3 ms·

This is absolutely about choosing to feel resentment. Why else would you care that someone else got a leg-up if it doesn't affect you, personally? Like, nothi

by jude- 5y ago

This is absolutely about choosing to feel resentment. Why else would you care that someone else got a leg-up if it doesn't affect you, personally? Like, nothing was taken from you, and nothing was done to you, and yet you still feel bad that someone else's life just got better. That's resentment.

refurb 5y ago
Thought experiment. Everyone in the US gets a $10,000 stimulus payment, except you. Is that fair? Nothing has been taken from you. Now think about it in terms of income inequality. If someone makes $1M per year, why do you care? It doesn't hurt you. You choose to feel resentment because someone else is better off.
- jude- 5y ago
  First, fairness != resentment. One is a quantifiable statement, and the other is a feeling. It would not be fair to me if I didn't get the stimulus while everyone else did, but I would still be quite happy for everyone else. > Now think about it in terms of income inequality. If someone makes $1M per year, why do you care? It doesn't hurt you. I don't care, because by itself, someone else earning $1M per year doesn't affect me. What I do care about is when people turn their wealth into power, because that does affect me (and many others). Like, income inequality wouldn't be a problem if the high-income people didn't keep using their wealth to exert undue influence (to put it politely) in politics, religion, media, and other shared aspects of our society. See the difference? I don't resent people for being wealthy. My feelings towards them depend on the things they do with it.
  - refurb 5y ago
    I don't resent people for being wealthy. My feelings towards them depend on the things they do with it. Then we agree. I don't resent people for having their rent debt forgiven, I resent them for having it forgiven when they had the ability to pay it all along.
    - jude- 5y ago
      I'm not sure it's going to be that clear-cut. If you rented a place, and can prove you could have afforded it, but simultaneously can't prove that you paid rent for all the times it was due, then that's going to hurt your future ability to rent and/or borrow money for some time. Future renters and loan officers look (or will soon start looking) at this data.
      - refurb 5y ago
        Some localities are making it illegal to screen based on credit history or passed evictions. See where we’re going?

by jude- 5y ago

refurb 5y ago

Thought experiment. Everyone in the US gets a $10,000 stimulus payment, except you. Is that fair? Nothing has been taken from you. Now think about it in terms of income inequality. If someone makes $1M per year, why do you care? It doesn't hurt you. You choose to feel resentment because someone else is better off.

jude- 5y ago
First, fairness != resentment. One is a quantifiable statement, and the other is a feeling. It would not be fair to me if I didn't get the stimulus while everyone else did, but I would still be quite happy for everyone else. > Now think about it in terms of income inequality. If someone makes $1M per year, why do you care? It doesn't hurt you. I don't care, because by itself, someone else earning $1M per year doesn't affect me. What I do care about is when people turn their wealth into power, because that does affect me (and many others). Like, income inequality wouldn't be a problem if the high-income people didn't keep using their wealth to exert undue influence (to put it politely) in politics, religion, media, and other shared aspects of our society. See the difference? I don't resent people for being wealthy. My feelings towards them depend on the things they do with it.
- refurb 5y ago
  I don't resent people for being wealthy. My feelings towards them depend on the things they do with it. Then we agree. I don't resent people for having their rent debt forgiven, I resent them for having it forgiven when they had the ability to pay it all along.
  - jude- 5y ago
    I'm not sure it's going to be that clear-cut. If you rented a place, and can prove you could have afforded it, but simultaneously can't prove that you paid rent for all the times it was due, then that's going to hurt your future ability to rent and/or borrow money for some time. Future renters and loan officers look (or will soon start looking) at this data.
    - refurb 5y ago
      Some localities are making it illegal to screen based on credit history or passed evictions. See where we’re going?