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I don't care much for reporting that tries to heat up a conflict where none must exist. There are a lot of underlying assumptions and hidden prejudices in that

I don't care much for reporting that tries to heat up a conflict where none must exist. There are a lot of underlying assumptions and hidden prejudices in that piece, the most visible was equating black people and poor people. Then there was a cry for maintaining diversity -- it seems that having smart people from all over the world working together to change the planet isn't diverse enough for the NYT. It looks to me like they need appropriate ratios of commonly-recognized political groups. Very poor reasoning. I've long since given up trying to understand San Francisco politics. It's an extremely dynamic city, but at the same time there's a lot of folks there who consider themselves progressive that are hanging on to 50-year-old ideas from the 1960s. A lot of things are "untouchable." In fact, I'd go so far as to say the city has a huge conservative bent, it's just not expressed by what we would consider conservatives. Don't change things! I know the neighborhood that's mentioned, and I wish Twitter the best of luck. Hopefully a new administration doesn't take over in a year or two and start undoing all the special perks that lured them there. California desperately needs Silicon Valley and the spillover into SF. I sincerely hope they keep advancing policies that continue the growth and not go down the road of trying to pick apart each little thing that starts going right.

wpietri 14y ago
I'm in favor of the Twitter perks; that neighborhood has needed help for a long time. But I think you dismiss too lightly the displacement of people and the substantial rich/poor divide in this city. The problem isn't the NYT's reasoning. They just have different values than you do. To some extent I agree with them; San Francisco has definitely gotten less diverse. We don't get smart people from "all over the planet". We get them mainly from whitebread America, Europe, and certain parts of East and South Asia. They're generally well-educated and well off. A lot of people who have been in SF for generations are getting priced out of the city, and that is disproportionately affecting black and Latino residents. One can legitimately say, "so what?" But it's not irrational to dislike that.
- yummyfajitas 14y ago
  We get them mainly from whitebread America, Europe, and certain parts of East and South Asia. I.e., they come from half the planet (Europe + USA + China + India == about 3.5 billion people) rather than the whole planet. You are correct that the NYT has different values, and it's important to recognize what those values are: they view certain privileged [1] groups as deserving of being statistically represented in SF. Their underlying value system is basically corporatism. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporatism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporatism (The term "corporatism" is only peripherally related to modern LLCs. While a modern LLC may be a corporation, so are "black people", "poor people" and "long time residents" in the sense that the NYT is using them.)
  - wpietri 14y ago
    Well, most of them come from the well-off portions of those places, so it's a lot less than half the planet. But yes, you seem to get my point, which is that the population in SF is not representative of the globe at large. I guess if you wave your hands some you could call it a flavor or corporatism. But I think your description of those groups as privileged is pretty rich. From a certain angle it's technically correct, but in a way that aggressively misses the point. You might as well call them lucky duckies.
    - yummyfajitas 14y ago
      There are about 2^(6 billion) subgroups of humanity. The NYT consistently chooses a small subset of those subgroups to focus on, and to give moral consideration to. The particular grouping chosen by the NYT is just an arbitrary moral choice to privilege the {race == black} subgroup over (for example) the {SSN % 7 == 2} subgroup.
      - wpietri 14y ago
        Gosh, you've figured it out. That choice is entirely arbitrary and random, and has absolutely nothing to do with history or morality.
        14y ago

wpietri 14y ago

I'm in favor of the Twitter perks; that neighborhood has needed help for a long time. But I think you dismiss too lightly the displacement of people and the substantial rich/poor divide in this city. The problem isn't the NYT's reasoning. They just have different values than you do. To some extent I agree with them; San Francisco has definitely gotten less diverse. We don't get smart people from "all over the planet". We get them mainly from whitebread America, Europe, and certain parts of East and South Asia. They're generally well-educated and well off. A lot of people who have been in SF for generations are getting priced out of the city, and that is disproportionately affecting black and Latino residents. One can legitimately say, "so what?" But it's not irrational to dislike that.

yummyfajitas 14y ago
We get them mainly from whitebread America, Europe, and certain parts of East and South Asia. I.e., they come from half the planet (Europe + USA + China + India == about 3.5 billion people) rather than the whole planet. You are correct that the NYT has different values, and it's important to recognize what those values are: they view certain privileged [1] groups as deserving of being statistically represented in SF. Their underlying value system is basically corporatism. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporatism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporatism (The term "corporatism" is only peripherally related to modern LLCs. While a modern LLC may be a corporation, so are "black people", "poor people" and "long time residents" in the sense that the NYT is using them.)
- wpietri 14y ago
  Well, most of them come from the well-off portions of those places, so it's a lot less than half the planet. But yes, you seem to get my point, which is that the population in SF is not representative of the globe at large. I guess if you wave your hands some you could call it a flavor or corporatism. But I think your description of those groups as privileged is pretty rich. From a certain angle it's technically correct, but in a way that aggressively misses the point. You might as well call them lucky duckies.
  - yummyfajitas 14y ago
    There are about 2^(6 billion) subgroups of humanity. The NYT consistently chooses a small subset of those subgroups to focus on, and to give moral consideration to. The particular grouping chosen by the NYT is just an arbitrary moral choice to privilege the {race == black} subgroup over (for example) the {SSN % 7 == 2} subgroup.
    - wpietri 14y ago
      Gosh, you've figured it out. That choice is entirely arbitrary and random, and has absolutely nothing to do with history or morality.
      - 14y ago