Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

I decided to pay off a school’s lunch debt

huffpost.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

581–590 of 918 posts

Re: I decided to pay off a school’s lunch debt

#581

Post by PaulRobinson »

x-complexity wrote: post #287
iandanforth wrote: post #232

On the off chance you're interested in school lunches I highly recommend watching videos of Japanese school lunches on YouTube. There's a bunch out there now and if you were raised in the American system it will probably blow your mind. The idea that lunches can be freshly made, on site, out of healthy ingredients and children are active participants in serving and cleaning up is just crazy. When I encountered it for…

> The idea that lunches can be freshly made, on site, out of healthy ingredients and children are active participants in serving and cleaning up is just crazy. > When I encountered it for the first time I felt like a big part of my childhood had been sold to the lowest bidder. ....I share the sentiment, but I also see the chasm between the requirements to get to what's desired, & what's actually given to meet those r…

This "cultural toll" you talk of, is just another form of conformist behaviour that all societies have in different forms. Some countries have class/caste strata, others have a laissez-faire attitude to expectations in general, others have a rigid societal code, others appear to be less so but the moment you go near guns, abortion or taxation the societal codes and hierarchy spring into action and snap shut around the ankle of the idiot who went near them.

Japan may look different to the society you are used to or grew up in, but it's no less or more conformist, it's just different.

As a very simple example, in the US, people work for tips and often struggle to make ends meet in minimum wage jobs: that's a form of cultural toll. In Japan, nobody needs to work for tips (you may be followed out of the restaurant to have your tip returned to you), most people can make ends meet more easily, but there are other expectations around work and family: that's cultural toll too.

What's interesting to me is that you seem to think that the status quo in the US is rightly defensible. Looking in from afar with limited skin in the game I'd argue it looks really, really dumb. This "individualism" (but where the courts get to tell people who they are and what they can believe when it comes to certain issues that have religious or historical undertones), seems to be leading to a fractured partisan nation where everyone hates anyone who even slightly disagrees with them. Not a great way to bring kids up... perhaps y'all could try something else for a while, hmm?

Re: I decided to pay off a school’s lunch debt

#582

Post by amelius »

blueflow wrote: post #579
amelius wrote: post #566

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except in this case the victims (the hungry children) are not the ones being labeled that. Also the word subhuman is in the dictionary (I checked Webster's) with zero reference to the war.

And "n*gro" is the Spanish, non-slur word for "black" but yet we can't use it because US people dislike it. Slavery and such. Cultural sensitivity goes both ways.

> And "n*gro" is the Spanish, non-slur word for "black" but yet we can't use it because US people dislike it. Slavery and such. Cultural sensitivity goes both ways.

Webster's dictionary:

plural Negroes

1 dated, often offensive : a person of Black African ancestry

2 dated, often offensive : a member of a group of people formerly considered to constitute a race (see race entry 1 sense 1a) of humans having African ancestry and classified according to physical traits (such as dark skin pigmentation)

Note the "offensive" warnings. Now let's see subhuman:

: less than human: such as a: failing to attain the level (as of morality or intelligence) associated with normal human beings b: unsuitable to or unfit for human beings subhuman living conditions c: of or relating to a taxonomic group lower than that of humans; the subhuman primates

In the case of subhuman, Webster's dictionary does not give any warning. And there is no reference to any wars.

Don't try to make people say things they are not saying.

In this case the intended meaning was clearly:

"failing to attain the level (as of morality) associated with normal human beings"

Re: I decided to pay off a school’s lunch debt

#583

Post by squigz »

jaggederest wrote: post #249
brundolf wrote: post #196

Many people, especially in our subculture, tend to feel like if they can't solve an entire problem forever, if they can't Change The World, what they're doing is futile and pointless But most people can't change the world. Most individuals shouldn't have the power to change the world. What we can do is be a force for good in the lives that are proximal to us. If we can make a few people's lives better, we should rest…

I find it really challenging to get people to notice these things, let alone actively take even small actions for positive change. I'm interested in what the community thinks are some of the methods I could use to improve these things, and why people quickly become inured to these kinds of problems. I'm thinking, specifically, about peeling paint, litter, dirty signs, the kind of thing that even a passing effort, a h…

I think it's that people are tired. Tired of paying large amounts of money to taxes that don't seem to fix anything in their day-to-day lives. Tired of companies screwing them over at every possible turn.

I recognize things won't easily change while people think that, that it's a tricky, vicious cycle. I wish I knew how to fix it, other than - as another commenter points out - doing the 'little' things and pushing ever so slowly for the change we need.

Re: I decided to pay off a school’s lunch debt

#584

Post by trelane »

MagicMoonlight wrote: post #322

Paying off the debt doesn’t solve anything. They’ll get to buy one meal, go back into debt because their parent doesn’t top up the account, and get banned again.

exactly my thought. (But also, the kid isn't banned, they are just restricted to the cold lunch for some reason. This is not universal. And most (all?) places let you bring your lunch)

Seems like the author is almost at a solution: partner with schools to pay for the kids' lunches on an ongoing basis.

