[vxnul]

Absolutely, as an orphan with many different ideas and no safety net I was frequently put in places where I should have been a co-founder since I was technical and the idea was mine, but basically until I was 29 I had no leverage because I had to have income (and health insurance, I was born with a couple heart defects.)

It sucks, and I'm sorry that you had this experience. That's basically how it works. The people who get the good jobs are the people who don't need jobs at all. The people who need jobs get the lousy ones that lead nowhere but more lousy jobs, and it is this way because the owning class can threaten us with starvation and homelessness into taking whatever terms they offer.

What is truly weird is that, if you advocate (I don't, and I'm not) for tearing down the capital-owning class using indiscriminate and total violence--and, just to be clear, I consider "indiscriminate, total violence" a terrible outcome, almost as bad as letting the bourgeoisie continue to win--you'll probably end up in jail, even in the US where they claim to love "freedom of speech"... but, at the same time, rich people can use survival pressures (threat of starvation, homelessness, and criminal medical negligence) and that's just taken as how the world works. To advocate for a final revolution against the bourgeoisie that might take 100,000 lives is a crime; to advocate (or even lobby!) against "socialized medicine" and kill far more people is legal.

It's weird how certain types of violence fade into the background while others are considered severe and deviant, to the point of receiving international scorn and attention. Worker-initiated worksite violence is a bad thing, no doubt--I am staunchy against it, since other workers, often innocents, are invariably the victims--but compared to the millions that have been killed by the US health insurance system, it's not newsworthy at all. It's just the Right is very skilled at using criminal anecdata to convince people the world that the poor are far more dangerous (and the rich, less so) than they actually are.

[fellowniusmonk]

This may be disappointing but I've always been a pacifist, my family on my mothers side comes from some dictatorial/war torn areas and democracy and democratic change seem to be an approach that engenders less overall suffering in the long run. I like that people exist in our world who have never appreciably had "need" in their life and I don't begrudge it. I personally wouldn't be alive if I had even been born 3-4 years earlier (or in a lower tech location) due to my heart defects and the technology required to address them early in my life.

I like that HN is a place to discuss ideas with other nerds, be inquisitive, share experiences and perspectives in a mind expanding way, tech and peaceful community have both helped me immensely in tangible ways. I want to widen the road behind me as much as I can.

I hope you can appreciate my personal perspective, I've not found many places online where outrage and strong speech isn't the dominant mode of interaction. Thanks.