Abstract mathematics, theoretical physics, computer science, and quantitative finance, all of which compose the constellation called ‘STEM’- is cachet of ‘nobility’ in the post-2008 economy, the new ‘cool’ among millions of millennials who aspire for prestigious careers that involve wealth or intellectual recognition, preferably both, as embodied by the likes of Musk, Thiel, and Zuck. Unlike the useless single mom drawing government benefits, or the overpaid corporate cog, people in STEM create economic value through intellect and competence, which is why everyone likes STEM and why people in STEM get rich.
The left hoped OWS, the overblown financial problem, and two terms of Obama would turn an entire generation against the ‘ubermensch‘, and oh how wrong they were as capitalism and wealth creation, whether on Wall St. or Silicon Valley, reign supreme – both tangibly and in the collective psyche of the 20-30 year-old American millennial mind. The left’s vision of egalitarianism snuffed as IQ has become more important than ever and wealth inequity keeps widening. In 2014, the SJWs and Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the Twenty-First Century, which was supposed to sound the alarm over wealth inequality, both failed as Gamergate dominated the narrative and Piketty’s thesis was later tainted by revelations of data fabrication, to put it gently. The strength of the US dollar, stock market, and treasuries is giving the left, who had hoped for a ‘post-America era‘, the finger. Obama, in 2008 billed by the liberal media as the ‘great orator’, is looking increasingly effete and meek like the uxorious wealth spreader that he is – a kid in an oversized suit – as Putin domineers foreign policy, and Trump – the epitome of masculinity – domineers the 2016 campaign.
For generations – from 50’s all the way to the 90’s – the cool ‘thing’ to be was a rock star with a record that was certified ‘gold’, or maybe an actor or professional athlete. Then, in the 2000’s era, with the ‘information age’ and the post-2008 economy, that changed. Although athletes, actors, and musicians are still popular, a fourth category has been introduced: the tech/intellectual superstar, who may not be as widely known by the general public, but is revered by throngs of ‘groupies’ online on sites like Reddit and 4chan, which with their millions of users are bigger than Woodstock anyway. And once you look at the math involving agents and record labels, the rock stars of yesteryear didn’t keep much of the money they made, whereas today’s tech superstars are getting rich overnight and staying rich. And whereas in the past, success was mostly due to luck, record label connections, and consumer tastes for certain genres of music, the meritocracy rules in the Silicon Valley – results over social skills, the later which sometimes mask incompetence (as is painfully obvious with Obama, who won twice with the help of charisma and the media over his smarter, more experienced opponents).
For example, a month ago an Imgur post of an engineer trying to get though airport security, with the flummoxed security agent trying to make sense of the engineer’s contraption, went hugely viral on Reddit, with thousands of people up-voting and commenting. It got over 11,000 ‘up-votes’, which is about four times as many as a typical viral post. For that week, the unnamed engineer was a ‘rock star’. He could have created a blog, written a book, and maybe gotten Matt Damon to star in the movie adaptation.
The overwhelming success of The Martian is another example of STEM culture becoming mainstream – the story of an astronaut who stays on Mars rather than have to return to the political correctness on Earth. Ok…I made that last part up, but it would have been a better movie if that were the plot.
From high-IQ foreigners coming to America to study STEM, to web 2.0 valuations surging, to high-IQ foreigners working in Silicon Valley tech and buying expensive real estate, to the Silicon Valley engineer embracing MGTOW culture by living in a van, to the continued destruction of the SJW narrative, again and again, the left, who want to turn back the hands of time to simpler era of less technology and more overpaid jobs, are fighting an uphill economic and ideological battle they are losing and cannot win. The story of the San Francisco software developer living in his van went viral everywhere – Reddit, Voat, 4chan, and Yahoo news – because he’s today’s STEM ‘rock star’ going his own way, becoming rich while living a lifestyle of minimalism, in alignment with the millennial mindset of individualism over the collective.
Related:
Taking the ‘Omega’ Pill
Our STEM Nobility
Autism/Asperger’s the New ‘Cool’?