mwnz

Not sure that you can consider the activation silent, given that they prompted people in their news feeds.

+1 to this. Like the news media haven't spent the last century abusing their influence on society.

As a resident of SF I find coffee-shop laptop users to be a pest in busy cafes. Coffee shops are a great social environment, and dominating a seat for an extended period of time while you are immersed in your computer runs counter to that culture.

Great article. Not hacker news.

Why do you think H1B employees are paid lower salaries? And what long-term liabilities are you referring to?

What advantage does that give the company?

Why do you assume they aren't getting paid market wages? Your statement, in a way, is contradictory. Engineers are perceived as scarce, but they aren't paid market wages.

Just as he took the time to speak to Ed Lee?

I think you need to chill out a bit.

As a tech worker living in San Francisco, his 'open letter' infuriated me. If anything, it makes my life here more difficult, and reflects poorly on the industry I work in. Unintended consequence? Probably. But I will happily vent my frustration with his callousness, lack of tact and compassion, just as he vented his frustrations.

You're missing the point. And it's a big point to miss.

Oh cry me a river. There is a theme evolving, and the media have latched onto it. Are lawyers and school teachers continually writing these self-righteous 'open letters'? Are lawyers and teachers of a growing, sufficient mass in a city that is struggling to serve a great proportion of it's population (for various, complicated reasons)? No.

Life is easier for 'us' than the mentally ill, the addicts, and those with less luck in life. When a self aggrandizing 20 something white guy working in a prosperous industry starts complaining like this, with the intent of attracting attention, it promotes a stereotype of a lack of sensitivity, and compassion for those around us.

Prestige and respect? Earn it, as a person. Compassion is part of that equation. You don't earn it by becoming a programmer or working in tech.

Idiots like the author give tech workers a bad name. The move reeks of a publicity stunt, and the appropriate response would be for the industry to reject whatever startup he is fronting.

Take note, Auckland. The same dynamics exist there.

TBH, the author sounds like he would end up in a place that sells $15 IPA's. That's says more about the author, than SF.

Glancing through the comments, it looks like the troll has succeeded. SF bashing has begun.

You don't have to move here, so chill out, people.

Ugh, don't feed the troll.

Do big companies really keep failing? I'm failing to see the evidence of that assertion.

Wage slavery is just fine as long as I can feed myself. Time has proven that the fantasy that we will all kick back and let the machines do all of our work is a fallacy.

You won't love them less, but they will grow up in a world where they are not necessary. They will struggle to feed themselves, and the value of their effort will be low. They will be relegated to mundane, highly simplified tasks. Economics are cruel.

How on earth is this a peaceful thought?

Successful for the company. Not necessarily the population.

Again?

This really isn't gaming the H-1B system at all.

> We're living in a lite version of that utopian world today, actually. It's pretty damn cheap to live in Canada or the US

Well, this is a prime example of why our trajectory is not converging to utopia. 'Things' are cheap, yet income inequality is extremely high in the countries. 'Things' will always come at a cost. Those who profit in the absence of labor will be a small subset of the population. The land owners, the farmers, those with political control. Sound familiar?

Welfare may be good enough in socialist democratic countries to live in relative comfort, but that is being subsidized by those who work (and I agree with this strategy). The assumption you are making is that if labor were removed from the equation, these countries would continue to exist as they are. I disagree with this premise.

We have always found new things to work on. But at the same time, jobs have become more monotonous as they are minified. The rate of automation is exponential, which hasn't been seen before. The assumption that we will all move into knowledge work is a poor assumption. Bob the builder wants to use his hands, not his brain. And good on him for being him.

Yes, but that greencard processes like the EB2 take a very long time. It is difficult for an employer to sign up an employee, with the hope that they begin work 12 months later. This processing period can easily balloon out due to random audits.

Granted, the H1B process is slow too.

I have heard this utopian fantasy before. It's kinda laughable. Remember, greed will never disappear. Greed breaks the utopian hypothesis.

Agreed. The abuse of the system is the symptom of a broken system. The real solution is to revise the policy. Policy regulates. The market seeks to circumvent regulation.

Agreed. I came to the comments to post something to this effect.

Google+ had photos?

Sure, I'd raise my hand. But this is a very strange point for the OP to raise. Driverless cars are not at option at this time (calm down, I know they exist, I cycle amongst them daily). In the future, sure.