6 ms·

> That describes a huge fraction of today's protestors and activists, which is why despite many things in the world sucking I rarely take today's "activism" ver

> That describes a huge fraction of today's protestors and activists, which is why despite many things in the world sucking I rarely take today's "activism" very seriously. It's mostly activism-as-entertainment for trustafarians. The irony is that your comment only emphasizes the severe disconnect between relatively wealthy & employable 'techies' versus the rest of the struggling recession-hit population. It's hard to understand how life has changed since 2007 when, coming from a tech-related field, one generally doesn't suffer the everyday hardships that most Americans endure [1]. http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/11/02/poverty-in-america-is-mainstream/?_r=0 http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/11/02/poverty-in-a...

api 13y ago
You're right that techies haven't experienced the great recession... or at least have avoided the worst of it. But the group I am referring to -- overprivileged over-educated trust fund kids engaging in faux-outrage as a form of entertainment -- are also isolated from the realities you mention... perhaps even more so, since techies have to actually work. What these people are doing is basically LARPing. IndyMedia is their big LARPing portal site where they pretend to be radicals. Fuck these people.
ye 13y ago
The irony of your comment only emphasizes how little you understand that NONE of it is techies' fault. Is it their fault they thought about the future and picked tough but useful majors? Is it their fault that hipsters chose art, history, women studies and other (financially) useless stuff, just because that's what they liked to do? Is it their fault that hipsters feel entitled to a high paying job?
- thomasz 13y ago
  Not everybody can be part of the glorious STEM master race!
  - null_ptr 13y ago
    Nor does everyone need to be. Taking a walk through any city in the United States, one will observe millions of people leading healthy, productive lives doing work in a variety of fields, both blue and white collar.
  - ye 13y ago
    Sure, I have no problem with people doing art or studying history or women or philosophy. My problem is with the entitlement and the attacks on the people who chose financially more successful professions. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE LOVE LOVE art. I just don't think our society has so many gifted artists. I've taken many art classes in college and most art students sucked, truly sucked at art. There were objectively great artists among them, but I'd say fewer than 10%.
- jacalata 13y ago
  As a techie, I'm not sure most of them 'thought about the future and picked a tough but useful major'. More like, most of them (including myself) picked the most interesting major, and tada, it's worth money!
  - ye 13y ago
    I partially agree with you. I think ALL college/uni students must be forced to go through career counselling once a year. Too many young people are fed "you're a special snowflake, you can be whatever you want to be" bullsh*t for years, and most fall for it.
- etjossem 13y ago
  > art, history, women studies and other (financially) useless stuff The average salary expectation for someone who does calligraphy for four years is much lower than a CS major. On the other hand, I can name several large companies in the area that succeeded by not dismissing the humanities as useless. http://stratechery.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Apple-Tech-LiberalArts.SteveJobs.jpg http://stratechery.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Apple-Tech...

api 13y ago

You're right that techies haven't experienced the great recession... or at least have avoided the worst of it. But the group I am referring to -- overprivileged over-educated trust fund kids engaging in faux-outrage as a form of entertainment -- are also isolated from the realities you mention... perhaps even more so, since techies have to actually work. What these people are doing is basically LARPing. IndyMedia is their big LARPing portal site where they pretend to be radicals. Fuck these people.

ye 13y ago

The irony of your comment only emphasizes how little you understand that NONE of it is techies' fault. Is it their fault they thought about the future and picked tough but useful majors? Is it their fault that hipsters chose art, history, women studies and other (financially) useless stuff, just because that's what they liked to do? Is it their fault that hipsters feel entitled to a high paying job?

thomasz 13y ago
Not everybody can be part of the glorious STEM master race!
- null_ptr 13y ago
  Nor does everyone need to be. Taking a walk through any city in the United States, one will observe millions of people leading healthy, productive lives doing work in a variety of fields, both blue and white collar.
- ye 13y ago
  Sure, I have no problem with people doing art or studying history or women or philosophy. My problem is with the entitlement and the attacks on the people who chose financially more successful professions. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE LOVE LOVE art. I just don't think our society has so many gifted artists. I've taken many art classes in college and most art students sucked, truly sucked at art. There were objectively great artists among them, but I'd say fewer than 10%.
jacalata 13y ago
As a techie, I'm not sure most of them 'thought about the future and picked a tough but useful major'. More like, most of them (including myself) picked the most interesting major, and tada, it's worth money!
- ye 13y ago
  I partially agree with you. I think ALL college/uni students must be forced to go through career counselling once a year. Too many young people are fed "you're a special snowflake, you can be whatever you want to be" bullsh*t for years, and most fall for it.
etjossem 13y ago
> art, history, women studies and other (financially) useless stuff The average salary expectation for someone who does calligraphy for four years is much lower than a CS major. On the other hand, I can name several large companies in the area that succeeded by not dismissing the humanities as useless. http://stratechery.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Apple-Tech-LiberalArts.SteveJobs.jpg http://stratechery.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Apple-Tech...