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Lost Diamonds: How our current system is failing underprivileged talent

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Re: Lost Diamonds: How our current system is failing underprivileged talent

#311

Post by naturalrecursin »

timedoctor wrote: post #289
nickthemagicman wrote: post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

'Its easier to make a million starting from zero than make a million starting with a million' is the essence of what you just said. This is easily the dumbest thing Ive ever heard on this site. Seriously. Can we guild and save this somehow?

Are you talking from your own experience? I am. I made a million dollars and it wasn't easy but it was actually a lot more difficult to invest $1 million and make more money with it. I personally found it a lot more difficult. I think most people greatly underestimate the difficulty in investing money successfully. If you are talking about the amount of time invested ... yes of course there is a lot less time spent i…

So are you arguing that once you make a million, there are factors that will stop you from getting to 2 million? Kind of confused how it could get harder to make more money. Once you are at a million you can leverage that money as well as doing whatever it is you did to make the original money..

Re: Lost Diamonds: How our current system is failing underprivileged talent

#312

Post by gbersac »

wang_li wrote: post #274
yoha wrote: post #273

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Edit: the actual figure is 90% For other people struggling to read this comment: "(" is on the same key as "5" on Azerty keyboards.

It's also a capital 9. I'm so ashamed. The number is supposedly 90%.

Did you know you can edit your post? I think yours deserve it.

Re: Lost Diamonds: How our current system is failing underprivileged talent

#313

Post by dwaltrip »

walshemj wrote: post #187
germinalphrase wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Another way of thinking about this is the phrase: it's expensive being poor. If you don't have the excess income to absorb these small mistakes/oversights/misfortunes then there are secondary effects (job loss, civil fines, court fees, etc.) that can destroy you financially. Edit: butchered my phrase

No its the Sam Vimes boot theory. "The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money. Take boots, for example. He earned thirty-eight dollars a month plus allowances. A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten do…

One doesn't acquire multiple millions (or more) by buying expensive, high-quality items.

Clearly, this is not the primary driver of wealth accumulation.

Re: Lost Diamonds: How our current system is failing underprivileged talent

#314

Post by pyrale »

jedmeyers wrote: post #147
trjordan wrote: post #3

I wish I could remember where I read this, but I once heard it explained to me as this: It's easy to deride the journey of the rich college student: 80-hour internships at Goldman Sachs, unpaid positions in government, etc. But, the things that are done by successful people are hard, as hard as walking a tightrope. The difference is that rich students walk this tightrope over a bed of pillows. Poor students walk it o…

At what point does one have to start to be considered independently successful? - You inherited a lot of wealth and a CTO position at a father's company - Parents gave you money and bought you stuff - Parents gave you a place to live - At least you had one parent - Being an orphan, at least you were born in a first-world country - At least you were born at all, thanks to the medical care in a third world country So,…

The fact that you found so many external factors contributing to success are maybe an indication that measuring the degree to which success is your own doesn't yield very interesting data.

I would argue that the only purpose/use of this measure is to deny that we should expand the of people benefiting from external factors of success. But I'm quite biased on this issue, so maybe you have another use for this data ?

Re: Lost Diamonds: How our current system is failing underprivileged talent

#315

Post by saiya-jin »

IAmGarrett wrote: post #247
Teever wrote: post #222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand. none of those examples are 'self-made'

What's your definition of self-made? I like "Someone with significant wealth who didn't receive inheritance or trust fund money."

Someone with significant wealth who reached 18 without any cash/value other than what he earned himself. Meaning self-funded university studies, pretty hard in US from what I heard. Would earn great respect not only from me.

In more lenient fashion, somebody on top of this who finished university without debt, and no money apart from self-earned.

Re: Lost Diamonds: How our current system is failing underprivileged talent

#316

Post by rubberstamp »

allovera wrote: post #63

This article had me in tears. I grew up so poor I often didn't have shoes and wore dollar-store flip flops in the winter. Deadbeat dad, opiate addict mother. I was shuffled constantly from relative to relative, friend's house to friend's house. I had some very supportive teachers, including one who paid for my AP tests and SATs. I got an offer to a university in the UC system. Life was looking up! In the last semeste…

I am sorry you had such a tough time. I think your dad and mom are also the victims in this. If they had money they wouldn't have turned out that way. There are only so many things you can do to make money and sometimes no matter how hard you try, you wouldn't get a job. When you have less money people are very vulnerable to being negative and become depressed. Its so hard to escape from it without proper support, which is almost non-existent in the US. Its just how the US system is. Contrast it with canada and uk or some nordic countries where there is some good social support like in healthcare. You don't have to tell others if they perceive it badly. In my experience only those who were poor can empathize with your situation. I wish you will move away from amazon. I hear horrible stories about how they treat their low level employees.

