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All foster kids in California can now attend any state college for free

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Re: All foster kids in California can now attend any state college for free

#361

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, that is true (I don't know about the exact numbers, but there's no question there's a difference.) Asian Americans are even better off, but why should they have to pay for reparations? Their ancestors weren't involved in slavery in the US. Hispanic Americans are also pretty poor (more so than African-Americas if memory serves), but they weren't disadvantaged by slavery, should they have to chip in for reparation…

Honestly, who gives a shit? We are a society, not a bunch of White people and Asian people and Black people and Hispanic people. A functioning society would work to fix those numbers, because it's absolutely a problem that needs to be fixed, not a punishment for being a member of a "successful" ethnicity.

I agree, work on creating a more equal society, with better opportunities for all, instead of playing the game of who's the bigger victim. Because we can all play the victim card, including me and you, and it's just not productive or beneficial to anyone.

Re: All foster kids in California can now attend any state college for free

#362
post #341
post #319

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They implemented a great component of those ideas. Seems like cause for at least some celebration, right? :)

I'm an educator, and a social democrat (approximately) so "yes"? What saddens me is that grand (and simple) plan "free education for all" gets watered down and chipped away to "free education for those who have money or connections" and later attempts to shore it up offten amount to "free education for $special_group". While I don't deny $special_group should get free education, what gets me is all the special-pleadi…

I understand and empathize, but you also realize that college in the 60's and in the 2020's are completely different beasts no, right? The genie is out of the lamp, but we literally don't have the room to stuff it back in. CA's population has tripled in 60 years, and high school graduation rates have risen signifigantly (which is of course good). There are more students competing for university today than there were people in 60's california.

Thankfully not all of them are trying to apply specifically to UCLA or even in state, but the numbers are staggering.

Re: All foster kids in California can now attend any state college for free

#363

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s not really a personal attack to point out that your “just asking questions” routine happens to dovetail nicely with certain political talking points. Why so defensive?

Why don't you name the pieces of facts that are missing then so the parent can respond to it? You keep making personal attacks and asking if the parent is employed by the state of Florida. What does their employment situation have to do with anything?

That was a different person, although your point is valid for the other person.

Re: All foster kids in California can now attend any state college for free

#364

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is something wrong with it. I think about it information theoretically. Oversimplifying, the information content of something is how unpredictable it is in a given channel. On HN, in 2023, the information content of yet another comment ranting about some given city or state or group of people is basically zero. Everyone has seen those comments a thousand times recently and it adds nothing to the discussion.

I think about it more pragmatically. If we removed a post because we were afraid of an effortless comment, we'd have no posts. I think the post itself is worth noting and is interesting. It has room for, how you put it, unpredictable responses. I can't control who or what comments on it, only who to engage with or flag. In that regard, it sounds like a moderation problem more than a content problem to me (Maybe a use…

I agree that a ban on the posts isn't the right way. I agree moderation is the right way forward but we need much more active anti flamebait and anti culture war moderation.

Re: All foster kids in California can now attend any state college for free

#365

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can't make a fact more true. It simply is. You can drop the personal attacks and insinuations. That's not necessary.

It’s not really a personal attack to point out that your “just asking questions” routine happens to dovetail nicely with certain political talking points. Why so defensive?

This is also in rather poor taste.

To point you in the right direction: "to keep repeating it doesn't make it any more true and is really revealing a lot" of undesirable things about you as a person. The latter words added by me and implied. That's a personal attack.

Re: All foster kids in California can now attend any state college for free

#367

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do reparations for slavery even make logical sense? Please cut me some slack here, by the nature of the world we live in, I have not uttered these thoughts to another human being, and they might have obvious flaws. It's tough when you can't talk about ideas out of fear of the consequences. I think nobody argues that it's a vile, morally repugnant thing to enslave another human being. But that was a long time ago, and…

It's true that enslaved people and their enslavers are no longer alive, but the legacy of slavery has left significant and enduring socio-economic disparities between descendants of enslaved people and those who are not. Inequalities in wealth, education, health, and opportunities persist, often along racial lines. These disparities aren't merely coincidental, but have been reinforced by racially discriminatory polic…

Why do you think Africa would have been significantly better off without the slave trade?

I really don't see how the slave trade could lead to a 95% reduction in GDP over 200 years later.

Re: All foster kids in California can now attend any state college for free

#369

Can I just give my 17 year old up for adoption then? Just curious...

this, almost inevitable this will be abused. Way too much money at stake for it not to be, I've heard plenty of stories of rich people who bought houses in certain zip codes so their kids get preferential treatment

Re: All foster kids in California can now attend any state college for free

#370
post #225
post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So there's actually a lot of academic debate on the merits of reparations, and exactly what and how much reparations should be. A very oversimplified pro argument: if it wasn't for slavery, these families would have generational wealth and better social situations. African Americans in the US ARE disproportionately lower wealth/income and this has CLEAR historical origins. The oversimplified con argument: Okay, but i…

> A very oversimplified pro argument: if it wasn't for slavery, these families would have generational wealth and better social situations. African Americans in the US ARE disproportionately lower wealth/income and this has CLEAR historical origins. I'm confused by the pro argument. My known lineage was not enslaved, but my grandparents immigrated with 0$, and my family has no generational wealth and we don't receive…

One could argue that despite being free, African Americans still had to work against racism, unfair laws, and a system rigged against them in many ways. Those are things a white immigrant wouldn't have had to deal with, but black immigrants would have. Is the black immigrant excluded or included in any potential reparations?
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