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Comment by maxxxxx | Hacker News Reader

He should rename this to "Working outside the millionaire bubble". Plenty of people in tech feel the squeeze too. What it comes down to is that a lot of people with money have lost touch with the rest.

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Plenty of people in tech, especially in the Bay Area, have never known anything but a quite comfortable middle class (or better) life. They're very much disconnected ("in a bubble") from what it's like to live a lower-class (which has an upper income much higher than the poverty level) life in this country.

The disconnect between high-paid techies and the lower-class is in many respects far greater than between the billionaire and the millionaire.

To me the main difference is whether people can afford housing , a family and be confident that their retirement will be OK. In that sense a lot of tech workers also have fears about the future whereas people like Blank will never have to worry about existential issues. That's the main difference to me. It used to be that a middle class job would ensure a safe future but that's getting less.

No matter how big money people make and how comfortable their way of life is, they always think themselves as lower-middle-class and claim they are on the verge of financial difficulties.

Do they?

I feel like I can afford whatever I want, and I don’t think I make more money than most people on HN.

Do you have a house? A boat? Recreational vehicle? A private plane?

Maybe your wants are modest :)

Isn't the same true on the other side? If you ask working class people they'll usually say they're middle class.

They're as much in a bubble as the people in classes far enough above them if that's so. Much of what they think they know of the middle class comes from pop culture (e.g. TV shows, back in the day) or their very limited interaction with friends or their children's friends' families who actually are middle class. When I was growing up (working class, impoverished frequently) my parents never would have described us as "middle class."

People in tech rarely feel the squeeze to the degree that those in service / manufacturing industries do.

No? I spend 30 hours or so a week learning my trade. No one else does unless they get paid for it.

I think it's pretty similar with artists, musicians, writers, etc -- pretty much any other creative field. The difference is that we get paid a lot more.

We get paid ok but most of us barely have one home. There is no common bond between the regular tech guy and a successful VC. Different worlds.

> We get paid ok but most of us barely have one home.

If the average 'tech' worker is 28 and single, that's normal, not a sign of 'squeezing'.

I think you got it the other way around.

I am 29, and single...

But I am single BECAUSE I am nowhere near owning a home, in fact I don't own a home, or a car, or anything, to the point I stopped looking for a girlfriend because... why bother? It is not like I can even take her to a cinema.

Neither me nor my girlfriend own a car or a house (and hopefully we never will). Why would either of those be an issue? Plenty of people date and live together in apartments.

Certainly, before I had a tech job none of my service level jobs left me with any money in the bank, if I got fired I had no money period. Now if I lose my job I have a few months.

I don't know anyone working in tech who worries about affording food. At most tech workers worry about affording a big enough apartment/house.

Oh but dont worry - tens of thousands of tech millionaires will be heading up to burning man to show just how in touch with humanity they are.

/s-ish

> He should rename this to "Working outside the millionaire bubble".

Calling it a tech bubble or even a millionaire bubble is bordering on offensive.

Sure I'm probably in a tech bubble and I'm probably in a millionaire bubble, but I'm not in Steve Blank's billionaire bubble. Compared to Steve Blank, I'm hurting financially.

> What it comes down to is that a lot of people with money have lost touch with the rest.

Have people with money ever been in touch with the rest?

"Sure I'm probably in a tech bubble and I'm probably in a millionaire bubble, but I'm not in Steve Blank's billionaire bubble. Compared to Steve Blank, I'm hurting financially."

That's exactly my point. He is trying to bond with all tech people but most of us make OK money but we are far from his position in life.

Reminds me a little of polticians talking "folksy" while they probably never ever interact with working class.

Yeah I agree with you.

I'm sure he interacts with the working class, but let's not lose sight of the fact that he has as much money as 2500 millionaires.

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