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Dust in the Light

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Re: Dust in the Light

#71

Post by DoreenMichele »

luckylion wrote: post #54
dang wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

By posting that, you make it more so, and actually it is far from true. We should do things to help develop the discourse here, not kick it. The container is fragile. I believe that when the community gets this sort of inaccurate reflection of itself, it encourages a "why bother" sentiment and, downstream from that, a "fuck you" sentiment, since if no one is communicating anyhow, what else does it make sense to say?…

> I believe when the community gets this sort of deeply inaccurate reflection of itself, it encourages a "why bother" sentiment Tbh though, on some topics, "why bother" is accurate. You can write a comment that is controversial, but it will be heavily downvoted and flagged, so indeed: why bother? The Overton Window on HN isn't as large as it appears, but it's generally accepted that you can say what you want as long…

actually engaging the outraged and offering a different point of view does not seem useful.

You don't have to engage the outraged. It's not a best practice to go actively looking for the people openly and vehemently opposed to you and your views.

I'm a social creature and I have something of a tendency to reply to other comments instead of leaving a top level stand alone comment. I also have a lot of controversial opinions and I'm a magnet for controversy in part simply because I'm a demographic outlier for the audience here.

Sometimes, it's best to make those stand alone comments instead of replying to an existing comment. Sometimes that's the way to deescalate without being silenced on the topic.

Re: Dust in the Light

#72

Post by ses1984 »

foobiekr wrote: post #70
ses1984 wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think China is ahead of the west, they just take a slightly different approach. People have a really short memory, they already forgot about Snowden, prism, Room 641A: that shit never stopped. Please don't get me wrong I'm not trying to equate China and the west, China is a lot worse but strictly looking at the reaction of those in power to the internet... People in power in the west are definitely reacting s…

None of the things you listed actually involves suppressing content. The parent author is concerned about suppressing the internet, not spying on it. Both can be bad, but they're not the same thing. China leads on both.

Suppressing content is just one of the means to the ends of maintaining power and control.

Re: Dust in the Light

#73

Post by alexashka »

zchrykng wrote: post #64
dmode wrote: post #29

I love Ben Thompson's writing and I like how he accurately connects the history of institutional racism to the events of today. I have seen a few articles of this kind, and it seems like in today's America vast majority of people (except a few Trump holdouts) have acknowledged that the historical arc of slavery to segregation to white flight to real estate discrimination has led to where we are. However, what I don't…

Please explain why I, a tax paying citizen who isn't a racist and hasn't discriminated against anyone, should have my money taken away at the point of a gun to fund all these programs. Also all the government spending for COVID was also misguided. Not the federal government's role and our debt is at dangerous levels.

Why should anything, anywhere at any point in time?

I personally don't find this line of questioning fruitful. The trouble is that word 'should'.

Philosophers call it an is-ought problem. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Is%E2%80%93ought_problem

Re: Dust in the Light

#74

Post by dmode »

zchrykng wrote: post #64
dmode wrote: post #29

I love Ben Thompson's writing and I like how he accurately connects the history of institutional racism to the events of today. I have seen a few articles of this kind, and it seems like in today's America vast majority of people (except a few Trump holdouts) have acknowledged that the historical arc of slavery to segregation to white flight to real estate discrimination has led to where we are. However, what I don't…

Please explain why I, a tax paying citizen who isn't a racist and hasn't discriminated against anyone, should have my money taken away at the point of a gun to fund all these programs. Also all the government spending for COVID was also misguided. Not the federal government's role and our debt is at dangerous levels.

You end up paying one way or the other. You either pay it upfront, or you pay it through social unrest, heavy militarization, boarded ups stores, 100K dead in 2 months, and society on the brink

Re: Dust in the Light

#75

Post by __s »

dmode wrote: post #63
disease wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Economic parity would go a long way towards solving these problems, I don't think they can happen before white racial resentment is solved. It's interesting that so many working class whites are so willing to vote against their own economic self interest - particular where the possibility of raising the levels of working class blacks is concerned. Last Place Aversion is a very real thing it seems.

Can you expand a little bit on the white racial resentment and what you mean by it ?

