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 …
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.
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.