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> For me, once I understood the (technological, economic) reasons for the difference it became less of a moral issue and more of a practical issue. keywords: "
by readme 14y ago
> For me, once I understood the (technological, economic) reasons for the difference it became less of a moral issue and more of a practical issue.
keywords: "For me"
Everyone seems to lose their empathy for the poor and unfortunate once they become successful themselves. But I bet before you landed your sweet coffeescript gig, that you were pretty empathetic.
It's not a practical issue. It's purely a moral one. We all enter the earth on unequal footing. The system rewards luck and pedigree more than it rewards effort and hard work. The very conditioning brought upon youth by poverty makes it so unlikely that they'll ever aspire to the heights of the upper class, or even the middle class. Access to education is still not equal, neither is access to food, clothing, or shelter. Try getting homework help from your parents when they are on drugs.
Don't forget it's a moral issue, just because you've experienced some relative prosperity. Society is selfish to boot.
- yummyfajitas 14y agoThe system rewards luck and pedigree more than it rewards effort and hard work. What evidence do you have for this?
- Avshalom 14y agoAh so you believe in the labor theory of value.
- quinnchr 14y agowww.census.gov/compendia/statab/2012/tables/12s0691.pdf What's your explanation for the income distribution among different races? White people are just harder working? What evidence do you have that effort and hard work are rewarded more than luck and pedigree?
- yummyfajitas 14y agoThe data does indeed suggest white men work one hour/day more than black men (women work about the same). Your theory seems to have some merit, though I'd love to see more than just one data point. http://www.bls.gov/news.release/atus.t03.htm http://www.bls.gov/news.release/atus.t03.htm Another data point - poor people work very little (by choice). http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpswp2009.pdf http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpswp2009.pdf
- readme 14y agoEmpirical evidence is not required to prove what is common sense. Lets say I was born in Darfur. Bad luck, bad pedigree. Lets say I was born in Afghanistan. Bad luck, bad pedigree. ... do I need to continue BTW, pedigree is not the same as "breed" -- it is the totality of everything, including what family you come from, who your parents are, and all that. Society judges you heavily, just based on that, starting with your first day at school.
- yummyfajitas 14y agoWorldwide I agree with you - but empirical data is easy to come by (as your examples demonstrate). Inside the us I'm far less convinced.
- readme 14y agoInside the US there is a rough equality for opportunity to become "middle class" which is constantly shrinking. To become an elite upper class person, family helps a lot.
- tdaltonc 14y agohttp://blogs.wsj.com/wealth/2011/09/22/are-we-entering-the-age-of-inherited-wealth/ http://blogs.wsj.com/wealth/2011/09/22/are-we-entering-the-a...