241–250 of 393 posts
one of the best engineers I've ever worked with has a degree from DeVry. I know many great engineers who don't have CS or engineering degrees. And I know plenty of dummies with lots of letters after their name.
This is why the free market is so great. 1. Everything too expensive? Good, don't live here, eventually enough people will leave to drive all of the costs back to other market norms. 2. Dumb startups? Good, they will fail, people won't be able to afford to live here and they'll leave. 3. People are spoiled? Uber is cheaper and more convenient in some cases than taking the local transportation. When people stop taking…
Ok, as a perennial voice for free markets I agree with your observations, but not your point. Having lived through it I see the damage it is doing to individuals who will take years to recover. Too many engineers today, perhaps like sports players, take a big salary, project it across 30 years and then say "Wow I've got millions headed my way, do I really need to bag my lunch?" I've watched as they became both broke…
This is why the free market is so great. 1. Everything too expensive? Good, don't live here, eventually enough people will leave to drive all of the costs back to other market norms. 2. Dumb startups? Good, they will fail, people won't be able to afford to live here and they'll leave. 3. People are spoiled? Uber is cheaper and more convenient in some cases than taking the local transportation. When people stop taking…
I agree with everything you said but this: > then it will force government organizations to re-think their planning. Made me lol. As if any Government has ever changed it's offerings based on the market. They'll just keep paying public workers absurd wages to continue to suck because status quo is way more important than customer satisfaction when it comes to public entities.
http://www.twincities.com/2015/12/31/mark-dayton-wants-100-m...
The guy makes some good points, and there does seem to be a lot of questionable startups, but it's not like they're tapping into public funds. Somewhere, somehow, some angel investor thought that it was a good team and a good idea and they were happy to part with their money. It's better that we live in a more optimistic world than one where every crazy idea is a bad idea. However, how is taking Uber to work every da…
> For $4 more than a bus Depending on where you live, Uber/Lyft can be a lot more expensive than a bus. In Dallas, a monthly public transport pass costs $80. This comes with unlimited uses of the buses and trains for an entire month. Let's say you work twenty days (four weeks) a month, with a trip each way. That amortizes to $2 a trip, less if you also use your pass for personal trips on weekends. Lyft costs me about…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
What about the people who have already lived there, who aren't on engineering salaries and work service positions? I think it's fun to be flippant, but there still certain demographics that are being displaced and negatively impacted by the bubble.
Of course, but their skin tone is a few shades darker, so nobody talks or cares about them. People would rather argue in ivory towers about abstract problems that don't exist in the real world (sexism in video games, Internet feminism, etc), rather than work on unpleasant and unsexy problems that can easily be solved.
What's abstract or unreal about them? What's "Internet" feminism, for that matter? I'd say sexism in videogames is real... and the level of aggression in online discussions about that topic is almost asphyxiating, enough that I consider it a serious problem. Would you similarly argue that it's "unreal" to argue about sexism (or racism, or whatever -ism) in movies?
It's a shame you said this, because I'm in agreement with the rest of your post.
Yes, there are a lot of dumb startups but I'm still not convinced this is a bad thing. Why does every 24-year old have to be changing the world? Imagine you have a 2x2 matrix where the x-axis is positive value added to the world and the y-axis magnitude of impact. You want your job to be in the top right corner, high impact, high value added to the world but there's two ways to get there. You could do something that…
Cool. Can you point me to where I can get an apartment in SF for less that $1k/month?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Ok, as a perennial voice for free markets I agree with your observations, but not your point. Having lived through it I see the damage it is doing to individuals who will take years to recover. Too many engineers today, perhaps like sports players, take a big salary, project it across 30 years and then say "Wow I've got millions headed my way, do I really need to bag my lunch?" I've watched as they became both broke…
I agree with everything you said but I think you're underestimating the importance of fighting lifestyle inflation at all costs. It's incredibly hard to justify a six-figure burn rate under any circumstances, even in San Francisco. If you've got a job making multiples of the median household income in the US, it's incredibly irresponsible to live in a manner that wouldn't support a pretty major pay cut at any point.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Sorry, but this is a totally heartless comment. By saying things like "Good, they will fail, people won't be able to afford to live here and they'll leave" you're completely overlooking the human costs and implications. Things don't just change overnight. It's an slow, painful, eventual decline. Things shouldn't need to be pushed to a breaking point for us to make necessary changes to alleviate these problems.
Wait, what are the problems? "Everyone rides an Uber" is great for the Uber drivers. "People spend too much on organic produce" is great for the farmers. "Even bad engineers are in high demand" is great for the mediocre engineers. Housing is a problem, but this post didn't mention it. So before we start making changes, what are the problems in your opinion? And, then, what changes are you proposing?
I'm surprised he didn't have the $16 artisanal salad delivered to him by one of the 37 delivery services. This is pretty much the only place i know of where people are okay with paying $30+ total for a salad and think it's normal
I've lived here since 2005 and have yet to see a $30 salad.