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If you are born poor in America the statistics show that you will stay poor. Despite the belief that there is mobility between classes in the US, that is large

by josho 12y ago

If you are born poor in America the statistics show that you will stay poor. Despite the belief that there is mobility between classes in the US, that is largely decreasing. Thanks to cutbacks on public schools, a regressive tax system, etc the upward mobility in the US has been steadily decreasing. The parent's point has nothing to do with genes, but rather their hypothesis is that the poor as a % of population in the US will grow. While the educated white collar demographic will decrease.

drostie 12y ago
I tried to mention that, but he did explicitly say "eugenics" and it wasn't 100% clear that it was metaphorical.
- rosser 12y ago
  No, he said economic inequality, healthcare and education policy, social immobility, and parent-unfriendly corporate structures have a net "anti-eugenic" effect, which you chose to interpret as an argument for eugenics.
  - drostie 12y ago
    Is it unreasonable for me to interpret someone who is against "anti-eugenic" effects to be for eugenic effects when they start their comments with "we need people like her to reproduce"...? I should clarify: when I say "for eugenic effects" I mean "in support of the general ideas underlying eugenics, even if opposed to eugenic policies." I'm saying above that both eugenics and his "anti-eugenic effects" are based on a flawed idea, one which michaelochurch (correct me if I'm wrong) seems to still endorse regardless of whether he is for or against eugenic policies.
paulhauggis 12y ago
There is also less mobility due to increased taxes and regulations. What do you think would happen if we had all of the regulations and taxes people here on HN wanted in place? Small businesses would go under, it would be increasingly difficult to start a business because of the regulations in place and the only entities left would be large corporations and the government. I guess this is the end goal? you can still succeed if you are poor. Poor many times comes along with a mindset that will prevent you from succeeding. I grew up with little to no money and built a business from scratch, which can now support my family. Many people I know are still poor. I've tried to help them, but they just don't want to listen. This used to be the American Dream, but now I just hear complaining by people that are putting little to no effort into bettering themselves. There are tons of jobs out there and houses are at an all-time low, yet many still complain bout both.

by josho 12y ago

drostie 12y ago

I tried to mention that, but he did explicitly say "eugenics" and it wasn't 100% clear that it was metaphorical.

rosser 12y ago
No, he said economic inequality, healthcare and education policy, social immobility, and parent-unfriendly corporate structures have a net "anti-eugenic" effect, which you chose to interpret as an argument for eugenics.
- drostie 12y ago
  Is it unreasonable for me to interpret someone who is against "anti-eugenic" effects to be for eugenic effects when they start their comments with "we need people like her to reproduce"...? I should clarify: when I say "for eugenic effects" I mean "in support of the general ideas underlying eugenics, even if opposed to eugenic policies." I'm saying above that both eugenics and his "anti-eugenic effects" are based on a flawed idea, one which michaelochurch (correct me if I'm wrong) seems to still endorse regardless of whether he is for or against eugenic policies.

paulhauggis 12y ago

There is also less mobility due to increased taxes and regulations. What do you think would happen if we had all of the regulations and taxes people here on HN wanted in place? Small businesses would go under, it would be increasingly difficult to start a business because of the regulations in place and the only entities left would be large corporations and the government. I guess this is the end goal? you can still succeed if you are poor. Poor many times comes along with a mindset that will prevent you from succeeding. I grew up with little to no money and built a business from scratch, which can now support my family. Many people I know are still poor. I've tried to help them, but they just don't want to listen. This used to be the American Dream, but now I just hear complaining by people that are putting little to no effort into bettering themselves. There are tons of jobs out there and houses are at an all-time low, yet many still complain bout both.