But that is the straw man. Those of us who think extreme economic inequality is a bad thing do not think that YC is a bad thing, notwithstanding that it does contribute to economic inequality.
The problem is not YC, the problem is that extremely rich people use their money to buy political power, which they then use to create laws that allow them to extract rents (by, for example, paying lower marginal tax rates than less wealthy people). It's the positive-feedback effect that this creates (more money -> more political power -> still more money) that is the problem, not YC, nor (obviously) the creation of wealth.
How is someone who pays 10x, 100x, 1000x the taxes of the median taxpayer "extracting rent"?
That was my point -- consider the source and the motivation of the author.
I see I got downvoted after a while, wonder if that idea didn't come out as clear.
In many ways, startups and access to capital could be a great equalizer for opportunity equality. It allows individuals to control so much of their destiny. The alternative is to pass through a gatekeeper at some large company, spend years working up the ladder (if any progress is made at all) or even worse to not even be able to make it into that large company.
The problem is when wealth in one generation guarantees wealth in the next generation, and where upward mobility is nearly impossible. Opportunity equality is what almost everyone is pushing for, when they talk about economic equality. It's now possible to teach oneself to program and then make a six figure a year salary. It's now possible to start your own company and get funding in a way that just was never possible before. The problem is that opportunity equality right now is only limited to tech. In almost every other area the opportunity just isn't there.
Yes. That was my point. Consider the source and the reasons for writing this. I didn't necessarily say whether this points are valid or not just strawmen, but rather that he has an incentive to take the position he took.
> tartups and access to capital could be a great equalizer for opportunity equality ... It allows individuals to control so much of their destiny.
It sounds like the exact opposite of a great equalizer. It puts the wealth in the hands of a few owners and the rest get magic options funny money in exchange of a dream of landing a job in a future unicorn.
> Opportunity equality is what almost everyone is pushing for,
Who is pushing for that? I remember seeing the "meritocracy is a myth" a lot more than "we just need equal opportunity".
Defending against a strawman isn't really defending against anything but rather perpetuating the delusion that the strawman is real.
It isn't helpful or productive.
That is what I was saying too. I wasn't being direct though.
Yes he is defending against a strawman to bolster his position and to justify and bring context to a certain narrative that revoles around startups. It makes sense to create these PR stories so to speak, masked as simple blog posts, to provide conext and interpretation for those who follow him.
I think in this case there was a need to have an explanation of how start world relates to income inequality. At some point someone is going to confront some YC company founders after they talked about they want to save the world and make it a better palce etc etc, about "so what do you think about income inequality" and the idea is they'll pull the the gosspel -- pg essay ;-) and quote from the book of Econ chapter 2 verse 15.
Compared to 100 years ago, everyone is doing better. Compared to Africa or under-developed countries we are doing better. Compared to Western / Northern Europe we are doing so so depending on which metric you look at. Compared to an imagined parallel "what we could have" universe we might not be doing as well. Etc.
> capabilities than their connections the inequality discussion will be more about luxury.
Speaking of, an interesting side note: relationship of luxury and technology is kind of funny. Technology can bring luxury to regular people. Apple products, even those on food stamps could conciveably save enough money to own an iPhone, iPad etc. And that is a the same luxury product that a multi-billionaire would get. I doubt many have custom designed and manufactured phones (custom OS, custom gold plated batteries, etc). That almost never happens with anything else -- housing, cars, clothes, vacation destinations, food, free time. But it happens with technology. That is kind of crazy when you think about it.
In general, startup world lives on hopes and ideals. More so than other industries. Founders have to have a "burning desire to change the world". It could be building a better future, moving the technology forward, making people happier, more productive, healthier, etc. Early employees are sold on hopes of changing those 10000 options into billions of dollars during the exit or the IPO in exchange of a decent salary etc. There is talk of getting paid less but "you are compressing you career of 30 years into 5", so working nights makes sense. Investors hope the company will grow a horn and hooves and become a unicorn. Etc, etc.
So it is important to have a story that interprets how startups are related to inequality. Whether we agree or not with that is a different story.