30 Jan
2014
30 Jan
'14
6:23 p.m.
Outside of the narrow regulatory question, this reminds me of another
relating to the vocationalization of programming to supply commoditized
labor to large corporations, which is something I am uneasy around and
which I think reflects a shifting power balance that deserves to be
opposed. Here is a line of criticism that I think is right on, running from
Seymour Papert to Bret Victor to
this<http://programmingisterrible.com/post/73056840109/paperts-dreams-an…
:
*"In “Meanwhile, at code.org <http://worrydream.com/MeanwhileAtCodeOrg/>”,
Bret juxtaposes the ideals of Seymour Papert and the dreams of
entrepreneurs and venture capitalists. Papert wanted to use programming as
a way to let children explore powerful ideas and let their imagination run
wild. The agenda of the political, wealthy, and powerful is to build a new
generation of worker bees to fuel their startups. One sees code as a
liberation, and the other as a vocation..."*
On Thu, Jan 30, 2014 at 6:15 PM, GtwoG PublicOhOne <g2g-public01(a)att.net>wrote;wrote:
What this is about:
The bootcamps in question are charging in the range of $15,000 for
10-week programs, and telling applicants they're going to be able to get
job offers at companies such as Facebook, Google, and Adobe.
(Personally I'd sooner work for NSA than Google or Facebook.)
The existing ones are probably wholly legit. But there is a large risk
of fraudsters offering these types of courses with big promises, and
fleecing their students. There are many examples of that in other areas
of vocational & technical training. That's what the regulators are
freaked out about: big money for the courses, and big promises of
high-paid employment.
There is nothing there to say that regulators are concerned about FREE
courses that do NOT make claims of high-paid employment upon
completion. Grassroots-based free stuff such as what I imagine SR,
Noisebridge, et.al. are offering, are in NO risk of being shut down or
subjected to fines.
A modest proposal: Free grassroots hacker bootcamps should also teach
people about workers' issues: how to organize a union without getting
fired, workers' rights re. wages & hours laws, and so on. The idea that
coders, engineers, etc. are some kind of elite that are "above" the
working class masses, is a hallucination promoted by those who profit by
exploiting young & inexperienced workers.
We are the 21st century equivalent of electricians, plumbers,
carpenters, masons, and mechanics: the new skilled trades that are
building the new infrastructure. We should be darn proud of continuing
a tradition that started with the steam engine, indoor plumbing, and the
bicycle. But the interests of labor have never been the same as the
interests of capital. Our smarts & skills can potentially do as much
for the well-being of working people everywhere, as they can for the
technologies we build.
-G.
======
On 14-01-30-Thu 4:51 PM, Hol Gaskill wrote:
like it says on the tin:
http://venturebeat.com/2014/01/29/california-regulator-seeks-to-shut-down-l…
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