Re: I decided to pay off a school’s lunch debt

#585

Post by trelane »

wonderwonder wrote: post #181
em-bee wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

property taxes go to schools in your own area. would you also support that taxes be redistributed to other areas that don't have enough tax income and where people can't afford higher taxes? because as i see it, that is the real problem in the way schools in the US are funded. (i am hoping/assuming your answer is yes, but i think the distinction is important and needs to be pointed out)

Honestly my answer is no. I want my property taxes to ensure that my kids get the best possible start. My money supports my kids and those kids that live in my area. I would say yes to paying more property tax to support my local schools to an even greater degree. I am in no way ok with my kids school funding getting reduced to fund other areas. I specifically moved to this area for the good schools. I would be ok wi…

You can always give your government (including schools) extra money if you think they need it more than you do, or if you think they can use it better than than you can.

Taxes just force everyone else to give the government money.

Re: I decided to pay off a school’s lunch debt

#586

Post by jacknews »

ponector wrote: post #175
jacknews wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"It's astonishing this is a thing." Indeed, any decent modern society should provide free quality education, and that should include free quality meals. Especially the richest country in the world.

Free education means no one will value it. Education should not be free, just cheap. However there should be help and assistance to people who wants to get an education but cannot afford it. Same with food. Subsidize it for everyone. Cannot pay? Serve few hours to the local community and get a meal. There should be no starving people anywhere in the world.

"Free education means no one will value it"

Ridiculous.

Of course, if it's free, then it's just the default, and some people will strive to be better than 'the masses' and pay for private education.

But in any case, your whole society gets decently educated, which makes everyone richer, in every way.

Re: I decided to pay off a school’s lunch debt

#587

Post by squigz »

giantg2 wrote: post #283
jagger27 wrote: post #253

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lose your job, lose your children. Great policy ideas from the thoughtful HN crowd, as always.

That's not a real argument. There are plenty of assistance programs, including free school lunches.

Wait a second, didn't you say such programs are false solutions a comment or two above?

Re: I decided to pay off a school’s lunch debt

#588

Post by ensignavenger »

kerkeslager wrote: post #295
giantg2 wrote: post #283

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not a real argument. There are plenty of assistance programs, including free school lunches.

How many assistance programs have you applied for? Frankly, if you haven't applied for any, your opinion is uninformed. Even people who are told how difficult it is, underestimate how difficult it is to apply for many programs. I've helped a bunch of homeless folks apply to assistance programs (not for school lunches, but for a lot of other aid) and almost universally, applying for aid is extremely difficult. I've wa…

Applying for school lunches is pretty simple compared to most any other programs. The schools in general really want as many as possible on free lunches, not only does it give students free lunch, but it is used to calculate all sorts of grants.

Applying for medicaid and SNAP is quite a bit more difficult, especially for a homeless person. But school lunches is really as simple as it could be, excepting just making it free for everyone.

Re: I decided to pay off a school’s lunch debt

#589

Post by em-bee »

x-complexity wrote: post #287
iandanforth wrote: post #232

On the off chance you're interested in school lunches I highly recommend watching videos of Japanese school lunches on YouTube. There's a bunch out there now and if you were raised in the American system it will probably blow your mind. The idea that lunches can be freshly made, on site, out of healthy ingredients and children are active participants in serving and cleaning up is just crazy. When I encountered it for…

> The idea that lunches can be freshly made, on site, out of healthy ingredients and children are active participants in serving and cleaning up is just crazy. > When I encountered it for the first time I felt like a big part of my childhood had been sold to the lowest bidder. ....I share the sentiment, but I also see the chasm between the requirements to get to what's desired, & what's actually given to meet those r…

To have this program exist requires children that can be trusted

you got that completely wrong. it requires adults that teach children how to behave.

Japan was able to do this by pressuring its citizens & youth to pay the cultural toll needed to get there, and it was a toll that *everyone* had to pay into

now that is just offensive.

this is how japanese culture developed. there was no toll to achieve it. (there are some downsides, but they are mostly in the behavior of men towards women, which is a global problem). this is how most asian cultures work. and african too. children learn to do these things, and they learn how to behave properly.

Re: I decided to pay off a school’s lunch debt

#590

Post by blueflow »

amelius wrote: post #582
blueflow wrote: post #579

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And "n*gro" is the Spanish, non-slur word for "black" but yet we can't use it because US people dislike it. Slavery and such. Cultural sensitivity goes both ways.

> And "n*gro" is the Spanish, non-slur word for "black" but yet we can't use it because US people dislike it. Slavery and such. Cultural sensitivity goes both ways. Webster's dictionary: plural Negroes 1 dated, often offensive : a person of Black African ancestry 2 dated, often offensive : a member of a group of people formerly considered to constitute a race (see race entry 1 sense 1a) of humans having African ances…

Like you, probably, I got a very systemizing brain and had trouble understanding this for decades. What the dictionaries say about the words does not matter - what is offensive to other people does not follow any system, but their feelings. And that means its arbitrary and you have probably no chance to know it ahead of time.

I feel your pain, tho.

Post reply on HN