Surely earnings are the "economic" part of "socio-economic status". Plus Google and a lot of other tech companies are just a few decades old. What kind of institutional memory can they possibly have, other than generic startup culture which is decidedly multicultural at this point.
Surely earnings are the "economic" part of "socio-economic status". Plus Google and a lot of other tech companies are just a few decades old. What kind of institutional memory can they possibly have, other than generic startup culture which is decidedly multicultural at this point.
My point is that surely it's obvious that immigrant high earners come from a different culture than the old native variety. Do people in your social circle commonly talk about their experiences sacrificing goats? How about this: I know a guy who as a child in elementary school witnessed sanitation workers chase down, butcher and cook a dog in an adjacent parking lot. And yet that cultural background doesn't prevent them from ascending to the top tiers of the country in terms of income. That is one of the truly wondering aspects of this country: cultural differences are no impediment to joining the ranks of the upper class.
"I personally can't think of anything less important than earnings when it comes to one's placement within that hierarchy." Within reason I agree; however you need to at least occupy that portion of the economic spectrum designated as "comfortable". It is hard to imagine somebody who is homeless or living in a basement apartment in a slum being able to afford to patronize the types of bars or restaurants frequented by the right type of people. But surely the point with being comfortable is that you have to get there first. And also surely we can recognize that the country is so big and so diverse that it contains a multiplicity of hierarchies. I am sure that I can name people that I have met that I would consider famous that you have never heard of, and vice versa.
Finally, geek culture is actually stunningly diverse. Why? Because its most salient feature is that the almighty dollar conquers everything. The demographics of tech have for decades been driven by one overriding phenomenon: a short of qualified people compared to the number of jobs available. That meant that in the 1970's and 1980's it pulled in generally intelligent individuals whose sole qualification was that they handle the job: across the industry it was probably more common to have a co-worker who had majored in French or History or English Lit in college rather than CS or engineering, or one who had never gone to college at all. Starting in the 1990's it also meant importing labor from overseas, lots of labor. I can recall visiting enormous tech campuses near Boston and eating in enormous cafeterias that were 90% Indian or Chinese. Every been to Dallas? They have move houses than show exclusively Bollywood fare. Plus "Fun Asia One", the local Indian radio station that in addition to broadcasting news and entertainment items of interest to the Desi population also answered questions on green cards and H1B's. And don't even get me started on the Valley, or SoCal, or NYC.
ARGH! I can't stop replying! Sorry, but two more thoughts:
1) I have posted before about a friend of mine who has a master's in poli sci. Now of course it's not like the job market for that field is booming, but she did take a look around and in an attempt to be relevant her thesis was on international cybersecurity. I am given to understand that her advisor thought it was first rate.
But she makes a living delivering pizzas. Maybe the job market for poli sci majors isn't all that great but she has other obstacles. She comes from a working class background, obviously so. She smokes. She has tattoos. She listens to the wrong kind of music and watches the wrong kind of movies. She is a poor fit culturally. And so she delivers pizzas with six figures worth of debt. I can't help but think that if she knew how to code that I am personally familiar with any number of techies with tattoos, who smoke and listen to heavy metal.
2) You and I are in similar situations in that the majority of our co-workers are Asian. If your co-workers occupy a similar demographic niche as mine then they probably also have stories about sacrificing goats. My co-workers revealed their stories to me while shooting the breeze over a couple of beers. There was much merriment from those assembled at the table--both native and foreign born. Have your co-workers ever talked to you about the time they watched from their classroom window as some garbagemen killed and cooked up a dog in the parking lot next door? Could it be that a requirement for "cosmopolitanism" is causing them to self-censor?
Surely earnings are the "economic" part of "socio-economic status". Plus Google and a lot of other tech companies are just a few decades old. What kind of institutional memory can they possibly have, other than generic startup culture which is decidedly multicultural at this point.
My point is that surely it's obvious that immigrant high earners come from a different culture than the old native variety. Do people in your social circle commonly talk about their experiences sacrificing goats? How about this: I know a guy who as a child in elementary school witnessed sanitation workers chase down, butcher and cook a dog in an adjacent parking lot. And yet that cultural background doesn't prevent them from ascending to the top tiers of the country in terms of income. That is one of the truly wondering aspects of this country: cultural differences are no impediment to joining the ranks of the upper class.
"I personally can't think of anything less important than earnings when it comes to one's placement within that hierarchy." Within reason I agree; however you need to at least occupy that portion of the economic spectrum designated as "comfortable". It is hard to imagine somebody who is homeless or living in a basement apartment in a slum being able to afford to patronize the types of bars or restaurants frequented by the right type of people. But surely the point with being comfortable is that you have to get there first. And also surely we can recognize that the country is so big and so diverse that it contains a multiplicity of hierarchies. I am sure that I can name people that I have met that I would consider famous that you have never heard of, and vice versa.
Finally, geek culture is actually stunningly diverse. Why? Because its most salient feature is that the almighty dollar conquers everything. The demographics of tech have for decades been driven by one overriding phenomenon: a short of qualified people compared to the number of jobs available. That meant that in the 1970's and 1980's it pulled in generally intelligent individuals whose sole qualification was that they handle the job: across the industry it was probably more common to have a co-worker who had majored in French or History or English Lit in college rather than CS or engineering, or one who had never gone to college at all. Starting in the 1990's it also meant importing labor from overseas, lots of labor. I can recall visiting enormous tech campuses near Boston and eating in enormous cafeterias that were 90% Indian or Chinese. Every been to Dallas? They have move houses than show exclusively Bollywood fare. Plus "Fun Asia One", the local Indian radio station that in addition to broadcasting news and entertainment items of interest to the Desi population also answered questions on green cards and H1B's. And don't even get me started on the Valley, or SoCal, or NYC.
ARGH! I can't stop replying! Sorry, but two more thoughts:
1) I have posted before about a friend of mine who has a master's in poli sci. Now of course it's not like the job market for that field is booming, but she did take a look around and in an attempt to be relevant her thesis was on international cybersecurity. I am given to understand that her advisor thought it was first rate.
But she makes a living delivering pizzas. Maybe the job market for poli sci majors isn't all that great but she has other obstacles. She comes from a working class background, obviously so. She smokes. She has tattoos. She listens to the wrong kind of music and watches the wrong kind of movies. She is a poor fit culturally. And so she delivers pizzas with six figures worth of debt. I can't help but think that if she knew how to code that I am personally familiar with any number of techies with tattoos, who smoke and listen to heavy metal.
2) You and I are in similar situations in that the majority of our co-workers are Asian. If your co-workers occupy a similar demographic niche as mine then they probably also have stories about sacrificing goats. My co-workers revealed their stories to me while shooting the breeze over a couple of beers. There was much merriment from those assembled at the table--both native and foreign born. Have your co-workers ever talked to you about the time they watched from their classroom window as some garbagemen killed and cooked up a dog in the parking lot next door? Could it be that a requirement for "cosmopolitanism" is causing them to self-censor?