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>If you are white and wealthy, then drug possession is against the law only in vague terms on paper. Not to discount your other points, but this is exactly how

>If you are white and wealthy, then drug possession is against the law only in vague terms on paper. Not to discount your other points, but this is exactly how the Chinese system will work as well. (and already does in other respects from what I have heard and read) >What a bunch of bigoted hogwash. What did he say that was bigoted? (I am serious, by the actual definition [0], not the pejorative commonly thrown around to silence dissent) As a side note, my brother has a felony on his record, so I have some knowledge of the cause and effects. [0] http://www.dictionary.com/browse/bigoted http://www.dictionary.com/browse/bigoted Edit: This turned sour fast... not sure it's worth replying to comments.

crankylinuxuser 9y ago
"You start out in 1954 by saying, “Nigger, nigger, nigger.” By 1968 you can’t say “nigger”—that hurts you, backfires. So you say stuff like, uh, forced busing, states’ rights, and all that stuff, and you’re getting so abstract. Now, you’re talking about cutting taxes, and all these things you’re talking about are totally economic things and a byproduct of them is, blacks get hurt worse than whites.… “We want to cut this,” is much more abstract than even the busing thing, uh, and a hell of a lot more abstract than “Nigger, nigger.”" --Lee Atwater Just because you don't directly say "nigger", doesn't mean the policies aren't directed towards african americans. And we also know for a fact that cannabis was made illegal because "it would make blacks want white women". And, it was also easier to criminalize the peaceful actions of citizens they see as "undesirable" and then throw them in prison for a long time. So yeah, bigoted.
jMyles 9y ago
Black people are 12% of the population but over half those imprisoned for drug offenses, and GP's advice is, "If you wish to stay out of the felon caste, do not break obvious laws, like those regarding drug possession." I mean, that's bigotry. That's something I expect to read on the_donald.
- RobertRoberts 9y ago
  I know we all have biases, but I reread the comment, and I didn't see any references to race. Is it really fair to apply a blanket percentage generically to any statement and equate it to race? Bigotry [0], are you sure you are using this word correctly? [0] http://www.dictionary.com/browse/bigotry http://www.dictionary.com/browse/bigotry
- twblalock 9y ago
  If two groups of people commit the same crimes at similar rates, and individuals in one of those groups are imprisoned more frequently than those in the other group, that's unfair on a systematic level. Nobody here said otherwise. What aspect of this situation makes the GP's advice untrue? For any individual in either group, the best way to avoid becoming a felon is to avoid committing felonies.
  - joejerryronnie 9y ago
    But race is not the primary difference between the two groups you're talking about. The biggest difference is socio-economic and that drives everything else - health, education, opportunity, world view, etc. You could, of course, make the argument that the underlying cause of the socio-economic discrepancy is rooted in racism and bigotry.
  - jMyles 9y ago
    > For any individual in either group, the best way to avoid becoming a felon is to avoid committing felonies. I think you're missing the forest for the trees here. For a white, wealthy person, the healthiest life choices are to select a diet based only on the effects of the ingested materials in question, independent of their legal status. For a black person, the healthiest life choice is instead to make very different dietary choices in order to avoid becoming a felon. It is simply not the case that individuals in the two groups have the same dynamic re: life choices.
    - RobertRoberts 9y ago
      >For a white, wealthy person [...] For a black person I don't think it's likely that a purely scientific and non-emotional discussion about race related subjects can be had these days online. Primarily because too many people frame their arguments in such a way to automatically make the other person wrong.

crankylinuxuser 9y ago

"You start out in 1954 by saying, “Nigger, nigger, nigger.” By 1968 you can’t say “nigger”—that hurts you, backfires. So you say stuff like, uh, forced busing, states’ rights, and all that stuff, and you’re getting so abstract. Now, you’re talking about cutting taxes, and all these things you’re talking about are totally economic things and a byproduct of them is, blacks get hurt worse than whites.… “We want to cut this,” is much more abstract than even the busing thing, uh, and a hell of a lot more abstract than “Nigger, nigger.”" --Lee Atwater Just because you don't directly say "nigger", doesn't mean the policies aren't directed towards african americans. And we also know for a fact that cannabis was made illegal because "it would make blacks want white women". And, it was also easier to criminalize the peaceful actions of citizens they see as "undesirable" and then throw them in prison for a long time. So yeah, bigoted.

jMyles 9y ago

Black people are 12% of the population but over half those imprisoned for drug offenses, and GP's advice is, "If you wish to stay out of the felon caste, do not break obvious laws, like those regarding drug possession." I mean, that's bigotry. That's something I expect to read on the_donald.

RobertRoberts 9y ago
I know we all have biases, but I reread the comment, and I didn't see any references to race. Is it really fair to apply a blanket percentage generically to any statement and equate it to race? Bigotry [0], are you sure you are using this word correctly? [0] http://www.dictionary.com/browse/bigotry http://www.dictionary.com/browse/bigotry
twblalock 9y ago
If two groups of people commit the same crimes at similar rates, and individuals in one of those groups are imprisoned more frequently than those in the other group, that's unfair on a systematic level. Nobody here said otherwise. What aspect of this situation makes the GP's advice untrue? For any individual in either group, the best way to avoid becoming a felon is to avoid committing felonies.
- joejerryronnie 9y ago
  But race is not the primary difference between the two groups you're talking about. The biggest difference is socio-economic and that drives everything else - health, education, opportunity, world view, etc. You could, of course, make the argument that the underlying cause of the socio-economic discrepancy is rooted in racism and bigotry.
- jMyles 9y ago
  > For any individual in either group, the best way to avoid becoming a felon is to avoid committing felonies. I think you're missing the forest for the trees here. For a white, wealthy person, the healthiest life choices are to select a diet based only on the effects of the ingested materials in question, independent of their legal status. For a black person, the healthiest life choice is instead to make very different dietary choices in order to avoid becoming a felon. It is simply not the case that individuals in the two groups have the same dynamic re: life choices.
  - RobertRoberts 9y ago
    >For a white, wealthy person [...] For a black person I don't think it's likely that a purely scientific and non-emotional discussion about race related subjects can be had these days online. Primarily because too many people frame their arguments in such a way to automatically make the other person wrong.