San Francisco tech nerds: Poor people are "trash" and need to "stay out"

[Indy Texas]

San Francisco is not a particularly nice place. If any more proof is needed, one only has to look at the Facebook postings of the startup techies who think they're God's gift to the world because twenty people have downloaded their app from the iTunes store.

Greg Gopman's rant went something like this...

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Remind me again how much better 90% of what Silicon Valley has done has made my life or anyone else's better. These are people who use other people's money to make "apps" that no one wants to use, that generate no revenue, and that produce no returns for shareholders. Find me a tech company that has actually had positive earnings per share over the past year. Find me a tech company that has paid a dime of earnings to their shareholders. Explain why anyone outside of the Bay Area should give a crap that you coded an app that lets people arrange for helicopters to take them to work because the icky, unwashed BART workers are on strike since your presence in the city has made living there unaffordable for them.

The media loves to demonize the real economy - oil, coal, natural resources, retail - things that provide tangible goods and services to people and create jobs for everyone from the rich to the poor. Maybe instead of protesting McDonald's and Wal-Mart for not paying their poor, unskilled workers as much as you'd like, or protesting oil companies that provide entry to the middle class for thousands of people who never set foot in college, liberals ought to protest the tech industry that creates zero jobs for anyone who didn't go to Stanford or major in computer science, produces zero shareholder value, provides no beneficial products or services to the economy as a whole, and that literally wishes poor people didn't exist.

[danny]

Remind me again how much better 90% of what Silicon Valley has done has made my life or anyone else's better.

Interesting complaint to make on an internet forum.

These are people who use other people's money to make "apps" that no one wants to use, that generate no revenue, and that produce no returns for shareholders.

Sure, no one uses technology from silicon valley...

Find me a tech company that has actually had positive earnings per share over the past year. Find me a tech company that has paid a dime of earnings to their shareholders. Explain why anyone outside of the Bay Area should give a crap that you coded an app that lets people arrange for helicopters to take them to work because the icky, unwashed BART workers are on strike since your presence in the city has made living there unaffordable for them.

Apple is either number one or two in profits in the world.

[Adam Griffin]

Jesus, these yuppies ought to try to walk in downtown Atlanta and see what a homeless problem really looks like. I remember being quite impressed by the mannerisms and overall attitudes of the homeless in SF (maybe because they receive stipends and have shreds of human dignity remaining). Plus, SF is basically perfect for homeless people, considering its reliable climate.

[Oakvale]

"The real economy" as a phrase should be taken out back and shot. Or alternatively learn something, anything, about the most basic economics and why tech companies making a lot of money is a good thing.

[Napoleon]

"The real economy" as a phrase should be taken out back and shot.

People mad that they can't get $30/hour to do unskilled labor these days; take it out on those who got an education and applied it.

[Oakvale]

"The real economy" as a phrase should be taken out back and shot.

People mad that they can't get $30/hour to do unskilled labor these days; take it out on those who got an education and applied it.

If you're not welding steel you're yuppie trash.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

Digital tech development tends to be overhyped imo, but it's not like it doesn't add value.  And this is the comment of one dude we are talking about right? I'm sure there are others in SF with those views but at least it's not like other cities that are actually trying to ban homeless people from large sections of the city.

[TheDeadFlagBlues]

"The real economy" as a phrase should be taken out back and shot. Or alternatively learn something, anything, about the most basic economics and why tech companies making a lot of money is a good thing.

Is it though? Structural change is a hard sell when we have a political economy that allows the prosperity that flows from productivity gains to be monopolized by a few while the harm caused by such structural change is allowed to be severe without any attempt to provide a public remedy.

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

ITT: neoliberal circlejerk

[TheDeadFlagBlues]

It's hard to have much sympathy for the tech industry when I've been bombarded with the idea that they're saviors for ages. Filth like this doesn't help:

[Indy Texas]

"The real economy" as a phrase should be taken out back and shot. Or alternatively learn something, anything, about the most basic economics and why tech companies making a lot of money is a good thing.

Did you not read my post? They DON'T make a lot of money. Zynga isn't making a profit. Neither is Twitter. Neither are 90% of the BS apps that these guys are duping angel investors and VC into forking over money for. I'm not talking about Apple and companies that actually make sh!t and do sh!t. I'm talking about the joke world that is the typical Valley start-up.

[DC Al Fine]

"The real economy" as a phrase should be taken out back and shot. Or alternatively learn something, anything, about the most basic economics and why tech companies making a lot of money is a good thing.