He's referring to white trash voting republican against their self interest

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/12/31/trump-whi...

Or, with humor, from Dave Chappelle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hH-wCe5oAv8

Re: Dust in the Light

#76

Post by zchrykng »

huac wrote: post #66
zchrykng wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please explain why I, a tax paying citizen who isn't a racist and hasn't discriminated against anyone, should have my money taken away at the point of a gun to fund all these programs. Also all the government spending for COVID was also misguided. Not the federal government's role and our debt is at dangerous levels.

> Also all the government spending for COVID was also misguided. Not the federal government's role and our debt is at dangerous levels. What is the role of the federal government, if not "to provide basic services to its citizens in times of extraordinary need"? In the face of a generational pandemic, from which nobody is unaffected, why should the government throw up its hands and not spend? I recognize that that is…

Federal government's purpose is international relations, trade, and defense. Everything should be handled by the states, counties, and towns.

Part of what makes federal debt dangerous is the fact that we can't possibly run the country without issuing large amounts of debt at this point. If debt continues to grow at the rates that is has been, eventually tax revenue won't even cover the interest on said debt. At some point the US will have to be issuing debt to pay off interest on other debt, assuming we aren't there now - haven't checked in a while. Even assuming that investors never realize how much of a house of cards this is, this continual increase in the money supply will eventually lead to a large amount of inflation, which will devalue the currency, increasing debt required, which feeds back into the loop.

Currently, we don't have a major problem manifesting, but judging from pretty much every other country that has run massive debt for an extended period, it is just a matter of time.

Re: Dust in the Light

#77

Post by toiletfuneral »

dang wrote: post #39
vincentmarle wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed, it’s impossible to have adult conversations about anything other than tech on HN.

By posting that, you make it more so, and actually it is far from true. We should do things to help develop the discourse here, not kick it. The container is fragile. I believe that when the community gets this sort of inaccurate reflection of itself, it encourages a "why bother" sentiment and, downstream from that, a "fuck you" sentiment, since if no one is communicating anyhow, what else does it make sense to say?…

congrats on building a breeding ground for white nationalism

Re: Dust in the Light

#78

Post by alexashka »

WhatIsDukkha wrote: post #4

As usual, overlong and is another apologia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apologia for large tech monopolies. These essays are fueled by throwing some facts and nuance around so that we appear to be a thoughtful person but then roughly sums it up with "isn't it great we have cellphones and facebook?"

That's what any publication that has to pump out content according to schedule to stay profitable turns into.

If insight on demand was achievable, we'd be living in a different world.

Re: Dust in the Light

#79

Post by lancesells »

nogenerix wrote: post #50
in_cahoots wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The lenders for white neighborhoods formed explicit covenants to keep blacks out. White people chose to live in those neighborhoods and voted for lawmakers who supported redlining and other segregationist measures. They didn’t speak up for their black neighbors with less opportunity. For decades they have been silent and complicit as they live in their white neighborhoods and build generational wealth that has been d…

Sounds racist to say that black communities need access to white communities in order to create positive outcomes. Why can't the black communities stand on their own?

Look up articles on what happened to downtown Brooklyn and Barclays center. Black communities getting destroyed to "improve" the area. So something like Fulton Street mall goes from being a black community to just another strip mall of cheap/luxury chain stores and luxury apartments that few who lived there previously can afford.

So you can't really have a positive outcome in your community if developers and the city government decide it's time to displace you in the name of progress. How do you stand on your own in this situation?

https://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/21/nyregion/a-worry-that-tre...

http://www.bkmag.com/2017/04/05/fulton-street-now-most-expen...

http://www.bkmag.com/2017/04/05/fulton-street-now-most-expen...

Re: Dust in the Light

#80

Post by [deleted] »

dmode wrote: post #29

I love Ben Thompson's writing and I like how he accurately connects the history of institutional racism to the events of today. I have seen a few articles of this kind, and it seems like in today's America vast majority of people (except a few Trump holdouts) have acknowledged that the historical arc of slavery to segregation to white flight to real estate discrimination has led to where we are. However, what I don't…

[deleted]
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