The Logic of “Stupid” Poor People

Privilege is not exclusive to straight white males, it just so happens that in this country, at this moment, straight white males enjoy an order of magnitude more of it than everyone else. It becomes convenient to point at the largest elephant in the room instead of fully qualifying the point.

But white privilege, straight privilege, and all other forms of privilege affect not just those who have it, but everyone else around them. The barrier to entry for this woman was other women in HR, of the same race - who have internalized and normalized straight/white/male/etc privilege.

Normalization is privilege. Without normalization you don't have privilege - you don't have thoughts like "that's not a black guy job", or "that guy's too fruity to interact with my clients". Privilege is the unfair treatment of people based on their deviation from a perceived norm. The perceived norm may be perceived even by people who are on the losing end of the particular proposition - whether it is their race, gender, orientation, or other.

Another one of these "I'm a member of special group that you can never understand. We are put down by other groups. I am going to emote a bit to make you feel guilty." I hate these things because they defy honest feedback. Instead, it's jump on the bandwagon or be called names. So I'm calling bullshit on this general type of article on HN. Having said that, I find this article as good as any of the example of the genre.

Remember, this article is about poverty. As such, it fails miserably to make its case. Yes, people buy things to socially signal. Yes, many poor people buy expensive status symbols.

But there's a lot to be said for attitude. Most of life is just showing up and having a positive attitude -- far more than what kinds of boots you're wearing or how much you spent on your coat. Yes, like most people I'll happily make spot judgments within about 5 seconds of seeing you. But those judgments are not based on fashion. They're based on hygiene, facial expression (are you happy? That makes me happy), demeanor, and body language.

A much better social signal is elimination of dialect, as the author mentions. Every culture has a "high" language and several medium or low languages. So get rid of that deep southern dialect if you want to make a good impression. Costs nothing. Instead of spending a lot on an expensive suit, pick up something wearable at the local Goodwill store. Practice entering a room, walking, sitting down, and chatting in front of a video camera.

Social signalling is just the way we're made. But it doesn't have a damned thing to do with being poor. Or rather the signal in this case is easily gamed in very cheap ways. At least for purposes of getting out of poverty. Obviously, if you're selling stocks, the game is played at a different level. But even then, there are lots of tactics that don't involve writing big checks.

In short, don't be a putz. Instead, cultivate inside of yourself something of real value, and make sure that the things that you have and do allow that to shine through.

Also, to clarify my earlier point, I would never suggest that the concept of privilege is exclusive to straight white males, and I agree that social and economic class are the basis for discrimination and exclusion. I was just trying to say:

1) Technology industries in the United States are dominated by straight white males, often with some form of class and economic privilege. By this I do not mean that there are no exceptions.

2) The posting and discussion of this blogpost on this website is reflective of (I hope) a certain self awareness surrounding race, gender, money and privilege, and the importance of considering it--not dismissing it as an irrelevance.