How rich kids already won the career game • Hacker News Board

Re: How rich kids already won the career game

#271

Post by michaelochurch » Tue, Mar 08, 2011, 5:32 PM UTC

Wow. I'm thrilled that this essay has received so much attention. I went from 50 pageviews per day, on average, to 20,000 in one day. I'm very busy with work and I don't have time for a point-by-point reply to everyone, even though there are a lot of great comments here and many deserve replies. I just don't think I will get to it in a timely fashion.

To address some of those critiques, last night I wrote a follow up to this essay here: http://michaelochurch.wordpress.com/2011/03/08/follow-up-on-... .

Re: How rich kids already won the career game

#272

Post by grammaton » Tue, Mar 08, 2011, 8:41 PM UTC

johngalt wrote: post #201

gamble wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If I'm middle class and screw up I end up middle class. No, you end up working a crappy part time job at a call center with no benefits and no future, desperately trying to convince yourself that you're still middle class because you work a telephone instead of a mop.

So the real issue here is that everyone wants to be "better". It's not about rich people, it's that you think you're too good to clean things for a living. In your view, who deserves to work that mop? There is nothing wrong with working a mop. Median Janitor salary is $25k, if you and your wife are both janitors, you have a $50k/yr household. You can pay the bills and give your family a middle class lifestyle. Probab…

Given the handle I assume debating this with you is a losing proposition, but - it's not a matter of how far you fall, relatively. The middle class person who falls into poverty may lose the ability to feed themselves. The wealthy person who falls into the middle class does not.

That said, I would rate it as highly unlikely that a truly wealthy individual could end up falling into the middle class through anything short of titanic ineptitude.

Re: How rich kids already won the career game

#273

Post by jarek » Wed, Mar 09, 2011, 12:52 AM UTC

rick888 wrote: post #268

jarek wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Beyond the mentally and physically unable (which is a very low percentage), poverty is a result of poor life choices. Oh, how I want to see you tell that to a 15 year old born in a ghetto.

"Oh, how I want to see you tell that to a 15 year old born in a ghetto." The truth hurts sometime. If we continue to ignore it, nothing will ever change.

No, I actually literally want to see you say that, in real life, face to face, to a 15 year old human. Bonus points if it's a girl.

Re: How rich kids already won the career game

#274

Post by neworbit » Wed, Mar 09, 2011, 5:08 PM UTC

jarek wrote: post #110

rick888 wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What bothers me is that the only solution to bridge the "income inequality" is to take money from the rich and just give it to the poor. Beyond the mentally and physically unable (which is a very low percentage), poverty is a result of poor life choices. This is what freedom gives us: the ability to succeed or fall flat on our ass due to our own choices, which is why we will always have poverty in our current system.

> Beyond the mentally and physically unable (which is a very low percentage), poverty is a result of poor life choices. Oh, how I want to see you tell that to a 15 year old born in a ghetto.

That probably falls into the parental life choice category

Re: How rich kids already won the career game

#275

Post by chernevik » Wed, Mar 09, 2011, 9:42 PM UTC

wmil wrote: post #143

grammaton wrote: post #80

"The difference is that children of wealth traverse it at a height of one meter over a mattress, while the middle-class and poor traverse it at a height of 20 meters over a lava pit." I notice no one is commenting on this part. Namely, that for children of financial privilege, the risk/reward ratio for a career is markedly skewed compared to their middle class peers.

It's largely true, but depressing and unfix-able. It's really bad with jobs that expect you to "pay your dues" at the beginning, yet still socialize with co-workers at restaurants after work. People from a more modest background are seen as anti-social when they really just have a cash flow problem. There's a negative feedback loop.

It's fixable.

Financial security and social familiarization aren't the only sources of confidence. Understanding of skills' value, faith in the ability to learn new skills, curiousity about what others find valuable and willingness to provide it -- no one who has these has much deep anxiety about pleasing the boss. If the boss likes them, great! If not, they're happy to move somewhere that appreciates what they add. Confidence is out there for anyone willing to learn and work.