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Shame on you. I've experienced "first-world poverty", and it sucks. The solution isn't to plug our privileged tech worker ears and pretend "the poors" don't ex

Shame on you. I've experienced "first-world poverty", and it sucks. The solution isn't to plug our privileged tech worker ears and pretend "the poors" don't exist. The solution is to get involved with our communities, by helping the old man at the convenience store, helping the wheelchair man up the curb, and talking to the homeless who spend their entire day on the sidewalk getting ignored by everyone caught up in the rat race. Shame on you.

codetwelve 10y ago
Keep being yourself! :) These times we can use all the help, connection, community building we can get.
smallgovt 10y ago
I find this comment extremely distasteful. Who are you to "shame" another person? He's justified to his own opinion and even if his opinion is damaging, he wasn't trying to force it on anyone else. He asked two questions that are fair and thought-provoking. Starting and ending your comment in the way you did is almost guaranteed to invoke a negative, defensive reaction from the commenter which will only further drive divisiveness (which you presumably espouse). Also, instead of just stating the solution, try explaining WHY the solution works.
- codetwelve 10y ago
  The person you're defending is the one trying to shame, just not directly saying it.
  - smallgovt 10y ago
    You are using your own interpretation of his comment to make a moral judgement on his character. Based on what we know, it's possible that he simply believes any poor person can escape poverty through hard work and tenacity. This belief (though arguably incorrect) is supported by his personal experience. And, the idea of someone 'pitying' or feeling 'guilt' for someone in his former position is detestable because it suggests that they think they're better than him. I want to make it clear that I don't agree with this perspective, and don't believe it's constructive. However, I don't believe we need to be publicly shaming people when we can be having constructive conversation. Instead, I think we should be trying to understand where people are coming from, and discussing ideas openly. A person's character really has no place in a discussion of ideas.
Camillo 10y ago
"The solution" to what? The things you mentioned will not solve poverty or homelessness. They will not even make a dent in the problem. Do you think that talking to the homeless guy will warm his heart and brighten his whole day? Not as much as your heart gets warmed; not as much as your day gets brightened. The only problem you are really solving is your own guilt. And tomorrow, and in a year, and in ten years, there are going to be just as many poor and homeless people around, to provide you the same service. And shaming people on HN serves the same purpose. If you want to help the poor, work harder and give the extra money you make to good charities. That is not going to solve the problem, either, but it will improve things more than anything else you could do in the same amount of time. The direct personal involvement you seek only serves to benefit you, at the expense of greater possible material improvements for them. If that sounds inhuman, that's because our moral intuition, like so much of our instinct, does not scale. What is good for a single poor man is not necessarily best for poverty as a social problem.

codetwelve 10y ago

Keep being yourself! :) These times we can use all the help, connection, community building we can get.

smallgovt 10y ago

I find this comment extremely distasteful. Who are you to "shame" another person? He's justified to his own opinion and even if his opinion is damaging, he wasn't trying to force it on anyone else. He asked two questions that are fair and thought-provoking. Starting and ending your comment in the way you did is almost guaranteed to invoke a negative, defensive reaction from the commenter which will only further drive divisiveness (which you presumably espouse). Also, instead of just stating the solution, try explaining WHY the solution works.

codetwelve 10y ago
The person you're defending is the one trying to shame, just not directly saying it.
- smallgovt 10y ago
  You are using your own interpretation of his comment to make a moral judgement on his character. Based on what we know, it's possible that he simply believes any poor person can escape poverty through hard work and tenacity. This belief (though arguably incorrect) is supported by his personal experience. And, the idea of someone 'pitying' or feeling 'guilt' for someone in his former position is detestable because it suggests that they think they're better than him. I want to make it clear that I don't agree with this perspective, and don't believe it's constructive. However, I don't believe we need to be publicly shaming people when we can be having constructive conversation. Instead, I think we should be trying to understand where people are coming from, and discussing ideas openly. A person's character really has no place in a discussion of ideas.

Camillo 10y ago

"The solution" to what? The things you mentioned will not solve poverty or homelessness. They will not even make a dent in the problem. Do you think that talking to the homeless guy will warm his heart and brighten his whole day? Not as much as your heart gets warmed; not as much as your day gets brightened. The only problem you are really solving is your own guilt. And tomorrow, and in a year, and in ten years, there are going to be just as many poor and homeless people around, to provide you the same service. And shaming people on HN serves the same purpose. If you want to help the poor, work harder and give the extra money you make to good charities. That is not going to solve the problem, either, but it will improve things more than anything else you could do in the same amount of time. The direct personal involvement you seek only serves to benefit you, at the expense of greater possible material improvements for them. If that sounds inhuman, that's because our moral intuition, like so much of our instinct, does not scale. What is good for a single poor man is not necessarily best for poverty as a social problem.