[TriLUG] OT: PT One tech issue from tonight's debate

[Brandon Van Every]

On Sat, Oct 20, 2012 at 8:41 PM, Sean Korb <spkorb at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> And ummm... I really don't have any good answers for this.  As long as
> other countries invest in education as much as we do there will be
> fierce competition for the best jobs.  And the currency for engineers
> is not really money.  It's respect.  And that currency has been in
> very short supply for a decade now.  I hope it comes back.

One way to get self-respect is run your own business and not have a
boss.  I really don't get this emphasis on crafting policies to bring
employers to heel.  They're employers.  They will never make you rich,
unless it's some newfangled era of computerdom like Microsoft once
upon a time, some emerging window of technical opportunity.  If that's
what you want, chase those.  They come every so often, and you can
prepare for those windows to some degree in advance.  But if you're
not willing to chase around and play that game, don't expect to be
"respected."  You don't get to just do your job for 40 years and get a
gold watch with a thanks at the end of it.  It's not how the modern
economy works.  You either chase startup opportunities or work for
yourself.  That's been true for 20 years.

If you train as a science or engineering type in a field that
inevitably requires boatloads of capital to make anything function,
like nuclear physics or pharmaceuticals or such, then don't be
surprised if the paychecks aren't so good.  Self-determination is one
of the powers that programmers have over other technical fields.  The
manufacturing and entry costs of programming are cheap.


Cheers,
Brandon Van Every