not live in the US, it is often discussed in my social circles. To us, it appears that this cultural propaganda is a political necessity to stay far from communism. The cultural conception of the extent of the free-will impacts notably justice (individual responsability vs. psy impact of the environment) and wealth redistribution (welfare vs. meritocracy). The conception that most of the bad thing…

Yes this is exactly my understanding as well, from inside the US.

Re: Poor in Tech

#275

Post by Aunche »

8fGTBjZxBcHq wrote: post #20
avancemos wrote: post #7

Instead of seeing the bright side of life, in which this person clearly vastly improved their situation in life, all they can see is what they don’t have. “I knew I was the only poor person at my tech startup because I had the only fat body in the building.” I’m sorry, but no, being poor doesn’t make you fat. Your eating choices make you fat. Poor people have agency too. Agency is not something you buy. This is comin…

It's normal and cool actually that we can take something that affects a MAJORITY of Americans and is tightly correlated to poverty and make it a matter of individual responsibility and moral weakness.

It only counts as moral weakness if you're blaming your own obesity on somebody other than yourself. Most people people who are fat are quite happy with eating a bunch of junk food, so they just have different priorities.

If you have have access to $1 frozen veggie bags, $2/lb chicken thighs, and assortment of different legumes, you have it better food options than the majority of the world. You can certainly achieve a healthy diet if you really want to.

Re: Poor in Tech

#276

Post by aphextron »

This hits hard. I can remember landing my first job in SF as a poor kid from the midwest who had only ever worked menial labor before. For the first few weeks I would leave my Macbook at the office every night, because I was incredulous to the fact that an employer would let me take home a $3,000 laptop.

Re: Poor in Tech

#277

Post by emteycz »

MattRix wrote: post #165
jjdin14 wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

“Less likely”, “more at the mercy”, it still comes down to the individuals choices, it’s not that hard to not be obese when poor.

“it’s not that hard to not be obese when poor.” The statistics make it quite clear that it is hard, maybe your assumptions are wrong.

If we're talking about the obesity rate, statistics make it clear that it's easy to be obese when poor, not that it's not easy to not be obese for the poor.

Or are you talking about statistics that asked if poor people tried to not be overweight but couldn't do it? If so, could you please send link to that - as I'm not aware of any such large-scale study and quick search didn't reveal anything significant?

Re: Poor in Tech

#278

Post by [deleted] »

phone8675309 wrote: post #183
gonehome wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even without the race element - there’s definitely a class thing. I noticed it when I moved to the Bay Area after growing up in western New York. The types of foods people ate or didn’t eat, the restaurants people would or would not go to. The shows people would or would not watch, even the way people talked. I think I hadn’t really seen the difference in class behavior before in America. Now it’s easy to see it. A l…

> You can be poor and still act more “upper class” and you can be rich and still act “working class”. You are stunningly naive if you think that a poor person acting more "upper class" isn't reminded that they're "out of their lane" more than someone rich acting "working class".

[deleted]

Re: Poor in Tech

#279

Post by sethammons »

Grustaf wrote: post #184

> Nobody had walked me away from my desk to keep me from stealing pens or staples or secrets. Are you saying poor people are always dishonest so by trusting you they treated you like a rich person, which is bad because ?? . Honestly I'm just confused.

I’ve worked “poorer” jobs. They’ve been concerned with office supplies walking off. Never a concern at higher paid tech offices in my limited experience.

Re: Poor in Tech

#280

Post by istjohn »

username90 wrote: post #247
8fGTBjZxBcHq wrote: post #202

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If it's not hard to avoid being overweight when poor, and most poor people are overweight... what is happening? Do you see the obvious conclusion here? Do you endorse it?

People are getting fatter and fatter. It is much worse now than 20 years ago, and even much much worse than 40 years ago. Any explanation you can come up with needs to be able to explain this as well. Does poor people have worse access to food today? Do they have less money for food today? If we put poor people in the same conditions they had 40 years ago they would be slimmer than rich people today.

Over the past 30 years, grocery store prices have risen 4.5 percent above economy-wide prices, indicating that food has become relatively more expensive than some other consumer goods... Real prices for fresh fruits and vegetables grew the most among all major food categories, increasing just over 40 percent... Over the same time period, real prices for fats and oils, sugar and sweets, and nonalcoholic beverages grew less than overall inflation.

https://www.ers.usda.gov/amber-waves/2015/july/growth-in-inf...

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