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Silicon Chasm: The class divide on America’s cutting edge

weeklystandard.com

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Re: Silicon Chasm: The class divide on America’s cutting edge

#11

Post by meddlepal »

auggierose wrote: post #8

> Yes! Let them eat beans! Preferably in their apartments. No, seriously now. I've got a friend who 5 years ago decided that he needs "to straighten his life out", and now he has a huge house in SV and is lead engineer at Apple. That's really fine, and obviously not everyone can have such a life. And people will really have to look inside themselves, and ask themselves what it REALLY is they want. If they want status…

But how do you handle inflation in a base income economy? It seems that any extra freely allocated capital would immediately be nullified by the increase to inflation it would cause?

Re: Silicon Chasm: The class divide on America’s cutting edge

#12

Post by nraynaud »

recuter wrote: post #6

Cowen bluntly predicted what he called “wage polarization.” The increasing ability of computers to perform ordinary tasks will inexorably transform America into an income oligarchy in which the top 15 percent of people—with skills “that are a complement to the computer”—will enjoy “cheery” labor-market prospects and soaring incomes, while the bottom 85 percent, that is to say, 267 million out of America’s 315 million…

I guess they are pointing the fact that as soon as West Coast got access to the power through money, they did what the East Coast did: protect themselves from the plebe and create a new nobility with barriers to entry instead of using it for greater motives than simple personal accumulation.

Re: Silicon Chasm: The class divide on America’s cutting edge

#13

Post by mlyang »

One important aspect of Bay Area wealth to keep in mind is that Silicon Valley has a very supportive entrepreneurial culture-- wealthy exited entrepreneurs generously funding seed rounds for up and coming startups, lending a hand to pull up those around them. The mentality of modesty and collaboration greatly detracts from the sort of dystopian and polarized picture this article paints.

Re: Silicon Chasm: The class divide on America’s cutting edge

#14

Post by legutierr »

meddlepal wrote: post #11
auggierose wrote: post #8

> Yes! Let them eat beans! Preferably in their apartments. No, seriously now. I've got a friend who 5 years ago decided that he needs "to straighten his life out", and now he has a huge house in SV and is lead engineer at Apple. That's really fine, and obviously not everyone can have such a life. And people will really have to look inside themselves, and ask themselves what it REALLY is they want. If they want status…

But how do you handle inflation in a base income economy? It seems that any extra freely allocated capital would immediately be nullified by the increase to inflation it would cause?

Why do you think inflation would go up? I have never understood this argument. It seems to me as likely for the price of consumer goods to go down as for them to go up in such a scenario. Or you may see no movement at all.

Re: Silicon Chasm: The class divide on America’s cutting edge

#15

Post by ominous_prime »

meddlepal wrote: post #11
auggierose wrote: post #8

> Yes! Let them eat beans! Preferably in their apartments. No, seriously now. I've got a friend who 5 years ago decided that he needs "to straighten his life out", and now he has a huge house in SV and is lead engineer at Apple. That's really fine, and obviously not everyone can have such a life. And people will really have to look inside themselves, and ask themselves what it REALLY is they want. If they want status…

But how do you handle inflation in a base income economy? It seems that any extra freely allocated capital would immediately be nullified by the increase to inflation it would cause?

Basic income does not increase the money supply, which would bring about inflation. There may be an increase in the general cost of living for many, but that's not inflation, and it wouldn't absorb the entirety of one's basic income.

Re: Silicon Chasm: The class divide on America’s cutting edge

#16

Post by JVIDEL »

recuter wrote: post #6

Cowen bluntly predicted what he called “wage polarization.” The increasing ability of computers to perform ordinary tasks will inexorably transform America into an income oligarchy in which the top 15 percent of people—with skills “that are a complement to the computer”—will enjoy “cheery” labor-market prospects and soaring incomes, while the bottom 85 percent, that is to say, 267 million out of America’s 315 million…

I think the real news here is stuff like this:

According to figures collected by Joel Kotkin, the dotcom crash wiped out 70,000 jobs in the valley in a little over a single year, and since then the tech industry has added only 30,000 new ones, leaving the bay region with a net 40,000 fewer jobs than existed in 2001.

Re: Silicon Chasm: The class divide on America’s cutting edge

#17

Post by mattgreenrocks »

nraynaud wrote: post #12
recuter wrote: post #6

Cowen bluntly predicted what he called “wage polarization.” The increasing ability of computers to perform ordinary tasks will inexorably transform America into an income oligarchy in which the top 15 percent of people—with skills “that are a complement to the computer”—will enjoy “cheery” labor-market prospects and soaring incomes, while the bottom 85 percent, that is to say, 267 million out of America’s 315 million…

I guess they are pointing the fact that as soon as West Coast got access to the power through money, they did what the East Coast did: protect themselves from the plebe and create a new nobility with barriers to entry instead of using it for greater motives than simple personal accumulation.

And this is exactly why SV is not anything revolutionary, despite the insistence of PG and co. There is no Golden Age, just a bunch of old guys accumulating wealth by exploiting youthful naivete by cranking out a steady stream of technological toys designed to hook us, rather than serve us.

Re: Silicon Chasm: The class divide on America’s cutting edge

#18

Post by auggierose »

meddlepal wrote: post #11
auggierose wrote: post #8

> Yes! Let them eat beans! Preferably in their apartments. No, seriously now. I've got a friend who 5 years ago decided that he needs "to straighten his life out", and now he has a huge house in SV and is lead engineer at Apple. That's really fine, and obviously not everyone can have such a life. And people will really have to look inside themselves, and ask themselves what it REALLY is they want. If they want status…

But how do you handle inflation in a base income economy? It seems that any extra freely allocated capital would immediately be nullified by the increase to inflation it would cause?

There are probably a host of questions like that, and I am not an economist, so I cannot answer them (I am not sure economists can, though).

What is important is to have the will to do something like that. Only then will it become apparent if we can actually do it.

I think this is very similar to writing software. You know roughly what you want it to achieve, but you don't know yet exactly how.

Re: Silicon Chasm: The class divide on America’s cutting edge

#20

Post by walshemj »

recuter wrote: post #6

Cowen bluntly predicted what he called “wage polarization.” The increasing ability of computers to perform ordinary tasks will inexorably transform America into an income oligarchy in which the top 15 percent of people—with skills “that are a complement to the computer”—will enjoy “cheery” labor-market prospects and soaring incomes, while the bottom 85 percent, that is to say, 267 million out of America’s 315 million…

and compared to central London and the UK a 5 mill dollar house isn't that expensive.

In my little commuter town in the UK on the same street as my doctors surgery there is a house going for just under 1.6 Million dollars

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