5 ms·

It's because we stopped focusing on creating things, and instead started laser focusing on making sure that everybody gets exactly the same amount of everything

It's because we stopped focusing on creating things, and instead started laser focusing on making sure that everybody gets exactly the same amount of everything all the time. It's ridiculous. We are trust fund children who don't understand where the money came from, and it will be our undoing. Twitter, NYT, CNN, Fox News, MSNBC and the like have monetized dividing us, and they have a multi-billion dollar a year budget to figure out how to be more efficient at it. We demonize people who create things. We demonize people who want to form communities, and we even demonize people who might dare to suggest that The United States is rightfully an example for the rest of the world. We have gutted our education system. Many of my wealthy friends are either pregnant or have recently have had children. 0 of them will send their kids to a school where they learn that math is racist, the united states is completely racist, white people are racist, trees are racist, grammar is racist, and that they should be skeptical and distrustful of their parents. We've gone from "America is a beautiful project we all create" to "America is a mine with jewels at the bottom, and we need to extract them and make sure that everybody gets their fair share". It's unbelievably, unbelievably sad.

elmomle 6y ago
Agree with exploitation mentality, disagree with "everybody getting their fair share" being the core. That exploitation/financialization mentality really hit its stride with Reagan, though both parties eventually vied to see who could do it more. It is ostensibly independent of where the money goes to. But the winners were always the rich. Inequality in the US between the top 0.01% and "everyone else" has increased tremendously in the past 40 years (https://review.chicagobooth.edu/economics/2017/article/never-mind-1-percent-lets-talk-about-001-percent https://review.chicagobooth.edu/economics/2017/article/never...).
vict7 6y ago
No, the miniscule strides made towards a more equitable society are not the issue. We laser focused on the generation of profit for the few at the expense of everything and everyone else. Where do you get your news? OAN?
MisterBastahrd 6y ago
It's funny you think that, because black folks in America have been saying for years that they deserve a cut of what was stolen from them, and the response is "we have ours, go pound sand."
ordinaryradical 6y ago
I disagree with some parts of this comment because I think it misunderstands that there are real, historical, unaddressed grievances commingled with an entitlement mindset. (The rich also have an entitlement mindset, as it turns out.) But the bit about schooling hit home for me. I'm supposedly in one of the most successful school districts of my city, but the stories I hear from parents ahead of me are disturbing. There is some real wackadoo stuff being exported directly from the university into young teachers and transferred into young minds. I just heard one about a teacher refusing to mention how civil rights leaders prayed before their marching--literally skipping those pages of the book. I was creeped out when the TX schools were trying to downplay Jefferson's racism, but this secular, CRT re-narrativizing of history is just as bad.
- vict7 6y ago
  Just curious. How do you feel about Alabama advancing its "creation science" bill? Clearly, unequivocally there are reactionary trends taking us far in the opposite direction you say we are going. I will always take the path of science over the path of superstition and manufactured grievances.
  - ordinaryradical 6y ago
    I think that it's a classic example of ideology infiltrating the classroom. Creationism could be taught in a philosophy class, but it has very little relation to the scientific process. But I would say that these trends are localized. The urban coasts are not the same as Alabama, and I see the error as springing from an identical root: the desire to control the narrative and impose a particular political conscience on the youth.
- taylodl 6y ago
  My advice? Ignore most things other parents say. My youngest graduated from high school last year. A public school. A sane school - though you'd never know it when listening to the other parents. Parents are nuts and you should take everything they say with a huge grain of salt. (Except me of course!) On the college front things are a little different. My oldest two went to private, liberal arts schools majoring in mathematics and science. The SJWs make life irritating and the administrations kowtow to them a bit excessively but they still ended up getting a good education. My youngest is going to a public university - even though the nonsense is present, the student body and the administration largely ignore it except where there's a legitimate case (I know that's subjective, but what "most people" would consider to be a legitimate case). Most of our "culture wars" are made up by Fox News and CNN to give their talking heads something to blather on about. Hell, if we're all in agreement on most things - which we largely are - then why would you watch them? Their whole business model is making mountains out of molehills. The funny thing is China believes it. You may recall Japan thought we were in decline, too. Honestly, at no point in my life have a seen the future of the United States as being brighter than I see it now. Do we have problems? Absolutely! But we're doing a much better job not sweeping those problems under the carpet than we did in the past and that's the key to our getting those problems solved.
fuqmachine 6y ago
Sounds like you're just a miserable republican who's upset that other people don't like being treated like shit
- dang 6y ago
  Flamewar comments like this will get you banned on HN, regardless of how wrong another commenter is or you feel they are. You take the community a major step into hell when you react like this; it damages the commons, and it's not ok. No more of this, please. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
bigbillheck 6y ago
I think you've got a lot more ideology than facts going on in this post. > started laser focusing on making sure that everybody gets exactly the same amount of everything all the time This doesn't sound at all like the America in which I've lived my whole life. Just in my life alone there's been Reagan's legacy, Clinton's welfare reforms, Bush's tax cuts, the 2008 financial crisis and the fallout, and that's when I started to stop paying attention because it was getting too depressing. Looking at China, they're at least trying to eliminate poverty whereas here it seems like our goal is to make it worse, and help a few billionaires get richer along the way.
gruez 6y ago
>We demonize people who create things. We demonize people who want to form communities, and we even demonize people who might dare to suggest that The United States is rightfully an example for the rest of the world. >a school where they learn that math is racist, the united states is completely racist, white people are racist, trees are racist, grammar is racist, and that they should be skeptical and distrustful of their parents. uhh what? that's a lot of background beliefs that you assume readers believe/know about.
ramosu 6y ago
Most people agree with that, but only a few will expose themselves saying this.
happytoexplain 6y ago
>started laser focusing on making sure that everybody gets exactly the same amount of everything all the time. It's ridiculous. >It's unbelievably, unbelievably sad. I largely agree with you, but in my opinion, the position you're expressing in the former quote (specifically the extremity of the position, rather than its quality) contributes to existence of the latter. There are way too many absolutes in your complaint - you're exaggerating out of emotion.

