The hype about an incoming wave of tech IPOs has underscored SF's tensions
newyorker.com
newyorker.com
SF, in the post IPO-3.0 glow is sure a short place. It's in transition.
The big battles to IPO and get paid for all that delayed gratification, are over.
These unicorns are made real in all their off-white reality, trailing glitter scintillae as they trot in fresh mud. Of course, not all the IPOs are mainfest, but all can see them coming.
It's like waiting outside the classroom for your friends after your last final of the year, in that early evening light of May, but before they are out of theirs'. The party is coming, but you are very tired from cramming, and your friends are still crunching away. So you sit, watch others plop out of the test, have a cigarette to pass time, enjoy the sun-warm concrete seep into your feet and thighs, and take a nip out of the flask.
That's the feeling I get out of SF now, out of this article. The exhausted biding of time.
San Francisco has become a parody of civilization. This paragraph reads like a description of an Earth-themed tourist stop. A collection of shallow signifiers of what it's like to be a human, that you can take home and show your friends and family to prove you visited.
LA is the same. Let's please not bash SF and tech un-deservely.
Heck, I'd say places like Miami, Vegas or LA are much worse in this department. (i.e. the ridiculous concept stores).
This means retail shops need to capitalize on discovery and unique items. Especially items that are unique enough that people can't just snap a pic and order/price-compare it online.
OP's hatred of San Francisco blinded him to the simple truth.
Stores like these are great for buying small gifts for people impossible to shop for (they already have everything!) and if nothing else the items are usually optimised to be a talking point.
It's funny that someone who embraces the immigrant culture of San Francisco, is so anti-immigration when other people also want to immigrate to San Francisco in search of higher wages and a better life.
Source from quartz showing that foreign born citizens earn higher wages: [link](https://qz.com/781527/immigrants-are-getting-more-out-of-ame...)
And in passing she name checks Philz as part of her listing all that is gone is replaced by start up millions spiel. I’m not a fan of Phil personally, but thats between me and him. Whats interesting is the story of Philz. He had a corner store on a corner with 2 other corner stores. His wasn’t doing any business. Phil, I assume he’s an immigrant, rolled up his sleeves and went to work. He experimented with coffee and figured out the whole pour over deal. He got a good mention in the SF Weekly back when weekly papers were still vibrant. Word spread. I went to Philz to see what the fuss was. He had one pour over station. The store still had metro racks with canned goods and a cooler with soda pop. Phil made my first drink at Philz. The interesting part is how Phil turned a dying corner store into a growing business with backing. In the passing example of Philz by the author, she shows how shallow and superficial her article really is. She knows nothing really about Philz. She only knows he’s backed by millions. Philz is a classic american success story. And so are many of the tech businesses.
Yes, money sitting in my bank account doesn't make me happy.
However, my Porsche makes me quite happy. The townhouse I lived in brought me peace on the weekends. Buying plane tickets to wherever on a whim makes me happy. Buying nice clothes and wearing them makes me happy. Spending money to further my knowledge just because makes me happy.
Money can make LOTS of people VERY happy, up to a certain point. Supposedly after 80k$, after you've been relieved of basic stresses like rent and finding food, more money will make you less happy per increment.
If you are an unhappy person with a minimum of 80k$, then the bottleneck to your happiness is not money.
Merely more money doesn't make ALL people happy ALL the time.
On that I can afford to live in a very comfortable apartment without roommates, eat out at decent (non-fast-food) restaurants for basically every meal if I want to, have an active social life and hobbies, and still put about 10% into savings each month. I can easily say that making more money would not have an impact on my happiness.
The Bay Area is so non-representative of the U.S. that it's not even funny.
Work life balance and all that.
The statement also doesn't say that money makes people sad. Your form of happiness, would you still be happy if you don't have money?
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qualia
[2] https://lifehacker.com/utilize-the-steel-man-tactic-to-argue...
People measure happiness through gains and losses, not total accumulation. Having more disposable income means a higher probability of gains.
Are you genuinely happy when you have a nice car and nice clothes, or are you merely matching the expectations of happiness of our current society? These things are the very definition of status symbol, and ultimately they are out of you control.
Imho happiness based on material things is very limited once you have the basics. When your parents are one step from death, when you get a kid, when your good health will slowly leave you &c. Your Porsche and your nice cloths will be way down on your list of happiness sources.
Basing internal happiness on external things seems like a recipe for disaster. First there is no limit on how much shit money can buy, second material things have no power against the true life hardships. You might temporarily delay some of them but that's a far cry from "happiness".
Skiing requires skis. Hiking requires boots. Photography requires a camera. Driving requires a car. Sure you can do all of those activities much more cheaply, and spending will not automatically improve your skills or enjoyment, but when you are really into something there is a certain very real pleasure in using excellent gear. It’s not social status, in fact it often costs social status and stresses relationships to nerd out about your hobby that way.