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I'll have go: Duplicating debt systems with those closest to you by even calling it a loan is a way to persist a system of oppression in the places young peopl

I'll have go: Duplicating debt systems with those closest to you by even calling it a loan is a way to persist a system of oppression in the places young people grow up in. An alternative would be to practice freely giving, especially to needs, never calling things loans or favors, and maybe include with the gifts some lighthearted & light reading material on how to culturally dismantle systems of oppression.

syndicatedjelly 3y ago
Well done, this was written in 100% the tone and attitude of a typical HN user.
- crawfordcomeaux 3y ago
  Thanks! What would be a different approach to saying the same thing? This is a genuine question around how to communicate differently.
  - syndicatedjelly 3y ago
    The comment uses a lot of thousand dollar words and empty phrases. Try less hard, in short. > Duplicating debt systems with those closest to you by even calling it a loan is a way to persist a system of oppression in the places young people grow up in. Giving money to friends and family is oppressive, is what this is saying. Which is just wild to claim. And kind of cheapens the phrase "system of oppression". > An alternative would be to practice freely giving, especially to needs, never calling things loans or favors, and maybe include with the gifts some lighthearted & light reading material on how to culturally dismantle systems of oppression. The first bit is fine, but the last thing is super patronizing. How would it look if your friend asked you for $500 and you gave them some woke manual on how to dismantle "systems of oppression", whatever that means? This sounds "Hacker News"-y because there are a lot of smug programmers here who think they're borderline genius and can solve society's problems just because they read a couple philosophy books and have access to JSTOR. I kinda left my comment sarcastically, but I'm trying to being serious with this bit of advice. Just try less with your writing. The more your try, the faker it sounds.
    - crawfordcomeaux 3y ago
      What I'm getting from this: use plainer language. Thanks for the reminder. To be clear, I was trying to say with the first part that loaning money, instead of giving it, is oppressive. Also, myself and some friends would love the gift of a zine or funny comic about dismantling systems of oppression. It'd be pretty in-character for me to give or receive it. I also don't claim ownership over things, though, so shrug And by "systems of oppression," I mean organizations/cultures that harm through keeping people from getting what they need or making it way harder for some than others. Debt is one such system. Same for nonvoluntary governments. Caste systems. Just as some examples.

syndicatedjelly 3y ago

Well done, this was written in 100% the tone and attitude of a typical HN user.

crawfordcomeaux 3y ago
Thanks! What would be a different approach to saying the same thing? This is a genuine question around how to communicate differently.
- syndicatedjelly 3y ago
  The comment uses a lot of thousand dollar words and empty phrases. Try less hard, in short. > Duplicating debt systems with those closest to you by even calling it a loan is a way to persist a system of oppression in the places young people grow up in. Giving money to friends and family is oppressive, is what this is saying. Which is just wild to claim. And kind of cheapens the phrase "system of oppression". > An alternative would be to practice freely giving, especially to needs, never calling things loans or favors, and maybe include with the gifts some lighthearted & light reading material on how to culturally dismantle systems of oppression. The first bit is fine, but the last thing is super patronizing. How would it look if your friend asked you for $500 and you gave them some woke manual on how to dismantle "systems of oppression", whatever that means? This sounds "Hacker News"-y because there are a lot of smug programmers here who think they're borderline genius and can solve society's problems just because they read a couple philosophy books and have access to JSTOR. I kinda left my comment sarcastically, but I'm trying to being serious with this bit of advice. Just try less with your writing. The more your try, the faker it sounds.
  - crawfordcomeaux 3y ago
    What I'm getting from this: use plainer language. Thanks for the reminder. To be clear, I was trying to say with the first part that loaning money, instead of giving it, is oppressive. Also, myself and some friends would love the gift of a zine or funny comic about dismantling systems of oppression. It'd be pretty in-character for me to give or receive it. I also don't claim ownership over things, though, so shrug And by "systems of oppression," I mean organizations/cultures that harm through keeping people from getting what they need or making it way harder for some than others. Debt is one such system. Same for nonvoluntary governments. Caste systems. Just as some examples.