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> If you are a white man born in America, feeling guilt is what you’re supposed to feel, as a human being. Nonsense. You should feel thankful. Thankful that

> If you are a white man born in America, feeling guilt is what you’re supposed to feel, as a human being. Nonsense. You should feel thankful. Thankful that you had the luck being born in the most prosperous time in human history, where you have access to better healthcare, transportation, human rights and democratic privileges, to name just a few. Once you realize how good it is to live in this day and age and feel grateful, helping others who are a bit less fortunate will come naturally to you. Working from positive emotions is a much better strategy, both for your own sake and - by extension - also for the sake of society at large.

pbhjpbhj 6y ago
So feel guilty that you don't feel thankful, but only if you're white? You know that skin colour doesn't make you immune to poverty, or disease, or any adversity? Your comment comes across as supporting the parent comment; and as exceptionally racist. Almost certainly some kids living in USA didn't eat today. Your comment sounds like "well starving white kids can just eat their privilege". I don't understand why you're all so obsessed with skin colour and not with actuality of real people. Are the powerful people in USA principally white men, I don't doubt it. Don't let your ire at such inequality make you racist.
- SeerKlein 6y ago
  I think that what you're saying about how skin color doesn't make you immune to adversity is true. I also think that they are trying to say that you shouldn't focus on guilt and instead should focus on gratitude, that relatively speaking and from their perspective, white people are privileged. I can see how in some ways, some subset of white people have had much better fortunes than others and people of color. There are, like you said, other subsets of white people who've had it worse or suffer similarly.
- animal_spirits 6y ago
  The whole point of the posted article is to _not_ guilt people in to doing the right thing. You should push positive emotions about doing the right thing, not negative emotions. From the article: "These findings suggest that inducing people to consider positive rather than negative self-directed emotions might recruit more people to a climate-change mitigation agenda, and to prosocial behaviour more broadly."
- ianai 6y ago
  There are more emotions than guilt and thankfulness. They also aren’t even the apparent dipoles you appear to imply. Being thankful doesn’t mean you’re not guilty. I’m sure there are plenty of scenes of Lex Luther being thankful on YouTube of something he should feel guilt over-might even.
  - SeerKlein 6y ago
    There certainly are more emotions. To add on to what you're saying, being thankful doesn't mean you're not guilty. However, it also doesn't imply guilt either.
nicoffeine 6y ago
> Thankful that you had the luck being born in the most prosperous time in human history, where you have access to better healthcare, transportation, human rights and democratic privileges, to name just a few. That's the whole point - people in poverty do not have many of these privileges. They don't have access to good education, healthcare, transportation, and they are consistently denied their human rights. After growing up without these privileges, they are funneled into dead-end jobs or prison. Minimizing the injustice to saying they are "a bit less fortunate" is frankly disgusting. MLK said "large segments of white society are more concerned about tranquility and the status quo than about justice and humanity." That is just as true today as it was fifty years ago. The fact is the US Government promised to keep treaties with indigenous Americans, and it didn't. It promised 40 acres to every survivor of slavery, and that was never delivered. What's the value of all the real estate in America plus 400 years of enslaved labor? Probably a lot less than what their descendants are asking for today. So don't feel guilty. Be responsible. Be accountable. Do the right thing, and recognize that as a beneficiary you owe some of that debt.

pbhjpbhj 6y ago

So feel guilty that you don't feel thankful, but only if you're white? You know that skin colour doesn't make you immune to poverty, or disease, or any adversity? Your comment comes across as supporting the parent comment; and as exceptionally racist. Almost certainly some kids living in USA didn't eat today. Your comment sounds like "well starving white kids can just eat their privilege". I don't understand why you're all so obsessed with skin colour and not with actuality of real people. Are the powerful people in USA principally white men, I don't doubt it. Don't let your ire at such inequality make you racist.

SeerKlein 6y ago
I think that what you're saying about how skin color doesn't make you immune to adversity is true. I also think that they are trying to say that you shouldn't focus on guilt and instead should focus on gratitude, that relatively speaking and from their perspective, white people are privileged. I can see how in some ways, some subset of white people have had much better fortunes than others and people of color. There are, like you said, other subsets of white people who've had it worse or suffer similarly.
animal_spirits 6y ago
The whole point of the posted article is to _not_ guilt people in to doing the right thing. You should push positive emotions about doing the right thing, not negative emotions. From the article: "These findings suggest that inducing people to consider positive rather than negative self-directed emotions might recruit more people to a climate-change mitigation agenda, and to prosocial behaviour more broadly."
ianai 6y ago
There are more emotions than guilt and thankfulness. They also aren’t even the apparent dipoles you appear to imply. Being thankful doesn’t mean you’re not guilty. I’m sure there are plenty of scenes of Lex Luther being thankful on YouTube of something he should feel guilt over-might even.
- SeerKlein 6y ago
  There certainly are more emotions. To add on to what you're saying, being thankful doesn't mean you're not guilty. However, it also doesn't imply guilt either.

nicoffeine 6y ago

> Thankful that you had the luck being born in the most prosperous time in human history, where you have access to better healthcare, transportation, human rights and democratic privileges, to name just a few. That's the whole point - people in poverty do not have many of these privileges. They don't have access to good education, healthcare, transportation, and they are consistently denied their human rights. After growing up without these privileges, they are funneled into dead-end jobs or prison. Minimizing the injustice to saying they are "a bit less fortunate" is frankly disgusting. MLK said "large segments of white society are more concerned about tranquility and the status quo than about justice and humanity." That is just as true today as it was fifty years ago. The fact is the US Government promised to keep treaties with indigenous Americans, and it didn't. It promised 40 acres to every survivor of slavery, and that was never delivered. What's the value of all the real estate in America plus 400 years of enslaved labor? Probably a lot less than what their descendants are asking for today. So don't feel guilty. Be responsible. Be accountable. Do the right thing, and recognize that as a beneficiary you owe some of that debt.