4 ms·

It seems like the bread (UI, or QE depending on your 1040) is keeping the peace and the circuses are threatening to blow it apart.

benrbray 5y ago
Just trying to understand what you're saying. My best guess is UI="Unemployment Insurance", QE="quantitative easing", 1040 is the tax form. What's the circus?
- Tcepsa 5y ago
  I'd guess the news cycle, and the increasingly over-the-top antics, political and otherwise, that it seems to spawn.
  - pandeiro 5y ago
    Yep, exactly my interpretation. And I agree with GP about the harm of those circuses. It's diversion-by-division.
  - benrbray 5y ago
    That's what I meant by circus as well, but it seemed like the person replying disagreed with me. We have some massive societal problems to deal with relating to wealth inequality, housing, and public health, but none of it seems to matter as a large segment of the population is convinced that, e.g. transgender people wanting to use the restroom that matches their presented gender is the largest ongoing attack on our collective well-being. The "circus" distracting from the general public's lack of bread (healthcare, labor rights, etc.).
    - ta8645 5y ago
      > transgender people wanting to use the restroom that matches their presented gender is the largest ongoing attack on our collective well-being. Understand what you're saying, but you could have just as easily complained about the pro-transgender-restroom-warriors fighting for unimportant things instead of all the other issues you listed.
      - benrbray 5y ago
        The "both sides" argument doesn't really hold up to scrutiny. The key factor is that there is no measurable cost to, say, conservatives, for conceding on LGBT rights--just general talk in the abstract about moral decay. There is a real, measurable cost to gay people, when they can't get married like everyone else, and to transgender people when they can't comfortably relieve themselves in public. The cost is also to society -- how does society benefit by bullying LGBT people into severe depression when they could otherwise go on to be productive members of society?
        ta8645 5y ago
        You've made a lot of rather large mental leaps that i'd rather not debate right now. But what your original comment lamented was the distraction from the very important issues you listed. Ignoring the merit of the bathroom arguments for a moment, there is definitely a similar associated opportunity cost. If it's not as important as the other issues you listed, it should perhaps be dealt with later...
        Dylan16807 5y ago
        Protecting people's basic rights and dignity is important. Or to put it a different way, you can have an issue where the different factions are not equally important, are not symmetrical. If I want to burn down all green houses because I dislike green, I am engaging in a petty distraction. If someone tried to stop me because they prefer blue that would also be a petty distraction. But the people stopping me because they're anti-arson are doing something important and very much not a petty distraction.
        ta8645 5y ago
        No. There is an opportunity cost for every action you take. Bathroom choices don't matter if the world is on fire and in danger of causing mass extinction and hardship due to global warming. There will be nobody around to mislabel or choose the wrong bathroom. If you truly believed we were in actual peril, you wouldn't waste time on pronouns and bathrooms.. you'd be too busy trying to save the human race. Since that isn't what you're doing, you make all the hand wringing about climate look insincere.
- tschwimmer 5y ago
  I think the OP explains below but my interpretation is based on how much money you make (reflected on your 1040) you either are getting help from unemployment benefits (UI) or asset price increases driven by monetary policy (QE). I imagine the circuses are an allusion to NewsMax/OANN and other American media.

benrbray 5y ago

Just trying to understand what you're saying. My best guess is UI="Unemployment Insurance", QE="quantitative easing", 1040 is the tax form. What's the circus?

Tcepsa 5y ago
I'd guess the news cycle, and the increasingly over-the-top antics, political and otherwise, that it seems to spawn.
- pandeiro 5y ago
  Yep, exactly my interpretation. And I agree with GP about the harm of those circuses. It's diversion-by-division.
- benrbray 5y ago
  That's what I meant by circus as well, but it seemed like the person replying disagreed with me. We have some massive societal problems to deal with relating to wealth inequality, housing, and public health, but none of it seems to matter as a large segment of the population is convinced that, e.g. transgender people wanting to use the restroom that matches their presented gender is the largest ongoing attack on our collective well-being. The "circus" distracting from the general public's lack of bread (healthcare, labor rights, etc.).
  - ta8645 5y ago
    > transgender people wanting to use the restroom that matches their presented gender is the largest ongoing attack on our collective well-being. Understand what you're saying, but you could have just as easily complained about the pro-transgender-restroom-warriors fighting for unimportant things instead of all the other issues you listed.
    - benrbray 5y ago
      The "both sides" argument doesn't really hold up to scrutiny. The key factor is that there is no measurable cost to, say, conservatives, for conceding on LGBT rights--just general talk in the abstract about moral decay. There is a real, measurable cost to gay people, when they can't get married like everyone else, and to transgender people when they can't comfortably relieve themselves in public. The cost is also to society -- how does society benefit by bullying LGBT people into severe depression when they could otherwise go on to be productive members of society?
      - ta8645 5y ago
        You've made a lot of rather large mental leaps that i'd rather not debate right now. But what your original comment lamented was the distraction from the very important issues you listed. Ignoring the merit of the bathroom arguments for a moment, there is definitely a similar associated opportunity cost. If it's not as important as the other issues you listed, it should perhaps be dealt with later...
        Dylan16807 5y ago
        Protecting people's basic rights and dignity is important. Or to put it a different way, you can have an issue where the different factions are not equally important, are not symmetrical. If I want to burn down all green houses because I dislike green, I am engaging in a petty distraction. If someone tried to stop me because they prefer blue that would also be a petty distraction. But the people stopping me because they're anti-arson are doing something important and very much not a petty distraction.
        ta8645 5y ago
        No. There is an opportunity cost for every action you take. Bathroom choices don't matter if the world is on fire and in danger of causing mass extinction and hardship due to global warming. There will be nobody around to mislabel or choose the wrong bathroom. If you truly believed we were in actual peril, you wouldn't waste time on pronouns and bathrooms.. you'd be too busy trying to save the human race. Since that isn't what you're doing, you make all the hand wringing about climate look insincere.
tschwimmer 5y ago
I think the OP explains below but my interpretation is based on how much money you make (reflected on your 1040) you either are getting help from unemployment benefits (UI) or asset price increases driven by monetary policy (QE). I imagine the circuses are an allusion to NewsMax/OANN and other American media.