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The person you're responding to wants the ability to block callers in India from reaching him. I don't think he wants the ability to block callers in India from

The person you're responding to wants the ability to block callers in India from reaching him. I don't think he wants the ability to block callers in India from reaching you.

dotancohen 5y ago
Let's try a Gedankenexperiment. Consider Albert, white, who was mugged twice by black men. Now when strangers turn to him - say to ask the time - he'll tell them the time if they are white but will put his head down and walk away quickly if they are black. Is Albert racist, or is he responding to past trauma as you are suggesting by blocking all Indian calls?
- krageon 5y ago
  Blocking Indian calls is not racist, just like nullrouting all of China to stop a legion of bruteforcers hammering your servers is not racist. It's a measured response to a real problem, which you are free to not like.
  - RHSeeger 5y ago
    That is, unfortunately, not the way society as a whole sees it. It is fairly common for stores to be attacked as racist when they lock down products that are targeted at a specific minority segment; even when they have clear data indicating those products are stolen more than others. The intent and reason for actions is no longer the deciding factor in whether or not something is racist/biased; the effect is what's focused on. As a side note, I am of the opinion that, if the effect causes real problems for the target segment, then focusing on it is reasonable. For example, if loans are harder to get for a minority because they are more likely to default, then (regardless of the intent/reason for making the loans harder) it makes sense to consider this bad and look for a solution. If it's something like a hair care product that is behind lock and key because it's stolen more often, then calling the store racist is a little over the top. I guess, in the end, it's a matter of balancing the interests of society against that of the store (or other party). There's a large gray area there.
- dredmorbius 5y ago
  Muggings rarely happen at intercontinental range. For someone whose transactions are principally in their own home town and state, denying access to random long-distance numbers would be a feature. The restriction isn't against calls from those of South Asian Indian heritage, it is against calls made from India. A critical property of space is that it puts those who are in the same loction near one another, and those who are not, far apart. The fact that telecoms obliterates distance is not an unalloyed good.
- justin66 5y ago
  > Is Albert racist, or is he responding to past trauma as you are suggesting by blocking all Indian calls? I'm not sure why you're phrasing things that way, it's not my proposed solution to the problem. A similar but more practical solution might be an account setting toggle for allowing or blocking international calls. That's not super practical for people living in a small nation who spend a lot of time on international calls. In a country with tens or hundreds of millions of people, it's more practical. Most people wouldn't have any trouble with having to arrange international calls beforehand. They might very well decide to rely more on Zoom or some other IP solution, which I think would be fine...

The person you're responding to wants the ability to block callers in India from reaching him. I don't think he wants the ability to block callers in India from reaching you.

dotancohen 5y ago

Let's try a Gedankenexperiment. Consider Albert, white, who was mugged twice by black men. Now when strangers turn to him - say to ask the time - he'll tell them the time if they are white but will put his head down and walk away quickly if they are black. Is Albert racist, or is he responding to past trauma as you are suggesting by blocking all Indian calls?

krageon 5y ago
Blocking Indian calls is not racist, just like nullrouting all of China to stop a legion of bruteforcers hammering your servers is not racist. It's a measured response to a real problem, which you are free to not like.
- RHSeeger 5y ago
  That is, unfortunately, not the way society as a whole sees it. It is fairly common for stores to be attacked as racist when they lock down products that are targeted at a specific minority segment; even when they have clear data indicating those products are stolen more than others. The intent and reason for actions is no longer the deciding factor in whether or not something is racist/biased; the effect is what's focused on. As a side note, I am of the opinion that, if the effect causes real problems for the target segment, then focusing on it is reasonable. For example, if loans are harder to get for a minority because they are more likely to default, then (regardless of the intent/reason for making the loans harder) it makes sense to consider this bad and look for a solution. If it's something like a hair care product that is behind lock and key because it's stolen more often, then calling the store racist is a little over the top. I guess, in the end, it's a matter of balancing the interests of society against that of the store (or other party). There's a large gray area there.
dredmorbius 5y ago
Muggings rarely happen at intercontinental range. For someone whose transactions are principally in their own home town and state, denying access to random long-distance numbers would be a feature. The restriction isn't against calls from those of South Asian Indian heritage, it is against calls made from India. A critical property of space is that it puts those who are in the same loction near one another, and those who are not, far apart. The fact that telecoms obliterates distance is not an unalloyed good.
justin66 5y ago
> Is Albert racist, or is he responding to past trauma as you are suggesting by blocking all Indian calls? I'm not sure why you're phrasing things that way, it's not my proposed solution to the problem. A similar but more practical solution might be an account setting toggle for allowing or blocking international calls. That's not super practical for people living in a small nation who spend a lot of time on international calls. In a country with tens or hundreds of millions of people, it's more practical. Most people wouldn't have any trouble with having to arrange international calls beforehand. They might very well decide to rely more on Zoom or some other IP solution, which I think would be fine...