Comment by dangus | Hacker News Reader

Comment by dangus | Hacker News Reader

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On top of that, in what universe is the typical remote knowledge worker “wealthy?”

Making a 50-70% higher salary than the median isn’t “wealthy.” That’s just “upper quartile middle class.” That’s a wage employee who depends on a regular paycheck and couldn’t remain unemployed for an extended period of time.

The word “wealthy” doesn’t meant that at all. “Wealthy” means you fly first class. “Wealthy” means you pay for luxury cars with cash. “Wealthy” means you own more than one home.

The median software engineering salary is now at the bottom cutoff for being approved for a mortgage on a basic home.

I bet most of the “wealthy” software engineers who worked in-office in 2018 and are remote now make less today after adjusting for inflation.

By definition upper quartile means being in the top 25%. I think most people would understand "middle class" to mean exactly what it sounds like it means: the 50% of people clustered around the middle. I know some wealthy people like to imagine they aren't wealthy because there are always other people around even wealthier than they are, but that doesn't mean they're not wealthy compared to the average.

There’s no agreed-upon definition of middle class. If there was going to be, it’s certainly not a mathematical definition like that though, it’s an emotional one.

But I’m saying “Wealthy” doesn’t mean “being in the top 25%” when you emphasize lifestyle and what options you have.

There is a massive difference between the lifestyle of the (e.g.) top 5-10%, 2%, 1%, and 0.5%. Those numbers are basically jumping from “still has a mortgage” to “has a 80-foot yacht.”

There is almost no difference in lifestyle when you compare the top 50%, 25%, 20%, 15%, maybe even 10%. It’s the same deal: depending on a continuing wage, getting 1-4 weeks of time off every year but no more, needing to use a financial instrument to pay for kids’ college, having a house and probably a car loan. All of those attributes stay the same.

I mean this is just another entry in the various hit pieces being sponsored by anyone who's long on downtown corporate real estate.

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