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Everybody already understands that those who claim to "have nothing to hide" are always those found in some intersection of sets representing those arbitrarily
by detcader 11y ago
Everybody already understands that those who claim to "have nothing to hide" are always those found in some intersection of sets representing those arbitrarily constructed classes of people which were invented and exist to extract resources from all those outside of the set. We have set in stone the history of Jews in Europe as containing the premise of "yes they were definitely outside of the class at the time" but that's about the only admission in the world of any sort of thing like that which has been universally adopted in any region.
The processes of resource extraction in which Class Men and Class White have been and are engaged in is obvious from the historical record. But the incentive is to just work around the possibility of asserting this as a premise to any degree, so you don't get screamed at or worse. The form and content of much of the thinkpieces you've read has been modified by these kind of incentives. Yet many seem to sincerely believe that everything they read is an honest translation of the author's deepest thoughts, feelings, and beliefs into human language, when in reality most writers on topics like this are, to some degree, scared or cowardly.
- redwood 11y agoI've read it a few times but am not sure I follow what you're saying. Is this high context writing? If so what is the background?
- nitrogen 11y agoI think it's saying "Insiders exploit outsiders. Only insiders say they have nothing to hide."
- redwood 11y agoExcellent translation. And your comment is a lesson in the value of brevity and clarity!
- jorgeleo 11y agoI wouldn't be surprise if this robot writting. Remember that there are several organizations that create fake usernames and personalities, then is easy to taint group opinions by looking like multiple different people saying d The same thing. The post is correct English but the argument lacks of public context, or make many assumptions to make sense to the casual reader. So probably a robot sticking phrases together or a human that cannot pass the Eliza test
- jccalhoun 11y agoI don't think it is a bot based on the poster's other comments: https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=detcader https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=detcader
- gizmo 11y agoIt's a bit of an academic critique, but perfectly legible (if you know the jargon). Rough translation: Only people in privileged groups can comfortably claim to have nothing to hide, because they don't get persecuted for who they are. It's not just Jews who got persecuted, it's minorities everywhere, but only in that case is the persecution widely acknowledged. Otherwise we disavow individual acts (of bigotry/racism/sexism/etc) but we don't look for the root causes. It's obvious that (the class of people labeled) white men have disproportionately benefited from exploitation all throughout history, and continue to benefit to this day. However, people who bring this up in thinkpieces or the media get screamed at or worse. Most writers understand this, and water down their critique so it's easier to swallow and the backlash will be minimal. This is cowardly.