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Annual note to self: most of the world exists outside the tech bubble

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Re: Annual note to self: most of the world exists outside the tech bubble

#251

Post by closeparen »

8fGTBjZxBcHq wrote: post #250
ptero wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ok, I will bite. I do not think blanked statements "CS or fools" make any sense, but I think a number of folks who dedicated 4-8 years of their lives to getting a liberal arts degree did this without a clear idea of what they can realistically expect at the end and making backup plans. A PhD in English or French culture may make sense, but one must realize that professional opportunities outside academia are sparse a…

This argument is strong only if you consider a BS or BA program a vocational school.

It seems to be a fairly common viewpoint that your major should be vocational, and you should get a liberal education along the way in core and elective classes.

Re: Annual note to self: most of the world exists outside the tech bubble

#252

Post by jeff_marshall »

x0x0 wrote: post #244
rayiner wrote: post #217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's interesting that you identify ultra efficient hyper capitalism as the problem, then point the finger at Wall Street traders betting on mortgage backed securities. They really have nothing to do with each other. To the extent you can blame anyone for ultra efficient hyper capitalism, blame programmers. It's programmers that allowed Uber to turn the inefficient and leisurely taxi industry into the Uber/Lyft rat ra…

No, those are all policy choices we made. Policy choices that - encouraged capital mobility - tax advantaged capital vs labor - gave an ever larger share of the national income to the ultra rich - to not enforce regulations against allowing unlimited supply of taxi cabs. - to subsidize walmart to the tune of $6.2B in 2013 [1] - to bail out banks and screw mortgage holders - to allow banks to get so large they implici…

>No, those are all policy choices we made.

Who is "we"?

I doubt it. I certainly don't recall being asked, and I'm in a privileged position, relatively speaking.

I'd be curious to see how I could participate in the current environment.

Re: Annual note to self: most of the world exists outside the tech bubble

#253

Post by alt2501 »

nine_k wrote: post #232
rayiner wrote: post #217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's interesting that you identify ultra efficient hyper capitalism as the problem, then point the finger at Wall Street traders betting on mortgage backed securities. They really have nothing to do with each other. To the extent you can blame anyone for ultra efficient hyper capitalism, blame programmers. It's programmers that allowed Uber to turn the inefficient and leisurely taxi industry into the Uber/Lyft rat ra…

You speak as if customers do not also enjoy lower prices, faster delivery, lower fares, wider choices, etc. All this is also enabled by the very same platforms.

All at the expense of our future. Consumers are generally ignorant to what the real costs are.

Re: Annual note to self: most of the world exists outside the tech bubble

#254

Post by [deleted] »

penpapersw wrote: post #205
unknown_apostle wrote: post #60

Working class people are being subjected to ultra efficient hypercapitalism, as in Uber drivers discovering they worked for free when they need to purchase a new car. Meanwhile Wall Street has been bailed out 2 times in the last 15 years alone with monetary policy. How many people went to jail? (And they haven’t learned a thing, on the contrary and quite spectacularly so.) If you want to know where the tech bubble co…

Can confirm. I worked a pretty decent software job with lower pay than others make for the same job for the past 5 years. Could barely afford insurance for my wife and I. We actually had to just give up and not pay for it the first few months of this year before I was laid off, figuring that paying the "fine" for not having health insurance plus whatever unlikely emergency medical costs we might have was cheaper. As…

[deleted]

Re: Annual note to self: most of the world exists outside the tech bubble

#255

Post by kbos87 »

penpapersw wrote: post #205
unknown_apostle wrote: post #60

Working class people are being subjected to ultra efficient hypercapitalism, as in Uber drivers discovering they worked for free when they need to purchase a new car. Meanwhile Wall Street has been bailed out 2 times in the last 15 years alone with monetary policy. How many people went to jail? (And they haven’t learned a thing, on the contrary and quite spectacularly so.) If you want to know where the tech bubble co…

Can confirm. I worked a pretty decent software job with lower pay than others make for the same job for the past 5 years. Could barely afford insurance for my wife and I. We actually had to just give up and not pay for it the first few months of this year before I was laid off, figuring that paying the "fine" for not having health insurance plus whatever unlikely emergency medical costs we might have was cheaper. As…

The right answer is to lie, cheat, steal, and hurt those who are one step ahead of you because they've figured out "the game".

