Re: [PLUG] Tech jobs and politics

[Mental <Mental@NeverLight.com>]

<troll (duh)> 

You guys don't pay attention much do you? How is what's happening in the
tech sector any different from what happened in textiles/steel/auto
manufacturing? Face it, we're a comodity and as has happened in the past
we'll be SOL without innovating. There is no future for 'programmers' with
a huge salary. You dont need a fancy education to do it. You don't need
anything other than the desire to do it. And unfortunatly you dont even
need to do it well as long as you do it cheaply. 

Economic sanctions? Foreign wage taxes? Imposing export tarrifs on labor?
Yeah, that'll work. Sure. This scene has played out many times. With
golbalization the only thing thats different is the pace at which it
occurs. At the end of the day, so long as the people are docile cattle,
they will be treated as such. The conditions in america today are FAR from
pre-revolution. The middle class is complacent and will remain so until
unemployment breaks %10. Then they'll start to grumble. 

Yes, we're in a down turn now. It may level out and even improve
somewhat later. The days of making 100k/year working on a
scrape/splat/thunk website are long past. We're no different from every
other class of worker. IT sucks, teaching sucks, the pay for lots of
things sucks. If you really want to make a bunch of money, you have to
take a bunch of risks. Start a company. Come up with the next big idea.
Write a book. Do something that 100000 other people aren't trying to do
more cheaply than yourself. And more importantly, really kill yourself
trying. So many people complain a lot and do very little.

I've seen these conversations so many times. Lets all sit around and
bitch. Blame it all on some guy coming from worse economic situations than
us. Blame it on a company thats more interrested in turning a profit than
making people have warm fuzzies. Its really funny. The economy sucks,
nobody will pay me. Software should be free. Music should be free.
Downloading movies shouldn't be illegal. The table turns, companies decide
labor should be free. Yes, its an inflamatory over simplification, but its
still amusing. There is a certain amount of self centeredness on
everybodies part. 

I happen to be working now. I'm grateful for it. I remember living in a
$250/month hole at one point when I was really broke. I remember spending
a couple months without even that. If need be, I can do it again. I'd be
interrested to know how many people really do something about things like
this..... big business owns us. We are consumers, not citizens. Citizens
vote. Citizens try to get people involved. Consumers are a resource you tap for cash. Most americans can't be bothered to think for themselves. Economic hardship? Sure, but there's a case of beer in the fridge and its payday. 

One class after another this has happened. I would be shocked, and happily
proven wrong, to see anything different here. There is a large supply,
including cheap labor, and a small demand. And ultimately, as long as you
work for someone else, you get what you're given. The pendulum has swung the
other way. Maybe I'll take what money I have saved and open a restaraunt..... 

You really want things to change? Vote. Make your family vote. Explain
things to people in language they understand. Let me know how it works
out, I'll be eating chips and watching reality tv and wondering why my
mass produced yellow fizzy beer hasn't lured the swedish bikini team over
for a rave.

</troll>

--
Mental (Mental@NeverLight.com)

CARPE NOCTEM, QUAM MINIMUM CREDULA POSTERO.

GPG public key: http://www.neverlight.com/pas/Mental.asc

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