Zucktown, USA • Hacker News Board

Re: Zucktown, USA

#121

Post by humanrebar » Wed, Oct 04, 2017, 5:51 PM UTC

Mediterraneo10 wrote: post #71

humanrebar wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Probably not something very attractive to their employees... I keep hearing this meme and I'm skeptical. Far more people live outside the Bay Area than inside it. Are they all poor saps who are waiting to move to Silicon Valley but haven't yet figured out how?

> Far more people live outside the Bay Area than inside it. Are they all poor saps who are waiting to move to Silicon Valley but haven't yet figured out how? Usually when people claim that companies should try to recreate Silicon Valley in some cheaper "heartland of America", they are talking about flyover country. And demographically, many people still in flyover country may well be poor saps who haven't yet figured…

Or maybe they're just moving to where the money and career- building jobs are.

I think the causality is at least more complex than the aforementioned meme implies.

Re: Zucktown, USA

#122

Post by humanrebar » Wed, Oct 04, 2017, 5:51 PM UTC

sjg007 wrote: post #58

humanrebar wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seems like only Bay Area homeowners lose out if big tech companies decide to stop colocating all their workers in a handful of zip codes. And they won't get much of a say in that case.

The execs like the Bay Area..

Good point. There's more to the preferences of executives than they might care to acknowledge.

Re: Zucktown, USA

#123

Post by humanrebar » Wed, Oct 04, 2017, 5:55 PM UTC

emodendroket wrote: post #74

humanrebar wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If you get fired you also get evicted. If you get fired, you basically lose your healthcare, which in many cases is much worse. Though quite a number of Americans seem fine with that arrangement for some reason.

OK but that doesn't make it positive or neutral to move even further in that direction.

Agreed. I was lamenting that it is seen as an essential part of the employer/employee relationship when the employer-as-landlord proposition seems so foreign and troubling. I thought drawing the connection would make people rethink the normal feelings we have about the American healthcare system.

Re: Zucktown, USA

#124

Post by metaphorm » Wed, Oct 04, 2017, 5:58 PM UTC

mc32 wrote: post #6

apsec112 wrote: 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…

>about: Google fanatic

from your HN profile

Re: Zucktown, USA

#125

Post by taurath » Wed, Oct 04, 2017, 6:00 PM UTC

jsjohnst wrote: post #111

evanlivingston wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And is insanely expensive

COBRA was cheaper than a comparable ACA plan for me. It was also WAY cheaper than what a comparable plan pre-ACA would’ve cost. If you just need “emergency” coverage, sure there’s cheaper options. But if you have a chronic health condition, COBRA will more often than not be a lot cheaper and offer better coverage with lower out of pocket costs.

If $600/mo for a single young person is cheap to you...

Re: Zucktown, USA

#126

Post by metaphorm » Wed, Oct 04, 2017, 6:02 PM UTC

princekolt wrote: post #70

HN is criticizing the article wording but completely ignoring its point. This article coupled with the other one on the dystopian reality of San Francisco[1] have me feeling completely disgusted at the current state of the tech industry. Simply put: these tech giants are making too much money. They are losing touch with the average people and simply put with reality itself. It wouldn't surprise me if that's exactly h…

HN has a lot of blindspots. This famous quote comes to mind.

> It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it. - Upton Sinclair

Re: Zucktown, USA

#127

Post by metaphorm » Wed, Oct 04, 2017, 6:06 PM UTC

pault wrote: post #61

eru wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Alas, capitalism means many different things to many different people. (As a mildly interesting example of a similar phenomenon: the pro-business libertarian / neo-liberal FDP party in Germany still proudly calls itself 'liberal'.)

For some people liberty means freedom from government interference; for others it means freedom from corporate and class oppression.

it's shocking that this division exists. liberty requires freedom from ANY institution, whether state, church, or corporation, from having too much power over your life.

Re: Zucktown, USA

#128

Post by nostrademons » Wed, Oct 04, 2017, 6:08 PM UTC

ryanbrunner wrote: post #67

eru wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's actually not too bad. I quit, and am still friends with them. You can still get a visitor pass to go boardgaming etc. Of course that might be just a best case scenario..

Doesn't that seem a bit insane to you though? You're essentially saying the company is permitting you to continue your friendships. What about when they stop doing that?

I just go over to their houses or invite them over to mine. I've kept up with many of my Google friends, and we usually hang out over homemade pizza every 2 weeks. There are others where I go to their parties or other events or just invite them out for dinner every couple months.

Even in the most company-townish scenarios, I can't really see a company forbidding you from leaving the premises. If you wanna stay friends with a Googler, just invite them over.

Re: Zucktown, USA

#129

Post by deadmetheny » Wed, Oct 04, 2017, 6:25 PM UTC

humanrebar wrote: post #120

deadmetheny wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Are they all poor saps who are waiting to move to Silicon Valley but haven't yet figured out how? I hope this comment was not made in earnest, because this attitude is exactly why SV is a dumpster fire that I have no desire of taking part in. I'll continue living my poor ramshackle existence here in flyover country, thank you very much.

I was being facetious about the "poor saps" to hint at the point you're making.

Oh, good. Apologies for any hostility, that mindset is one a lot of people actually has and it really bothers me.

Re: Zucktown, USA

#130

Post by ashwinaj » Wed, Oct 04, 2017, 6:43 PM UTC

This is such a ridiculous impasse. Why don't the authorities do what most sensible countries do i.e. build multi-storied apartments with decent public transportation? Yes I know in the US that equates to the ghetto/projects/low income housing (which is a mindset that needs to change).

As far as the bay area goes this is possible since most residents are foreigners or 1st and 2nd generation Americans who are probably more open to the idea of living in a skyscraper.