Zuckerberg defends free basics in Times of India op-ed • Hacker News Board

Re: Zuckerberg defends free basics in Times of India op-ed

#11

Post by dayon » Mon, Dec 28, 2015, 6:54 PM UTC

discardorama wrote: post #4

OK, I wasted some time reading that. Let me dissect a few points he makes. > We have collections of free basic books. They’re called libraries. They don’t contain every book, but they still provide a world of good. They're called "public" libraries; not every library is free. I remember once trying to enter Stanford's library (Green?), and they refused to let me in without a Stanford ID. > We have free basic healthca…

I'm against Free Basics and am boycotting Facebook, but playing devils advocate...

> They're called "public" libraries; not every library is free. I remember once trying to enter Stanford's library (Green?), and they refused to let me in without a Stanford ID.

Zuckerberg is referring to public libraries, not paid ones. The public library offers a set of books that, while not comprehensive, provide at least some free knowledge. Free Basics is analogous in that it offers some free services. Could Zuckerberg do more? Yes. Could public libraries have more books? Yes.

> In America?!? Hell no. You have emergency room care, and it is NOT free. Medical bills are the #1 cause of bankruptcies in America.

This isn't what he's saying. Some places around the world do offer free basic healthcare. And he's talking conceptually, not concretely. If Zuckerberg ran a healthcare startup and offered free basic healthcare to a region, would they complain that it doesn't offer all possible services? Would they rather have no healthcare than some?

Re: Zuckerberg defends free basics in Times of India op-ed

#12

Post by dalke » Mon, Dec 28, 2015, 7:03 PM UTC

splintercell wrote: post #9

dalke wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's not difficult to show that Sweden's rape epidemic is caused by it's recent influx of immigrants Really? By including this one statement you made me think you are part of the nationalistic right. Sweden's "rape epidemic" is mostly because other countries under-report rape. If a woman comes to the police and say that her husband had raped her almost every day for a year, then that's 300+ rape reports. Other coun…

> Really? By including this one statement you made me think you are part of the nationalistic right. You clearly misread my post under your own bias.

I certainly have biases, as do you. How is your comment concerning Sweden's rape statistics relevant to the rest of your point?

Re: Zuckerberg defends free basics in Times of India op-ed

#13

Post by splintercell » Mon, Dec 28, 2015, 7:46 PM UTC

dalke wrote: post #12

splintercell wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Really? By including this one statement you made me think you are part of the nationalistic right. You clearly misread my post under your own bias.

I certainly have biases, as do you. How is your comment concerning Sweden's rape statistics relevant to the rest of your point?

Quoting myself: > It's not difficult to show that Sweden's rape epidemic is caused by it's recent influx of immigrants, it might be the case, but I can promise you, this statistic will be thrown out almost immidiately.<

Re: Zuckerberg defends free basics in Times of India op-ed

#14

Post by Nadya » Mon, Dec 28, 2015, 7:57 PM UTC

dalke wrote: post #8

splintercell wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> And this is why Monsanto ruins the lives of farmers, driving many to suicide. Monsanto does not force farmers to not use their product in the way they want. IP enforcement (which a lot of westerners seem to think it is about) is nearly absent in this countries. Farmers kill themselves because of debt from the bank (which is and will be enforcable). Look at India, farmer suicides are a huge problem in certain states…

> It's not difficult to show that Sweden's rape epidemic is caused by it's recent influx of immigrants Really? By including this one statement you made me think you are part of the nationalistic right. Sweden's "rape epidemic" is mostly because other countries under-report rape. If a woman comes to the police and say that her husband had raped her almost every day for a year, then that's 300+ rape reports. Other coun…

>Sweden's "rape epidemic" is mostly because other countries under-report rape. If a woman comes to the police and say that her husband had raped her almost every day for a year, then that's 300+ rape reports. Other countries might report that as a single rape report, or declare outright that it's impossible for a husband to rape his wife.

Norway has near identical rape laws including with regards to how rapes are accounted for. Yet the difference between the two countries per capita is staggering and I doubt can be explained by "Swedens are more likely to file rape charges". Denmark, too, has similar laws and far less rape crime.

I find it telling that anyone who points to any other statistic than "rape is underreported" is wrong/a bigot/nationalistic right/mysognistic/whatever is deemed a derogatory name.

Maybe instead of "the rest of the world underreports rape"... Sweden just has a large amount of rape? That might be worth looking into. Such as "Why does Sweden have such a high rape statistic compared to countries with similar laws?"

Same with "college campuses". It's not that "there isn't a rape problem on college campuses" it's just that "rape is underreported".

Of course, going against this narrative that ignores all data and makes a huge assumption makes me a woman-hating, rape-culture supporting sexist.