Did you not read my post? They DON'T make a lot of money. Zynga isn't making a profit. Neither is Twitter. Neither are 90% of the BS apps that these guys are duping angel investors and VC into forking over money for. I'm not talking about Apple and companies that actually make sh!t and do sh!t. I'm talking about the joke world that is the typical Valley start-up.

To add to what Indy said, the tech sector is having ridiculously overvalued companies even when the firms are making money. Yeah, Microsoft, Apple and Intel have transitioned to normal valuations, but then most places aren't like that. Amazon's P/E ratio is something like 1200

[Indy Texas]

Amazon is a unique case, though. There will be plenty of time to turn a profit once they've achieved world domination. Until then, I'll enjoy my access to cheap consumer goods.

Again, Amazon is not what I am talking about. To those who didn't bother reading the article (apparently everyone ITT), I will elaborate on what this guy actually does.

He is the founder of AngelHack which organizes "Hackathons" for web developers. What have these hackathons produced?

Something called Blurpi, which basically amounts to "a fun way to express your spirit for events, passion for causes, and love for brands. Snap a picture and make it instantly unique with a logo of your choice." Because taking a picture of something and then adding a logo to the picture is so totally hard you guys! If not for Blurpi, we would have no way of doing this! They basically invented the ability to add a logo to a photograph! They are masters of the universe!

And then there's Tennis Buddy, which allows you to "find a stranger to to play tennis with you in your area." Because no one has ever been able to find a tennis partner before the invention of Tennis Buddy. Joining a league at the country club didn't exist. Asking a friend to play tennis with you didn't exist. We owe these people our eternal gratitude for making the world a far greater place than it would have been without Tennis Buddy. How dare those disgusting poor people in San Francisco dirty up the place when they can't ever hope to make as vital a contribution to the world as the people who invented Tennis Buddy.

These people think what they're doing matters and it doesn't. They think they're "innovators" when all they are doing is creating redundant apps that fulfill no need that isn't already being met by something someone else already did. I pity the fools whose money is paying for these people to pretend to be doing something productive.

[bedstuy]

Obviously, this is an unproductive complaint about the homeless problem in San Francisco and this guy is a monster.  But, the solution isn't scapegoating the annoying rich people. 

But, let me remind you residents of Mt. Pious, homelessness does actually create social problems that annoy people.  It's annoying to have a homeless man stink up your subway car.  It's annoying to have people panhandling on the streets.  It's annoying to get mugged or stolen from.  Those are legitimate annoyances and I think that's what the guy is responding to.  If you went to downtown San Francisco or Portland, Oregon most of you would be annoyed too. 

The solution though is not to banish these people.  What we ought to do is provide mental healthcare, drug treatment and a better quality of life for poor people.

[Oakvale]

Also - shouldn't the headline read "San Francisco tech nerd"? I'm not sure why you're taking your apparent hatred of an entire industry and assuming this one guy is representative.

(And yes, homeless people can be annoying, I don't think anyone's disputing that. No-one likes getting bothered by some crackhead looking for money. Not that that makes the guy's rant any less gross).

[Indy Texas]

Also - shouldn't the headline read "San Francisco tech nerd"? I'm not sure why you're taking your apparent hatred of an entire industry and assuming this one guy is representative.

(And yes, homeless people can be annoying, I don't think anyone's disputing that. No-one likes getting bothered by some crackhead looking for money. Not that that makes the guy's rant any less gross).

His San Francisco tech nerd friends are as hateful and contemptuous as he is.

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And I don't have hatred for an entire industry. I'm just circumspect enough to see how ludicrously overvalued it is financially, how nonsensical a lot of the ventures that money is being spent on are, and how absurdly inflated the egos of these people are when most of them have about as much positive impact on their city and the world as the homeless people they hate so much.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Also - shouldn't the headline read "San Francisco tech nerd"? I'm not sure why you're taking your apparent hatred of an entire industry and assuming this one guy is representative.

(And yes, homeless people can be annoying, I don't think anyone's disputing that. No-one likes getting bothered by some crackhead looking for money. Not that that makes the guy's rant any less gross).

Actually it should read "San Francisco tech CEO".

[pbrower2a]

Many things from music to books and art can be made 'virtual'. Housing, furniture, fuel, clothing, plumbing, and food cannot be made 'virtual'. It may be possible to have a bay window in an apartment in Kansas City having a virtual view of San Francisco Bay (or for that matter the rings of Saturn) -- but there is no making a 'virtual' loaf of bread.
 
