4 ms·

People should be judged on an individual basis - because we are all different. Countries are not judged on their best individuals, but on the decisions they ma

People should be judged on an individual basis - because we are all different. Countries are not judged on their best individuals, but on the decisions they make as a whole. This is a function of their system of government, which in many ways is a function of the decisions of their populace as a whole. California, despite its liberal population centers in San Francisco, and LA - voted 52% in favor of banning same-sex couples from marrying in 2008. The same state that is home to the Castro district in SF, and the same state where Harvey Milk was elected. [opinion coming] The United States will likely NOT be judged favorably in history for its bullshit touting (see Jindal VERY recently) politicians, usage of torture, imperialism, and infringements on privacy. 60 years ago if you were black in this country, you had to drink from a separate water fountain. The linked story is interesting...but unfortunately...Nazis.

mcbetz 12y ago
What the story does tell is that there were pro gay activists in Germany before the Nazis claimed power.
- optimusclimb 12y ago
  Sure, but since the (linkbaity) title is how GERMANY invented gay rights so long ago...I'm just saying that's kind of contradicted by the mass rounding up and expunging of homosexuals that occurred after that.
jacquesm 12y ago
> The linked story is interesting...but unfortunately...Nazis. I live within spitting distance of the German border. In the local stores here the Germans can be picked out easily: they're hands down more polite and well mannered than the locals. Shall we try to limit the damage done to the German image to that generation that was part of the Nazi era, not those that came into being after it and certainly not those that lived before? To your other point, that stuff in the USA is playing out today, not almost 70 years ago.
- happyscrappy 12y ago
  Europeans are right to feel insecure as they go back into recession but let's not pretend that civil rights in the US, while not perfect, has not made massive strides in the seventy years preceding the election of Obama.
  - jacquesm 12y ago
    > Europeans are right to feel insecure as they go back into recession What's that got to do with the price of tea in China? You seem to grasp at every opportunity to harp on the 'recession in Europe', the subject here is LGBT rights in case you failed to notice. https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=happyscrappy https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=happyscrappy Civil rights in the US have indeed made massive strides in the past 70 years, but there is still a long long way to go. I'd hate to be born black and/or gay in roughly 50% of the US states today.
    - mattlutze 12y ago
      Let's not have a "my area is more tolerant than yours" devolution. There's been consideration quite recently in Germany, for example, that maybe it's not such a great idea that people need to put their photograph on their resumes, given hiring managers' tendencies to hire traditionally German-looking males over other races/sexes. Names are still an issue in both countries, but the US has tended away from such practice due to our expansive Employment Equal Opportunity laws. But, etc. etc., everyone's got a ways to go for LGBT and other rights before we're all really inclusive.

mcbetz 12y ago

What the story does tell is that there were pro gay activists in Germany before the Nazis claimed power.

optimusclimb 12y ago
Sure, but since the (linkbaity) title is how GERMANY invented gay rights so long ago...I'm just saying that's kind of contradicted by the mass rounding up and expunging of homosexuals that occurred after that.

jacquesm 12y ago

> The linked story is interesting...but unfortunately...Nazis. I live within spitting distance of the German border. In the local stores here the Germans can be picked out easily: they're hands down more polite and well mannered than the locals. Shall we try to limit the damage done to the German image to that generation that was part of the Nazi era, not those that came into being after it and certainly not those that lived before? To your other point, that stuff in the USA is playing out today, not almost 70 years ago.

happyscrappy 12y ago
Europeans are right to feel insecure as they go back into recession but let's not pretend that civil rights in the US, while not perfect, has not made massive strides in the seventy years preceding the election of Obama.
- jacquesm 12y ago
  > Europeans are right to feel insecure as they go back into recession What's that got to do with the price of tea in China? You seem to grasp at every opportunity to harp on the 'recession in Europe', the subject here is LGBT rights in case you failed to notice. https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=happyscrappy https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=happyscrappy Civil rights in the US have indeed made massive strides in the past 70 years, but there is still a long long way to go. I'd hate to be born black and/or gay in roughly 50% of the US states today.
  - mattlutze 12y ago
    Let's not have a "my area is more tolerant than yours" devolution. There's been consideration quite recently in Germany, for example, that maybe it's not such a great idea that people need to put their photograph on their resumes, given hiring managers' tendencies to hire traditionally German-looking males over other races/sexes. Names are still an issue in both countries, but the US has tended away from such practice due to our expansive Employment Equal Opportunity laws. But, etc. etc., everyone's got a ways to go for LGBT and other rights before we're all really inclusive.