Title should read: "Upper class hedge fund manager thinks engineers make too much money, wants it for himself".
No, the goal was to keep it tilted in capital's favor. Which group wields greater decision-making power? Which type of income is more lightly taxed? Capital vehicles (corporations) have almost all of the rights and practically none of the responsibilities - or vulnerabilities such as mortality or geographic limitation - of human laborers. Yes, the playing field needs to be leveled ... the other way.
It seems lots of people commenting here want Google to be a sinecure program for superfluous engineers. They're ardently pro-capitalist when it comes to startups and VC money and fleecing the proles with predatory advertising. But curiously left-wing and we're-all-in-this-together when their privileges are threatened.
I think painting this as a "capitalists vs the left" thing is reductive and unhelpful. Personally, speaking as someone who Americans would probably consider extreme-left, I very much agree with your second paragraph, but I don't see this as "capitalism vs the left", I see it as the elite rich abusing their position to the detriment of everyone else. A story as old as time.
And frankly, if the son of a mechanic can get to the point of earning $2m/day, that's an indication that he has some amount of clue.
He has a clue how he should be paid more, yes.
Google is worth as much as it is because it can afford the best engineers. If it can't, they'll go elsewhere and it won't be worth that much. Obviously they should all be replaced with offshore contractors.
“wants it for his investors”
His job is to advocate on behalf of his investors to get the best return he can. For this service he is well paid. We need to stop demonizing people for doing their job, successfully. Just because he is rich doesn’t mean his argument is wrong.
Even when their job is to actively hurt you, your family, and those around you?
W.T.F.
I mean I hate to bring up the analogy, but at the Nuremberg Trials we hung people for 'just doing their job' because just following orders can lead to millions dead and other completely and totally terrible outcomes for humanity.
He doesn't go into any detail outside of "fire people and pay the ones you don't fire less"
He's just a parasite on society who wants to suck more blood.
Surely if it drops back below 92 he'll change his mind ...
Seems reasonable to me. We learned how inefficient conglomerates are back in the 60s/70s.
> I don’t like this guy’s job.
You:
> But it’s his job.
Right, they already said that part. They still don’t like his job.
Other people:
> This guy is wrong because of his job and the fact that he's apparently good enough at it that he's become rich.
Me:
> Neither of these facts has anything to do with his argument. He's neither right nor wrong based on his job or his success at his job.