Re: Lost Diamonds: How our current system is failing underprivileged talent

#317

Post by wolfgke »

wangchow wrote: post #295
khedoros wrote: post #257

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's the point. They're saying that those 85% of self-made American millionaires aren't as "self-made" as they claim. Like me: I could talk about starting with almost nothing in my bank accounts, getting a job, working through the ranks, buying a home, and working toward my first million... conveniently leaving out all the advantages that I've had to get me to this point (cultural expectation that I'd go to college…

Honestly no one is self-made. People who don't have financial cushions still rely on others to back their idea and hard work. Problem is everyone on HN is talking about how to make millions when that's backwards mentality because then you'll never be satisfied. People need to strive for modest salaries and things that benefit society and the planet not filling one's pockets.

> People need to strive for modest salaries and things that benefit society and the planet not filling one's pockets.

It's a lot easier to do projects that benefit society and the planet if you have millions in your pocket that you can spend/invest on them (say for paying employees or simply having financial runway).

Re: Lost Diamonds: How our current system is failing underprivileged talent

#318

Post by wolfgke »

cmdrfred wrote: post #125
nugget wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Going from $0 to $1M is almost impossible--going from $1M to $2M is almost inevitable. I know plenty of people who inherited money and blew it all. Very, very few people, even children from ''rich'' families, have an ''infinite money cushion''. People who come from poverty or communities rampant with discrimination often times have to work harder for opportunities. But hard work is hard work, and there is fierce co…

>People who come from poverty or communities rampant with discrimination often times have to work harder for opportunities. But hard work is hard work, and there is fierce competition at every level, no matter who you are. I hesitate to take anything away from anyone's success. Tell that to the kid making iPhones in the Foxconn facility. Success isn't where you are, it's how far you've come. By that metric the most s…

> Tell that to the kid making iPhones in the Foxconn facility.

The kid in the Foxconn facility is better off if he works there than if he did not have any job. If it were otherwise he would quit the job (since the kid is a poor worker, but not a slave). So indeed having a job at Foxconn lead to a better (though still bad) life for the kid. The kid should rather complain at his parents that they, as poor people, gave life to him - they should know that because of their poverty he would lead a miserable life and hazarded the consequences.

Re: Lost Diamonds: How our current system is failing underprivileged talent

#319

Post by lesolorzanova »

What if on top of that you were not born in the U.S?

I feel like this all the time. I was born in Colombia. I managed to get scholarships for all my education from school to PhD and managed to study abroad. But it was not easy. I still feel like I am not good enough, I even feel I am getting old to learn new things. I feel undeserving which can not be good for starting the PhD studies.

The universities where I studied in Colombia are just as good as any university in the U.S or Europe and proof of this is that I managed to get a masters in CS in France and will start my PhD in Sweden (sometime now since there's an immigrant crisis). But as people from the "3rd world" we are often overlooked and underestimated.

I felt very touched by this article and gave me hopes for my future and only makes me want to be younger to take evn better decisions in life.

Re: Lost Diamonds: How our current system is failing underprivileged talent

#320

Post by rubberstamp »

allovera wrote: post #87
mixmastamyk wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, now you can forgive yourself and be proud of what you've accomplished and will continue to.

I find the opposite - I'm deeply ashamed about growing up in poverty and rarely admit it. When it comes up, I find it creates distance between myself and my co workers. They get uncomfortable and I always feel like they think I am judging them somehow. I don't seem poor anymore: thousands of dollars on dental care, I dress OK, I have a fairly polished accent now. I don't talk to most of my family. My old friends live…

There is nothing to be ashamed of something you had no say in. People judge all the time on anything and everything. You should stop caring about being judged and always try to do the right thing. You should be proud of how you did yourself despite loss of opportunities.
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