Re: Annual note to self: most of the world exists outside the tech bubble

#256

Post by Animats »

humanrebar wrote: post #53

> There isn’t an app to fix this. Well, we could make it socially important to make remote work possible. The geographic concentration of tech thought and culture has been at least partly intentional. Early internet culture seemed eager to do exactly the opposite. The inefficiencies of colocation were problems ripe for innovation. If tech workers could live in small towns more easily, they'll have middle-class-squeez…

Well, we could make it socially important to make remote work possible.

The trouble with remote work is that if everything you do goes in and out over a wire, much of it can probably be automated. Remember call centers? Phone support?

Re: Annual note to self: most of the world exists outside the tech bubble

#257

Post by bmelton »

koonsolo wrote: post #150
losteric wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The root cause of most American problems is poor public education. We're still over-emphasizing passing grades over effectively growing new American citizens... Personal finance is rarely offered and never mandatory, yet we collectively bare the burden of financial ignorance. The same applies to other subjects like statistics or civics.

I think you totally mis the point. It's not about education, it's about a system where you can't opt out of in US. What is your credit score? If you are from US, you probably know. If you are from somewhere else, you are probably staring at your screen saying "what???". Shops giving out their own credit cards... crazy.

You can always choose to pay cash for everything you want, and eschew credit altogether, it's just so much harder to muster up the cash for big-ticket purchases like homes and automobiles that it's easier to game the system for credit building than it is to save for decades for a home to own.

It's not that you can't do it, but that trading potential future earnings for money now is so damned practical that it's hard to ignore.

Re: Annual note to self: most of the world exists outside the tech bubble

#258

Post by ranit »

jeff_marshall wrote: post #252
x0x0 wrote: post #244

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, those are all policy choices we made. Policy choices that - encouraged capital mobility - tax advantaged capital vs labor - gave an ever larger share of the national income to the ultra rich - to not enforce regulations against allowing unlimited supply of taxi cabs. - to subsidize walmart to the tune of $6.2B in 2013 [1] - to bail out banks and screw mortgage holders - to allow banks to get so large they implici…

>No, those are all policy choices we made. Who is "we"? I doubt it. I certainly don't recall being asked, and I'm in a privileged position, relatively speaking. I'd be curious to see how I could participate in the current environment.

> I certainly don't recall being asked

I (and you) have been asked when had an opportunity to vote. Have been asked when did not call my representative to make him/her accountable for their particular vote for a policy. Even when I have never tried to get elected.

Re: Annual note to self: most of the world exists outside the tech bubble

#259

Post by lazulicurio »

icebraining wrote: post #181
microcolonel wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean, it is the case if UBI contributes to inflation, which it clearly would. Literature or no literature, if the money supply increases, prices will increase unless efficiency improves faster.

The lack of inflation following QE casts doubt on such a simplified model. But in any case, you don't have to inflate to have UBI. Just tax money a bit when it gets distributed to shareholders.

There's been plenty of inflation post-QE, just not in the CPI[1]. Housing prices post-crash are higher than ever, fueled by still-easy access to financing. Healthcare is up. Education is up. People are just taking the money that was shoved into the economy by QE and low interest rates, and using it for capital expenditures and investments instead of consumer goods. There's so much supply of consumer goods that the money is flowing to places where demand can't be met as easily.

[1] For example, the CPI tracks "owner's equivalent of rent" instead of raw housing prices https://www.bls.gov/cpi/factsheet-owners-equivalent-rent-and...

Re: Annual note to self: most of the world exists outside the tech bubble

#260

Post by ouid »

rayiner wrote: post #238
nine_k wrote: post #232

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You speak as if customers do not also enjoy lower prices, faster delivery, lower fares, wider choices, etc. All this is also enabled by the very same platforms.

I didn't say otherwise. I like paying $10 for an Uber ride from someone scared I'll give them a bad rating, instead $15 from a surly, unaccountable cab driver. I'm just pointing out that if you think that's a problem, blame the people responsible for it.

The idea that responsibility is conserved is a fallacy. In the case where a system which had lots of failsafes fails, all of the failsafes are wholely responsible for the failure
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