151–160 of 513 posts
Is the 1 percenters getting dumber or acting like it? Like 10 years ago, I felt like Andreesen and Elon were thought leaders. Now they sound like idiots. Did I or did they change? Did I grow up and they changed to a younger audience and what I used to enjoy was just a different kind of stupid?
You grew up.
We all know he’s wrong. The problem isn’t that he is wrong, it’s that we have elevated the wealthy into a status where they can be wrong, have no correction, and make decisions whole clothe which negatively affect the rest of us. All while being insulated from their negative world view.
The reason he and Musk are anti-introspection is that when they do it, it hurts. Because they are terrible people. Better to just not think about it.
It turns out that when you actually allow yourself to feel those things, it gives your nervous system the ability to metabolize and process them.
Is the 1 percenters getting dumber or acting like it? Like 10 years ago, I felt like Andreesen and Elon were thought leaders. Now they sound like idiots. Did I or did they change? Did I grow up and they changed to a younger audience and what I used to enjoy was just a different kind of stupid?
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> Step one is that all of us blue collar technologists need to get organized So that Apple and Google can discriminate against us as a bloc, instead of individually? As a programmer I struggle to see how organization would achieve anything. We hold no cards, it's the platform holders who won.
this is so funny for me to read. a few years ago, i would see programmers saying they can negotiate better deals for themselves than a union could. now you're saying it's already over, programming as a skill has a future valuation that's heading to zero. i advise against being so sure of your ideas. maybe you think platform holders have all the cards--test it. if they fight efforts to unionize, that tells a different…
> if they fight efforts to unionize, that tells a different story.
You are describing an industry that has outsourced intelligent labor to India and Pakistan for more than 25 years. The efforts to unionize would be like trying to save America's auto industry in 2004.
The comments only reinforce that impression: most are some variation of “rich guy, therefore idiot.” This is more pile-on than discussion.
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I don't think technologists are blue collar. They are not necessarily part of the owner class but true blue collar work is not done behind desks.
What category would you place the following 99% of human people:
You you will lose your ability to eat and have housing if you do not show up to a place (even if it’s at your rented apartment) and spend hours doing on what someone else wants you to do
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They changed. You wouldn’t believe it but those most impacted by the mental rot that social media can induce - are the ultra wealthy.
I doubt that. The only thing social media removed was scruples and shame. People were ashamed to say such dumb things and now they think they have some kind of deeper knowledge. Their thinking didn’t change.
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Who builds and maintains the platforms? Labor is entitled to all it creates.
Greedy, unprincipled sycophants? Google and Microsoft employees already tolerate terrible software and immoral contract deals. It's not like you can count on them growing a conscience over working for an evil company.
but hey maybe I’m totally wrong
and the number of synchophants and boot lickers who work in tech is going up
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I think the ultra-wealthy are just operating under what they think they need to tell people in order to get the outcomes they want. You're only going to hear the truth - or something correct - if its to their benefit.
I used to think this but I think that's only true for the low-profile wealthy folks. And they voice their opinion indirectly, like through owning media companies. The people that feel the need to be loud and in the public eye aren't necessarily playing 4d chess. It's really just an ego thing for them. The wealthy who keep a low-profile are the smarter one's.
Many in these positions get there by being really good/smart/lucky at something once and then having a war chest of capital to deploy for life.
It doesn't mean they are a polymath genius with unique worthwhile insights into all facets of the human experience. In fact, it may almost be the opposite. The hyper focus and hustle required to attain what they do often requires withdrawing from the wider world, not being particularly well read, and living in a socioeconomic/political/work bubble.
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I don't think technologists are blue collar. They are not necessarily part of the owner class but true blue collar work is not done behind desks.
These terms are all pretty flexible - blue collar in 1950 is extremely different than blue collar in 2026. What category would you place the following 99% of human people: You you will lose your ability to eat and have housing if you do not show up to a place (even if it’s at your rented apartment) and spend hours doing on what someone else wants you to do