The 'old economy' still has its necessity, and the virtual economy can be devalued with any new obsolescence. Tech nerds take note: you can't eat terabytes of information.  The world still needs loggers and ranch hands.

In about forty years the world will have many "Baby Doe" types, deluded into believing that their former wealth from high technology of their best days, is no longer relevant -- and the money that they got from it is no more. Some will be cold and hungry. 

[MaxQue]

And anyways, something needs to be done about homeless people. Those people usually need support, a job, social housing, help, mental healthcare or a combinaison of some of those things.

It wouldn't be intellectually honest to pretend than homelessness doesn't cause problems. In my city, most buildings in the downtown had to strenghten their door because drunk homeless people were breaking into buildings and storages to help under a roof (they were refused by the shelter because they were drunk).

[tik 🪀✨]

Someone is an asshole because they're ignorant about poverty and happen to work in one sector of the economy transitions into the idea that everyone who works in that sector is an asshole and their entire sector is useless? What the hell kind of logic is that?

Now breathe. Look around you. You either typed that OP on a desktop, laptop, tablet, or phone all thanks to the tech industry you're decrying. You did so on the internet (tech sector) on a forum (tech sector). Hardware and software are everywhere. You are bathing in an ocean and cursing the water.

Sure, this guy's a twat waffle. Don't let it rub off on you. He lacks empathy and reasoning. He's privileged. Hate him and his words. His industry, though, benefits us all whether we like it or not, and there are plenty of good people there.

[Indy Texas]

Someone is an asshole because they're ignorant about poverty and happen to work in one sector of the economy transitions into the idea that everyone who works in that sector is an asshole and their entire sector is useless? What the hell kind of logic is that?

Now breathe. Look around you. You either typed that OP on a desktop, laptop, tablet, or phone all thanks to the tech industry you're decrying. You did so on the internet (tech sector) on a forum (tech sector). Hardware and software are everywhere. You are bathing in an ocean and cursing the water.

Sure, this guy's a twat waffle. Don't let it rub off on you. He lacks empathy and reasoning. He's privileged. Hate him and his words. His industry, though, benefits us all whether we like it or not, and there are plenty of good people there.

As I have already made a point to clarify in this thread, I am not damning every single enterprise that involves semiconductors. The neighborhood of the tech industry that this guy and others like him operate in has nothing to do with the companies that make the devices we are having this discussion on. And are you seriously going to compare the scientists and engineers who "invented" the Internet to the self-important tools who made this thing?

The difference between the two is like the difference between a bank lending money to a company to expand its operations, and a bank using that money to move derivatives around that do nothing to manage market risk and exist solely to generate fees and commissions for the bank itself. The first one creates economic value; the second one doesn't. When you criticize the second one, you're not implicitly criticizing the first one or "finance" in general.

When companies like Apple and IBM make a lot of money, it is by providing goods and services to customers that indisputably benefit them. The people of Blurpi and other similar firms have done nothing more than amassed absurd amounts of venture capital by assigning completely unrealistic valuations to their firms, generating no profits, and doing all of this by convincing themselves and others that "someday" they're going to create value. These people haven't even accomplished anything and the level of arrogance they conduct themselves with is completely unjustified.

So when the Randian techie I grew up with who now makes apps for a living and blithely suggests that somehow unemployment will vanish forever if everyone just "learns to code" brags on Facebook and Twitter about how wonderful his new app is - it's video calling - I want to tear my hair out and scream, "YOU DOUCHEBAG, WE ALREADY HAVE THAT! IT'S CALLING F@#$ING FACETIME! IT'S CALLED F@#$ING SKYPE! ARE YOU SERIOUSLY GETTING PAID FOR THIS S#!@!"

[King]

Wow what a worthless thread who cares?

[Хahar 🤔]

Wow what a worthless thread who cares?

To be fair, I'm not sure what I was expecting when I clicked the title.

[LastVoter]

"The real economy" as a phrase should be taken out back and shot.

People mad that they can't get $30/hour to do unskilled labor these days; take it out on those who got an education and applied it.

What's wrong with that?

[MaxQue]

"The real economy" as a phrase should be taken out back and shot.

People mad that they can't get $30/hour to do unskilled labor these days; take it out on those who got an education and applied it.

What's wrong with that?

It's counterproductive. It brings nothing to the unskilled workers, but being hated by the rest of the population, which doesn't help to receive help. Also, it's splitting the working and middle classes, so they don't focus on their common enemy, which is the real enemy. Upper finance.