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Comment by ditonal | Hacker News Reader

The engineer personality profile is basically allergic to organizing. Too passive and introverted, or delusionally individualistic. Silicon Valley engineers see themselves as temporarily embarrassed hotshot entrepreneurs. The funny thing is to the extent engineers do organize it’s usually leftist organization for the lower wage workers (tech workers coalition), which is noble but doesn’t advance engineer goals. Police, teachers, doctors, all have political organization and therefore voice but tech workers cede that voice to their execs. I fantasize about changing that but I’ve come to accept the personality profiles of engineers make it an impossible problem.

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I'm an engineer; I wrote the piece in the OP. I'm running for DCCC and am a political activist. We exist! Support my campaign :) https://buss2020.org/donate

If the thesis were true, why wouldn't VCs get into the landlord game? Seems like they would want to lessen this effect, if it were actually the case.

Private capital is certainly getting into the landlord game--and in record numbers.

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2019/02/singl...

https://www.bloomberg.com/quicktake/rent-wall-street-is-my-l...

I have goals. They pay me six figures, but I'm not on track to own a home within biking distance of the office, and as an individual, I can't move the office.

I don't get to control who owns my tech company, which means I don't get to decide what our superordinate goals are. I don't get to decide who our customers are. I don't get to decide the extent to which we participate in the Military-Industrial Complex, or the Prison-Industrial Complex, each of which threatened to destroy people like me.

Due to the constraints of office hours, my social development and creative passions are extruded through a meager four hours before sleep—most of which must be spent on trains, due to housing and transit limitations.

If you don't think tech workers are alienated, you're fooling yourself. It's industry-standars to "burn out" every 3 years, and flee toxic, stagnant positions for a fresh workplace. This tells me that firms are unaccommodating, and foist the risk of personal development on us as individuals. That refusal to accommodate us is precisely the inhumane factor fomenting alienation.

What you've "come to accept" is your own vitality's truncation.

Edit: people are downvoting me for saying "I can't afford to live near my work or my friends"? Or because they're in denial of Tech's complicity in Military- and Prison-Industrial atrocities?

I didn't downvote you for being dissatisfied with your circumstances. I downvoted you for whining whine refusing to take responsibility for your actions or take steps to improve the situation. There are cheaper places to live and work.

The harsh reality is that we need a military and prisons, and there's nothing inherently wrong with tech companies selling to those industries. While there are occasional excesses and even criminal acts, those are best dealt with through governmental channels.

I totally agree with you that we almost certainly need some version of those things, but I’m curious specifically about the “best dealt with through government channels.” approach to how this person chooses to address concerns.

There will always be someone telling detractors to “let the government deal with problems” and there will always be people telling detractors to “use their own personal wallet—let your cash do the talking” and there is always someone telling concerned people to “band together with others who feel the same and take action.” etc...

I’m certainly not accusing you of personally using all of those other slogans, you seem content with your own choices, but at some point, people have to realize, address it how you personally see fit, there will absolutely never be a way one can draw attention to an issue or even attempt to change an issue which would be free from someone condemning their choice. Someone will always say “no, you’re doing it wrong.

Someone will always chime in to say “do nothing” or “organize” or “spend the correct way” or whatever. In the end, I’m not sure we accomplish much by condemning others personal choices. Unless of course our goal is to just not rock the boat, in which case, this never do it correctly approach probably works.

These are mere justifications of the steps I'm taking.

You don't know what steps I'm taking.

You assume I'm taking none, but actually I am taking drastic, radical steps in light of these circumstances.

So domestic terrorism then?

No.

Edit: if you think worker-organizing to establish vehicles for collective bargaining is domestic terrorism, then: yes.

I have goals. They pay me six figures, but I'm not on track to own a home within biking distance of the office,

I have goals, earn six figures and had a 3100 square foot house built in the burbs within a 30 minute commute of where I work less than three years ago. I’m also “in tech” and probably, my six figure salary is a lot lower than yours.

and as an individual, and from where I don't get to control who owns my tech company, which means I don't get to decide what our superordinate goals are.

The last company I worked for decided to move their offices to a place in the metro area that wouldn’t have been the commute I desired. “I changed my office location” by calling up the many external recruiters in my network and had them find my a job closer to where I live.

I don't get to decide who our customers are. I don't get to decide the extent to which we participate in the Military-Industrial Complex, or the Prison-Industrial Complex, each of which threatened to destroy people like me.

I decide that all of the time by choosing the company I work for. I got to make all of the other decisions by choosing to live in another part of the country where the cost of living versus what I could make as a software developer was a lot more in sync with my goals. My last three jobs have been in the healthcare industry.

That attitude is carefully encouraged to keep unions away.

Thank you for calling that out: it’s interesting seeing how resistant tech workers have been to basic market negotiation while we have such a culture around things like long hours, poor working conditions, being blamed for management failures, etc.

This is false. The problem is not tech vs nontech. The problem is young vs old. The old control politics and are very adverse to change.

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