Electric utility engineer speaking, yeah most engineers kinda suck. There are a decent number of good ones who are pretty easily radicalized if you can convince them of their privileged position. Within offices, engineers mostly enter as labor aristocracy, and school breeds them as such (also why you see so such insane gender gaps in the field). Less than 70 years ago, the careful construction of the labor aristocracy within the US was paramount to the tasks of the ruling class. Having a nuclear family was all but a written requirement for being in the labor aristocracy, and obviously the category was reserved for the male ‘breadwinner’. I don’t think I even need to mention the racial component here, which is obvious.
We can see how this labor aristocracy developed within the US quite clearly. Engineering and engineering management was near the peak of the labor aristocracy up until the 80’s, as the proletarian pressure provided by the USSR released and the US entered its “High Finance” stage of hegemonic accumulation. The shining example of labor aristocracy became advertising, banking, investments, general business, etc. But the engineering sector of the labor aristocracy maintained its white picket fence character. I can’t speak for the software/computer hardware sectors, but in the physical engineering sector, a large majority of the engineers still live in the 50’s, even those just graduating college. It’s so incredibly demoralizing to see and interact with.
Electric utility engineer speaking, yeah most engineers kinda suck. There are a decent number of good ones who are pretty easily radicalized if you can convince them of their privileged position. Within offices, engineers mostly enter as labor aristocracy, and school breeds them as such (also why you see so such insane gender gaps in the field). Less than 70 years ago, the careful construction of the labor aristocracy within the US was paramount to the tasks of the ruling class. Having a nuclear family was all but a written requirement for being in the labor aristocracy, and obviously the category was reserved for the male ‘breadwinner’. I don’t think I even need to mention the racial component here, which is obvious.
We can see how this labor aristocracy developed within the US quite clearly. Engineering and engineering management was near the peak of the labor aristocracy up until the 80’s, as the proletarian pressure provided by the USSR released and the US entered its “High Finance” stage of hegemonic accumulation. The shining example of labor aristocracy became advertising, banking, investments, general business, etc. But the engineering sector of the labor aristocracy maintained its white picket fence character. I can’t speak for the software/computer hardware sectors, but in the physical engineering sector, a large majority of the engineers still live in the 50’s, even those just graduating college. It’s so incredibly demoralizing to see and interact with.