Thank you for your comment. I think your argument that inequality is the logical extension of humanity's ambition is very common in the tech-sector.
How would the mercy of not "making it so insufferable that the poor leave as economic refugees" actually work out? Don't millionaires need non-millionaires to clean their houses, cook their meals, and walk their dogs?
Not if the millionaires are just barely affording super-high-rent tiny apartments. And buying their food from billion-dollar-valuation food delivery services.
But those food delivery services would employ part time wage workers.
This problem is usually sidestepped by the argument that teachers, policemen, sanitation workers, etc, can't live in the communities they serve and that that's fine as a result of a wider services market, better transportation etc, etc, etc.
But at some point you do have to concede that most of the people driving their beat-up 1996 Hondas to bring you fresh sashimi aren't valued in the six figures - and you have to acknowledge and design for it.
Yup, and instead of having a cook per millionaire or so, you have a few people making and delivering food for a bunch of millionaires. So the number of lower-wage people needed is still relatively low.
The first story speaks to another issue: How long do I stay in order to guarantee a smooth transition, when the project I'm working on is two years old with no end in sight? (And is generally a god-awful mess, both from a technical and project-management point of view?)
I feel like I'll be dinged for leaving them "high and dry" but... my employment is specifically at will. I'm tempted to terminate it from my end, and get on with my new career.
It's written into most contracts as 2 weeks, occasionally 1 or 4. If you can pull it off, offer 4. No need to go longer than that. Start organizing yourself before you had notice.
At the bank I mentioned earlier, someone gave notice, and was immediately walked off the floor by security. He had organized his work completely so that it was an easy transition despite him not being there. Everyone had good things to say about him afterwards. (And he got paid for the notice period, which is standard if someone says, "Don't bother coming in.")
I'm not afraid of artificial intelligence destroying mankind.
I'm afraid that future tech elites will use artificial intelligence to turn an already hollowed-out middle class into a permanent undercaste, who's every thought and action is observed, calculated, and put into a spreadsheet so that their betters can best assess their professional utility - whether that's as a potential employee or dog food.
Thank you especially for that second point. I've only been thinking about incorporating from a financial perspective (from what I can tell, it seems to be clearly worth it if you're in a product business handling money, but maybe less so if you're just a freelancer).
I hadn't thought about it as looking better, and more polished, from an HR-point of view. Great insight.
I think they're one and the same. Something about the will to power that drives people to amass that much wealth also means they don't respect or really care for social niceties.
And there's no reason for them to be nice to be effective - or even liked. Try talking about Jobs being less than a saint on HN and you'll get a lot of "But... iPhone!" as if creating fantastic products excuses moral failings.
How would the mercy of not "making it so insufferable that the poor leave as economic refugees" actually work out? Don't millionaires need non-millionaires to clean their houses, cook their meals, and walk their dogs?