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Tech Workers Backing Candidates Looking to Break Up Their Employers

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Re: Tech Workers Backing Candidates Looking to Break Up Their Employers

#111
post #2

Can someone explain why SV tech workers are more left-wing to me as an outsider? I always thought these tech workers were more libertarian.

I think it's generational. SV in the Gen X era was highly libertarian. The Millenials in SV seem to be mostly left wing or even socialist. Broadly speaking that is, exceptions abound.

Are we ignoring Gen Y?

Re: Tech Workers Backing Candidates Looking to Break Up Their Employers

#112
post #110
post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

OK, agreed, both sides have ample ability to manufacture outrage (I mean, come on: no one serious actually expresses the outrageous contempt you're imagining, that's 100% interpretation) over takes like this. I just don't see why it's remotely as asymmetric as you think it is. You don't think lefty folks get offended too?

The post you're replying to is presumably a high income left-leaning voter from the way they phrased the comment. They're literally expressing what you say doesn't exist quite clearly. And anyway your own candidate in 2016 famously called everyone that didn't agree with her "deplorable", and it's a common theme throughout left-leaning high income coastal communities to look down on those hicks in flyover country who…

Don’t forget how they “cling to their guns and religion.”

Re: Tech Workers Backing Candidates Looking to Break Up Their Employers

#113
post #25
post #5

Wasn't too surprised to see that Bloomberg neglected to mention a pretty self evident reason why tech workers might want that https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-Tech_Employee_Antitrust_L... I'm pretty sure that if the anti-trust litigation in 2001 hadn't battered microsoft then tech wages would not be as high today. Competition among employers is good for wages, and the fewer and bigger the employers, the less the co…

I am not quite sure that smaller companies can offer higher wages. Also, keep in mind a story of Bell Labs - the innovation power house hugely responsible for tens of Nobel Prize winning inventions such as transistor and solar cells. You need an insanely rich and powerful parent company to fund something like this (only Alphabet is kind pf doing it these days)

Companies have been enjoying historically easy access to capital for years now. In fact, that was the prescription and treatment to remedy the GR to good results for corporations.

Just look at the recent IPOs. We had one go sour and it highlights how rare those occurrences are.

Re: Tech Workers Backing Candidates Looking to Break Up Their Employers

#114
post #5

Wasn't too surprised to see that Bloomberg neglected to mention a pretty self evident reason why tech workers might want that https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-Tech_Employee_Antitrust_L... I'm pretty sure that if the anti-trust litigation in 2001 hadn't battered microsoft then tech wages would not be as high today. Competition among employers is good for wages, and the fewer and bigger the employers, the less the co…

Warren's motivation behind breaking the Googles of the world up is to .... wait for it, ensure that the already overpaid tech workers at Google, get paid "free-market" wages, because if Warren is known for anything these days, it is for fighting for the pay-rights of Google employees

Re: Tech Workers Backing Candidates Looking to Break Up Their Employers

#115

Breaking up big tech companies is undoubtedly good for the workers, create more competition in hiring. It would probably send money downwards and be a huge boon to innovation tbh.

Well, maybe. But on the other hand, the biggest tech companies seem to pay the most? Why is that?

Say you write some code that increases conversions by 0.01%. Thats worth 10 bucks to momandpop.com compared with millions to Amazon. No wonder that programmers can make more at Amazon.

Re: Tech Workers Backing Candidates Looking to Break Up Their Employers

#116

What a surprise. I'd love to be a billionaire, but I like Sanders opinions about whether they should exist. I'd love to be worth enough for it to hurt me, but I like Warren's wealth tax idea. I'd love to pay lower taxes, or less progressive taxes, but I'm happy to support those less fortunate. As a matter of fact, I'm not even a single-issue voter! Perhaps most controversially, I think altruism is good for society. S…

A strong reason for an altruistic vote is precisely that you might end up needing it yourself someday.

Re: Tech Workers Backing Candidates Looking to Break Up Their Employers

#117
I'm not entirely convinced breaking up Big Tech will be a net benefit, in fact that position weakened my support for Warren.

But then again, I also don't work for a FAANG (I do work for a big corporation, and they don't need broken up, they're imploding just fine on their own), so I wouldn't be included in that statistic anyway.

Re: Tech Workers Backing Candidates Looking to Break Up Their Employers

#118
post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it's generational. SV in the Gen X era was highly libertarian. The Millenials in SV seem to be mostly left wing or even socialist. Broadly speaking that is, exceptions abound.

Are we ignoring Gen Y?

Gen Y and Millenials are the same thing (at least that's how I've always understood it):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennials

Re: Tech Workers Backing Candidates Looking to Break Up Their Employers

#119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Breaking up big tech companies is undoubtedly good for the workers, create more competition in hiring. Many of the largest tech companies are only large because of their cost centers. If we split up google what would likely happen is that youtube and gmail would simply die.

If we split up google what would likely happen is that youtube and gmail would simply die Or compete on a level playing field with Vimeo, Fastmail and so on. Everyone wins if Google is split up. Even Google shareholders, who will finally get some nice dividends when the ad business money isn't being diverted to prop up the rest of it.

Google recently announced a 25 billion dollar stock buyback so investors are definitely getting some returns. Also, I'm pretty sure most investors are happy with their investments in waymo considering it has been valued by some analysts at over a hundred billion dollars despite not making any revenue yet as far as I know and I've read they have invested over 5 billion dollars into it which is pretty much out of the realm of what even SoftBank would invest in a company with no revenue yet.

Re: Tech Workers Backing Candidates Looking to Break Up Their Employers

#120
post #5

Wasn't too surprised to see that Bloomberg neglected to mention a pretty self evident reason why tech workers might want that https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-Tech_Employee_Antitrust_L... I'm pretty sure that if the anti-trust litigation in 2001 hadn't battered microsoft then tech wages would not be as high today. Competition among employers is good for wages, and the fewer and bigger the employers, the less the co…

Warren's motivation behind breaking the Googles of the world up is to .... wait for it, ensure that the already overpaid tech workers at Google, get paid "free-market" wages, because if Warren is known for anything these days, it is for fighting for the pay-rights of Google employees

Another point of her platform is that underpaid "contractors" are in fact "employees"
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