3 ms·

I don’t like the term myself, but I think it is fair to acknowledge that plenty of people are disadvantaged due to their skin color, race, religion etc. For in

I don’t like the term myself, but I think it is fair to acknowledge that plenty of people are disadvantaged due to their skin color, race, religion etc. For instance I know I have more opportunities because I am white, belonging to western culture and culturally Christian (I am an atheist by celebrate Christmas and all that), than I would have had if I was black or muslim while living in the West. But this is not uniform. My opportunities if I looked Asian would likely be very similar to looking white. It isn’t a mystery that a culture favors people looking like themselves. Had I grown up in Japan I am sure I would have been at a disadvantage for not looking Japanese.

babesh 6y ago
Disadvantage is due to far more than skin color, race, religion, etc... I think there are wide swaths of 'white' America that are disadvantaged as well.
- socialdemocrat 6y ago
  Born into poverty is also a disadvantage. Having a handicap is a disadvantage. And I recognize that otherwise I would not be a social democrat. And that is why I advocate social democratic policies such as reducing inequality. Giving everybody equal access to health care, education etc. But the point is we should recognize the disadvantage somebody faces and seek to help rather than belittle it by saying “other people have problems too”
babesh 6y ago
Stop the white adjacent bullshit. There is a substantial Asian underclass. Your opportunities if you looked Asian would only be very similar to whites if you were upper middle class Asian. The difference is that some of those lower and lower middle class Asians who make it go up through the educational system (work hard and study culture). That is why so many Asians defend magnet schools. How do you think many of them rose up from poverty? The lower and lower middle class Asians don’t initially have the same networking opportunities or social access that whites do. Also whites from disadvantaged backgrounds often face different difficulties.
- babesh 6y ago
  Here is my vantage point of how the game is played. I went to a magnet high school. The rich kids, irrespective of race, mostly didn’t have better grades. What they had was richer backgrounds and more opportunities (parents able and willing to pay for liberal arts colleges, willing and able to pay for them to go to medical or law school or pursue a PhD, willing and able to sacrifice the years to do so). There were some exceptions but it typically required whole family sacrifice and of course there was a gradient. The poor kids didn’t have the knowledge or long term thinking. Decisions of what school to go to was based mostly on what was affordable. Decisions of what to do were limited to what major to take. After school, the rich kids and to a lesser extent the middle class white kids have access to much stronger networks. These networks are the real difference maker. It lets you in on opportunities: jobs at hot startups, easier access to jobs, information on investment opportunities, getting promoted, etc... It is these opportunities that have a huge multiplier effect. If you are rich, you play the system. If you are poor, the system plays you. If you are white in the US, it’s easier for you to fit in but you can also fit in (speak right, dress right, think right) if you come from the same background/mindset. One last thing, do you think that the rich and poor kids hung out together in high school?

babesh 6y ago

Disadvantage is due to far more than skin color, race, religion, etc... I think there are wide swaths of 'white' America that are disadvantaged as well.

socialdemocrat 6y ago
Born into poverty is also a disadvantage. Having a handicap is a disadvantage. And I recognize that otherwise I would not be a social democrat. And that is why I advocate social democratic policies such as reducing inequality. Giving everybody equal access to health care, education etc. But the point is we should recognize the disadvantage somebody faces and seek to help rather than belittle it by saying “other people have problems too”

babesh 6y ago

Stop the white adjacent bullshit. There is a substantial Asian underclass. Your opportunities if you looked Asian would only be very similar to whites if you were upper middle class Asian. The difference is that some of those lower and lower middle class Asians who make it go up through the educational system (work hard and study culture). That is why so many Asians defend magnet schools. How do you think many of them rose up from poverty? The lower and lower middle class Asians don’t initially have the same networking opportunities or social access that whites do. Also whites from disadvantaged backgrounds often face different difficulties.

babesh 6y ago
Here is my vantage point of how the game is played. I went to a magnet high school. The rich kids, irrespective of race, mostly didn’t have better grades. What they had was richer backgrounds and more opportunities (parents able and willing to pay for liberal arts colleges, willing and able to pay for them to go to medical or law school or pursue a PhD, willing and able to sacrifice the years to do so). There were some exceptions but it typically required whole family sacrifice and of course there was a gradient. The poor kids didn’t have the knowledge or long term thinking. Decisions of what school to go to was based mostly on what was affordable. Decisions of what to do were limited to what major to take. After school, the rich kids and to a lesser extent the middle class white kids have access to much stronger networks. These networks are the real difference maker. It lets you in on opportunities: jobs at hot startups, easier access to jobs, information on investment opportunities, getting promoted, etc... It is these opportunities that have a huge multiplier effect. If you are rich, you play the system. If you are poor, the system plays you. If you are white in the US, it’s easier for you to fit in but you can also fit in (speak right, dress right, think right) if you come from the same background/mindset. One last thing, do you think that the rich and poor kids hung out together in high school?