Hacker News Reader

Comment by danielmarkbruce | Hacker News Reader

Hacker news was built by silicon valley tech people, has a lot of silicon valley tech people posting. The author doesn't need to write for every single possible constituency. Also, many other industries provide lunch etc - historically many mining and oil and gas companies provided food, housing, everything. Some still do. The author wrote in good faith.

There are a lot of people at google who don't come from privileged backgrounds. They might have won an iq lottery or something, but someone working hard to get a job at a good company doesn't make them privileged. What's next? Elon is "privileged"?

View on HN

I generally avoid even talking about him due to his rapid followers but uh… yes, Elon Musk’s father is “so rich we couldn’t close our safe” and it’s hilarious you chose him - of all people - to argue against privilege instead of Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Jeff Bezos, literally anyone of more modest upbringing but you chose the actual one with family money.

Regardless, I don’t think OP was referring to privileged upbringing/background but privileged currently e.g. privileged for working at a place which provides many amenities and trips. I agree with your first paragraph, i.e. everyone can only write from their own perspectives, but just clarifying the difference.

I'm not an Elon Musk fan, but the impression I get is that both 'sides' exaggerate (or misunderstand) his family background. It seems - from what I've read - that his dad was the kind of slightly-mad entrepreneur who had money at points and no money at other points. I don't think they were stupendously rich.

Just look at Andy Grove [0].

Literally bootstrapped himself from nothing.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Grove

Andy Grove was "privileged" - he had about 200 iq points and had some weird genetic mutation which made him like working a lot.

Bill Gates dad was a hotshot lawyer. Buffett's dad was a congressman. All of them had nice backgrounds. They don't fly private jets and live in mansions because of that background - they worked like maniacs. People can have nice things without it being "privilege"

Mines I have worked at in the US only provided meals when you were travelling. Although unlimited double brew and a plugin for every truck/car in the parking lot was provided. Can't speak for oil and gas.

It could be geography dependent - some mines are in the middle of nowhere in places like Australia and Canada.

on that, I've only ever worked at one company that provided free coffee (a large bank). And quite frankly, it being in Melbourne, Australia, only the absolutely desperate would touch it and not just go outside to cafes for meetings and buy their own at their own cost.

I also did some work experience at tidbinbilla tracking station when I was younger, as well as the radio telescope array out near Narrabri. the NASA aligned tidbinbilla one had a company cafeteria, which at the time I put down to some American cultural import thing, because it seemed weird as hell to me. the Narrabri facility isn't exactly in the middle of the city either, and is the only place I've worked with a bus that came round to pick you up from the town each morning (I've heard some tech companies do this in Silicon Valley?) and even they expected you to make your own lunch (there wasn't really an option to go get food from a shop). on the upside, they did have a volleyball court, so swings and roundabouts...

Reply on news.ycombinator.com