elmomle 6y ago

Agree with exploitation mentality, disagree with "everybody getting their fair share" being the core. That exploitation/financialization mentality really hit its stride with Reagan, though both parties eventually vied to see who could do it more. It is ostensibly independent of where the money goes to. But the winners were always the rich. Inequality in the US between the top 0.01% and "everyone else" has increased tremendously in the past 40 years (https://review.chicagobooth.edu/economics/2017/article/never-mind-1-percent-lets-talk-about-001-percent https://review.chicagobooth.edu/economics/2017/article/never...).

vict7 6y ago

No, the miniscule strides made towards a more equitable society are not the issue. We laser focused on the generation of profit for the few at the expense of everything and everyone else. Where do you get your news? OAN?

MisterBastahrd 6y ago

It's funny you think that, because black folks in America have been saying for years that they deserve a cut of what was stolen from them, and the response is "we have ours, go pound sand."

ordinaryradical 6y ago

I disagree with some parts of this comment because I think it misunderstands that there are real, historical, unaddressed grievances commingled with an entitlement mindset. (The rich also have an entitlement mindset, as it turns out.) But the bit about schooling hit home for me. I'm supposedly in one of the most successful school districts of my city, but the stories I hear from parents ahead of me are disturbing. There is some real wackadoo stuff being exported directly from the university into young teachers and transferred into young minds. I just heard one about a teacher refusing to mention how civil rights leaders prayed before their marching--literally skipping those pages of the book. I was creeped out when the TX schools were trying to downplay Jefferson's racism, but this secular, CRT re-narrativizing of history is just as bad.

vict7 6y ago
Just curious. How do you feel about Alabama advancing its "creation science" bill? Clearly, unequivocally there are reactionary trends taking us far in the opposite direction you say we are going. I will always take the path of science over the path of superstition and manufactured grievances.
- ordinaryradical 6y ago
  I think that it's a classic example of ideology infiltrating the classroom. Creationism could be taught in a philosophy class, but it has very little relation to the scientific process. But I would say that these trends are localized. The urban coasts are not the same as Alabama, and I see the error as springing from an identical root: the desire to control the narrative and impose a particular political conscience on the youth.
taylodl 6y ago
My advice? Ignore most things other parents say. My youngest graduated from high school last year. A public school. A sane school - though you'd never know it when listening to the other parents. Parents are nuts and you should take everything they say with a huge grain of salt. (Except me of course!) On the college front things are a little different. My oldest two went to private, liberal arts schools majoring in mathematics and science. The SJWs make life irritating and the administrations kowtow to them a bit excessively but they still ended up getting a good education. My youngest is going to a public university - even though the nonsense is present, the student body and the administration largely ignore it except where there's a legitimate case (I know that's subjective, but what "most people" would consider to be a legitimate case). Most of our "culture wars" are made up by Fox News and CNN to give their talking heads something to blather on about. Hell, if we're all in agreement on most things - which we largely are - then why would you watch them? Their whole business model is making mountains out of molehills. The funny thing is China believes it. You may recall Japan thought we were in decline, too. Honestly, at no point in my life have a seen the future of the United States as being brighter than I see it now. Do we have problems? Absolutely! But we're doing a much better job not sweeping those problems under the carpet than we did in the past and that's the key to our getting those problems solved.

fuqmachine 6y ago

Sounds like you're just a miserable republican who's upset that other people don't like being treated like shit

dang 6y ago
Flamewar comments like this will get you banned on HN, regardless of how wrong another commenter is or you feel they are. You take the community a major step into hell when you react like this; it damages the commons, and it's not ok. No more of this, please. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

bigbillheck 6y ago

I think you've got a lot more ideology than facts going on in this post. > started laser focusing on making sure that everybody gets exactly the same amount of everything all the time This doesn't sound at all like the America in which I've lived my whole life. Just in my life alone there's been Reagan's legacy, Clinton's welfare reforms, Bush's tax cuts, the 2008 financial crisis and the fallout, and that's when I started to stop paying attention because it was getting too depressing. Looking at China, they're at least trying to eliminate poverty whereas here it seems like our goal is to make it worse, and help a few billionaires get richer along the way.

gruez 6y ago

>We demonize people who create things. We demonize people who want to form communities, and we even demonize people who might dare to suggest that The United States is rightfully an example for the rest of the world. >a school where they learn that math is racist, the united states is completely racist, white people are racist, trees are racist, grammar is racist, and that they should be skeptical and distrustful of their parents. uhh what? that's a lot of background beliefs that you assume readers believe/know about.

ramosu 6y ago

Most people agree with that, but only a few will expose themselves saying this.

happytoexplain 6y ago

>started laser focusing on making sure that everybody gets exactly the same amount of everything all the time. It's ridiculous. >It's unbelievably, unbelievably sad. I largely agree with you, but in my opinion, the position you're expressing in the former quote (specifically the extremity of the position, rather than its quality) contributes to existence of the latter. There are way too many absolutes in your complaint - you're exaggerating out of emotion.