4 ms·

Inequality does create diversity as it gives people a vastly different life experiences.

Broken_Hippo 5y ago
While that is technically true, it doesn't create the type of diversity you can really tap into since some folks are too poor to realistically participate in society, and a lot of society is too segregated for different viewpoints to be in the same place.
saiya-jin 5y ago
Just wow... I guess you would have different sentiment if you would be on the poor side of the inequality scale. Sentiment about poverty being good because it gives 'vastly different life experiences'? One of the things we can be actually proud here in Europe (mainly western part though), a rather strong middle class and tons of help to the poor (maybe too much according to some). I know its nice to find cheap poor folks desperate to work for peanuts, and you can pat yourself in the back how the environment gives everybody a chance to thrive, but that's not an American reality, just a self-perpetuating pipe dream. US is great for the ultra-rich, good for the rich, not-so-good for middle class and outright shit for the poor. But good luck trying to get this accepted in the US where folks are spoon-fed from the childhood how US is best in everything, rather than some healthy amount of critical thinking. Generally everybody, but in my humble experience Americans (and French) especially, profit greatly when (have been) living abroad for some time. Then we can have actual conversations what is great here and there and what outright sucks.
- netizen-936824 5y ago
  People love to make excuses for shitty behavior, such as calling the US an experiment
  - bumby 5y ago
    The claim that the US is an experiment has a long precedent. >No experiment can be more interesting than that we are now trying, and which we trust will end in establishing the fact, that man may be governed by reason and truth. Our first object should therefore be, to leave open to him all the avenues to truth. -Thomas Jefferson, 1804
    - Cybotron5000 5y ago
      Jefferson really did write beautifully. I’m not a US citizen, but I do find his writing to be very uplifting and inspiring.
    - netizen-936824 5y ago
      Okay so someone said it in a time when the "experiment" was slavery. I'm not sure what your point is.
      - bumby 5y ago
        While your response is entirely predictable, it’s obvious why such a reaction misses the point because the scope is much wider than one issue. Yes, it was said during a time when slavery was the norm. But the “experiment” also included allowing systems that challenged that notion rather than maintaining the status quo. That’s the point.
        ABCLAW 5y ago
        I don't think this really addresses the core issue, being that experimentation is used as an excuse to not apply the results of the experiments after they've been performed. I don't think the idea is that experimentation is de facto bad. It's the use of experimentation as a tool to avoid implementation following experimentation that's being decried.
        bumby 5y ago
        I think you are correct, but also think that’s why Jefferson deliberately rooted the virtue of experimentation in our ability to use reason to interpret the results. If someone is acting in bad faith, the fault is not in the experimental process but rather their faculty in interpreting the results. We wouldn’t throw out experimentation in science just because a researcher was biased in their result. The OP seems to be throwing out the baby with the bath water.
- Cederfjard 5y ago
  I don’t think the grandparent comment mean that this type of diversity is good, per se. I read it more as semantic pedantry.

While that is technically true, it doesn't create the type of diversity you can really tap into since some folks are too poor to realistically participate in society, and a lot of society is too segregated for different viewpoints to be in the same place.

saiya-jin 5y ago

Just wow... I guess you would have different sentiment if you would be on the poor side of the inequality scale. Sentiment about poverty being good because it gives 'vastly different life experiences'? One of the things we can be actually proud here in Europe (mainly western part though), a rather strong middle class and tons of help to the poor (maybe too much according to some). I know its nice to find cheap poor folks desperate to work for peanuts, and you can pat yourself in the back how the environment gives everybody a chance to thrive, but that's not an American reality, just a self-perpetuating pipe dream. US is great for the ultra-rich, good for the rich, not-so-good for middle class and outright shit for the poor. But good luck trying to get this accepted in the US where folks are spoon-fed from the childhood how US is best in everything, rather than some healthy amount of critical thinking. Generally everybody, but in my humble experience Americans (and French) especially, profit greatly when (have been) living abroad for some time. Then we can have actual conversations what is great here and there and what outright sucks.

netizen-936824 5y ago
People love to make excuses for shitty behavior, such as calling the US an experiment
- bumby 5y ago
  The claim that the US is an experiment has a long precedent. >No experiment can be more interesting than that we are now trying, and which we trust will end in establishing the fact, that man may be governed by reason and truth. Our first object should therefore be, to leave open to him all the avenues to truth. -Thomas Jefferson, 1804
  - Cybotron5000 5y ago
    Jefferson really did write beautifully. I’m not a US citizen, but I do find his writing to be very uplifting and inspiring.
  - netizen-936824 5y ago
    Okay so someone said it in a time when the "experiment" was slavery. I'm not sure what your point is.
    - bumby 5y ago
      While your response is entirely predictable, it’s obvious why such a reaction misses the point because the scope is much wider than one issue. Yes, it was said during a time when slavery was the norm. But the “experiment” also included allowing systems that challenged that notion rather than maintaining the status quo. That’s the point.
      - ABCLAW 5y ago
        I don't think this really addresses the core issue, being that experimentation is used as an excuse to not apply the results of the experiments after they've been performed. I don't think the idea is that experimentation is de facto bad. It's the use of experimentation as a tool to avoid implementation following experimentation that's being decried.
        bumby 5y ago
        I think you are correct, but also think that’s why Jefferson deliberately rooted the virtue of experimentation in our ability to use reason to interpret the results. If someone is acting in bad faith, the fault is not in the experimental process but rather their faculty in interpreting the results. We wouldn’t throw out experimentation in science just because a researcher was biased in their result. The OP seems to be throwing out the baby with the bath water.
Cederfjard 5y ago
I don’t think the grandparent comment mean that this type of diversity is good, per se. I read it more as semantic pedantry.