71–80 of 90 posts
So she didn't have any opportunity over the forty years prior to secure any of those documents? Having to deal with something like this at the same time as being evicted and losing your mother is very sad, but that's not an excuse. It's a human interest story.
What does it mean, to be disinterested in "human interest"?
I empathize with everyone involved here and I hope to see greater public and political will around solving identification (and voter registration) issues for disadvantaged populations.
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I'm not sure why it makes sense to dismiss the entire faith on the basis of some sinners who twist Christ's words against Christ's example. I hope for the sake of his soul that he doesn't realize what he's doing.
I... didn't?
You know Mark and Deuteronomy. Do you know Matthew? "You shall know them by their fruits." And: "[T]hen will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."
Christ himself would not call these men Christian. Why should you or I take them at their word when they call themselves so?
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I... didn't?
You...kind of did? I mean, I get that the people you're talking about call themselves Christian, but they no more merit taking at their word on the matter than if I say I'm vegan while halfway through a porterhouse. You know Mark and Deuteronomy. Do you know Matthew? "You shall know them by their fruits." And: "[T]hen will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity." Christ himself w…
I said fucked up theology (among other possibilities) is a reason people would intentionally prevent poor people from helping themselves
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>"engineered to simply keep people in the hole once they through misfortune or carelessness slip up" This seems like a pretty extraordinary claim made pretty casually. What would motivate someone to intentionally prevent poor people from helping themselves? It seems much more likely a case of straightforward government dysfunction enabled by all the usual factors that make the government suck at accomplishing things.…
>What would motivate someone to intentionally prevent poor people from helping themselves? A theology that holds that god rewards the just and thus the poor must be so because they're wicked and/or a fucked up reading of the phrase "the poor will always be with you" A desire to 'prove' an economic philosophy that the poor brought it on themselves by creating a self perpetuating spiral of doom and then pointing to peo…
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You...kind of did? I mean, I get that the people you're talking about call themselves Christian, but they no more merit taking at their word on the matter than if I say I'm vegan while halfway through a porterhouse. You know Mark and Deuteronomy. Do you know Matthew? "You shall know them by their fruits." And: "[T]hen will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity." Christ himself w…
I never called them christians did I? I said fucked up theology (among other possibilities) is a reason people would intentionally prevent poor people from helping themselves
Can we compromise on "heretical corruption of Christianity"? I should think that'd be imprecatory enough for just about anyone - it certainly has more and sharper teeth than inaccurate and mere milquetoast 'theology'! - and it has the added virtue of not perpetuating a condition in which one such as myself finds it every bit as difficult and trepidatory to come out as Christian as, in an earlier time, he did to come out as gay. Perhaps that's not something with which you feel any need to concern yourself, even to this quite literally nominal degree; I can't say that isn't fair enough, but I would esteem it a kindness if you did.
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She didn't have ID when she was evicted which means she had plenty of time to get one. If she had a license/state ID and answered the expiration mailer she would have had one.
No, it means that she went from a situation in which she still had plenty of time to get one into a situation where she suddenly had no time at all anymore. > If she had a license/state ID and answered the expiration mailer she would have had one. That assumes she had one to begin with. I know lots of Americans that don't even have a passport or driving license. Anyway, you're a cold one to stick to your theme of vic…
As to the process of reestablishing a new set of identity docs. It's clearly overly onerous and just like everything else in life, even more so when you're poor.
The decent thing to do for the government isn't just to make the edge case of the destitute easier. It's to make the general case easier. Getting an ID or renewing one should be so easy that there is no excuse.
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No, it means that she went from a situation in which she still had plenty of time to get one into a situation where she suddenly had no time at all anymore. > If she had a license/state ID and answered the expiration mailer she would have had one. That assumes she had one to begin with. I know lots of Americans that don't even have a passport or driving license. Anyway, you're a cold one to stick to your theme of vic…
Pointing out facts that would have prevented the situation isn't victim blaming. It's being truthful. The alternative is to accept that there is no personal responsibility (which I reject). As to the process of reestablishing a new set of identity docs. It's clearly overly onerous and just like everything else in life, even more so when you're poor. The decent thing to do for the government isn't just to make the edg…
Your 'personal responsibility' works well for you given your background and status in life. But it's an easy argument to make when the results are not your problem. It does handily allow you to ignore the fate of those that are not as fortunate as you are, after all, if they had taken their responsibilities seriously then they would have nothing to complain about, case closed.
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But until she was evicted she was there and thus could have renewed her ID through the mail prior to this ordeal.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just-world_hypothesis The real world is full of a lot more variance than you seem to believe. It is possible to do everything possible within your power correctly and still fall victim to this kind of misfortune. You're trying to force the world to fit your model. Instead, you need to fix your model to allow for non-100% ID coverage, because reality is always going to have complications,…
It's like medicine, a ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.