The fact is very few software developers make 200k+ (even adjusting for geographic CoL) but we all think someday we will and don't want to change the current system that allows that belief.
To me, working collectively isn't 100% about compensation. It's also having a fair footing at negotiations on things like time off, overtime, family leave, vacation, retirement, health care, etc. It's also about adversarial processes like performance reviews, age/gender/race discrimination etc. Those are all things that some of us can overcome individually, but it'd be a lot easier if we could ease up on viewing ourselves as mercenaries and actually work together.
I make 200K+ and Mark Zuckerberg makes 35 Billion. There is no sane reason for this kind of BS.
I don't see my generation of engineers tolerating clowns like Zuckerberg the way the previous generation tolerated Larry Ellison and Bill Gates. It's a different world. Expectations are different. The only thing he brings to the table is mindless ambition. It's highly overrated and damaging and the world does not need it at this point. He and his ilk will be taken down.
We need more Linus Torvalds, Jimmy Wales and Sal Khan's who are capable of thinking that their creations are more than just about world domination at any expense.
I'm confused what your point is. What's PC about the previous statement? You seem to agree with them. Are you mad you aren't making more, or that Zuck isn't making less?
We could unionize, you know? It would DEFINITELY mean outlier cash wages on the high side would go down as we normalize benefits. Right now the Valley is very focused on the needs of young, affluent, educated men who can take significant career risk. If we unionized, things like reasonable *ternity leave and a minimum standard of health care would appear, as would formalization of vacation rules ("unlimited vacation" is common but actually means "no vacation just dispensations from your founder for good behavior"), etc.
And we need less people like Linus Torvalds, thanks. It's possible to be good at tech and NOT be an insufferable asshole riding atop a human pyramid like some rendition of 300's Xerxes.
> I make 200K+ and Mark Zuckerberg makes 35 Billion. There is no sane reason for this kind of BS.
I don't understand your argument. It's insane for Mark Zuckerberg to make more than you, but it's not insane for you to make more than, say, a school teacher?
The point is that the very rich are making huge multiples of the rest of us. $200k in SF is probably double what a unionized teacher makes in the same area.
To me, working collectively isn't 100% about compensation. It's also having a fair footing at negotiations on things like time off, overtime, family leave, vacation, retirement, health care, etc. It's also about adversarial processes like performance reviews, age/gender/race discrimination etc. Those are all things that some of us can overcome individually, but it'd be a lot easier if we could ease up on viewing ourselves as mercenaries and actually work together.