Lessons to be learned from the Kavanaugh Hearing

[Cabbage]

I'm also a firm believer that we should have a true meritocracy.

James Flynn’s book How To Defend Humane Ideals contains the most succinct explanation I’ve seen for why the idea of a “meritocracy” is incoherent and impossible. Flynn’s argument is: “(1) Allocating rewards irrespective of merit is a prerequisite for meritocracy, otherwise environments cannot be equalized (2) allocating rewards according to merit is a prerequisite for meritocracy, otherwise people cannot be stratified by wealth and status (3) therefore a class-stratified meritocracy is impossible.” In other words: in a meritocracy, status, wealth, and privilege are given to those who have “earned” their position through merit, meaning that everyone had an “equal opportunity” even if they did not reach an equal outcome. But if status, wealth, and privilege are unequally distributed, people can never have equal opportunities, meaning that rewards will never be assigned on the basis of merit. There can be no such thing as a “meritocracy” in which there are inequalities in power, wealth, and status across classes, because people’s environments will be unequal, therefore they will not start with equal resources and the resulting unequal outcomes will not reflect differences in individual merit. This argument is so simple and obvious that it feels pedantic to explain it. But there is still widespread acceptance of the idea that “wealth/status inequality is okay as long as there is equal opportunity,” even though it is conceptually incoherent in a very basic way.

https://www.currentaffairs.org/2018...y-racist-cartoons-betsy-devos-leftist-lincoln

 

[River]

https://www.currentaffairs.org/2018...y-racist-cartoons-betsy-devos-leftist-lincoln

Do you feel all races are created equal? A simple yes or no will suffice.

 

[River]

Wait, it's not about road use, it's about Antifa?

Comparing Antifa to the protesters at Pettus bridge is not only tasteless, its disgusting. Antifa are fascists who beat people they deem to be Nazis which can be anyone that supports Trump or wears a MAGA cap. (regardless of race, or being an actual nazi)

It's no wonder democrats are losing ground if they are defending Antifa and their actions, or comparing them to actual civil rights movements and events.

 

[Cabbage]

Do you feel all races are created equal? A simple yes or no will suffice.

How could a simple yes or no suffice? That's horribly naive.

While genetically I think the races are equal, the environments in which they are born are very unequal. Blacks, for example, are much more likely to be born into poverty. Ignoring the differing environments is ignoring a very important part of the situation.

Now how could I ever possibly over simplify that answer to a simple yes or no?

 

[wareyin]

Facebook bases those ad settings on all of your activity, not just emoticons.

Facebook is not evaluating posts that you compose and share for their political views. Facebook is evaluating your interaction with already distributed political adverts (again, because this is specifically targeted to advertisers). Facebook appears to have determined that you are most likely to interact with a moderate political advertisement. It's possible that you could have shared that sort of post on your own page, or commented positively on that advertisement, or even clicked a positive emoticon. Based on your posts here, I don't think that's very likely, though.

 

[The Great Zaganza]

Do you feel all races are created equal? A simple yes or no will suffice.

if you want a Meritocracy, you should start with a 100% inheritance tax.

And before anyone can answer your question, you need to define "race".

 

[Belz...]

For all you know they couldve been beating on his car!! (insert shrieking to make mine louder) So why are you pretending to know??

That's the point. We DON'T KNOW. I'm not pretending to know, remember?

Yeah, we see what we see.

Uh-huh. Let's try it this way:

Someone swings at you, trying to punch you in the face. You block and punch them in self-defense. I film the whole thing, but only upload to Youtube your punch, claiming that you attacked this innocent person. Is it fair then to say "we see what we see" and judge you as the assailant? That's why I want to see the whole deal before passing judgment on either side. That you're so willing to do that without definitive evidence says much about your biases.

You defend the extremists on the left breaking the law blocking intersections and crosswalks, while I denounce them.

I think you have me confused with another poster. I have not defended the protestors. Nor have I condemned them. Perhaps if you pair more attention to those with whom you're having a discussion, you wouldn't put your foot in your mouth so often.

 

[Belz...]

if you want a Meritocracy, you should start with a 100% inheritance tax.

And before anyone can answer your question, you need to define "race".

And "created".

 

[johnny karate]

FYeah, we see what we see. You defend the extremists on the left breaking the law blocking intersections and crosswalks, while I denounce them. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. When people start getting flattened, please cry more about it.

Is the attached photo showing people playing "a stupid game"? Do they deserve to be flattened?

Comparing Antifa to the protesters at Pettus bridge is not only tasteless, its disgusting. Antifa are fascists who beat people they deem to be Nazis which can be anyone that supports Trump or wears a MAGA cap. (regardless of race, or being an actual nazi)

I get that when you don't argue out principle but rather as part of an agenda to feign outrage and attack people, it's difficult to reman consistent.

But dude, try to be better at it than this.

 

[LSSBB]

Comparing Antifa to the protesters at Pettus bridge is not only tasteless, its disgusting. Antifa are fascists who beat people they deem to be Nazis which can be anyone that supports Trump or wears a MAGA cap. (regardless of race, or being an actual nazi)

It's no wonder democrats are losing ground if they are defending Antifa and their actions, or comparing them to actual civil rights movements and events.

Dude, you were talking about blocking roads, and when I responded to that you bring up Antifa. That's on YOU.

 

[River]

How could a simple yes or no suffice? That's horribly naive.

While genetically I think the races are equal, the environments in which they are born are very unequal. Blacks, for example, are much more likely to be born into poverty. Ignoring the differing environments is ignoring a very important part of the situation.

Now how could I ever possibly over simplify that answer to a simple yes or no?

I can answer it simply with a yes. Also, those environments you speak of effect all races. There is a very real economic and social advantage for some, but it is not based on anyones race.

 

[varwoche]

Dude, you were talking about blocking roads, and when I responded to that you bring up Antifa. That's on YOU.

Yeah it's a debate technique on par with a rorschach test, where you blurt whatever self-serving gibberish that pops into your mind.

 

[The Great Zaganza]

I can answer it simply with a yes. Also, those environments you speak of effect all races. There is a very real economic and social advantage for some, but it is not based on anyones race.

what's a race?

 

[River]

what's a race?

Well good sir, a race can be many things. Would you prefer a noun or a verb?

 

[The Great Zaganza]

Well good sir, a race can be many things. Would you prefer a noun or a verb?

well, you are comfortable in making definitive statements about race, so you ought to have a definition.

 

[Cabbage]

I can answer it simply with a yes. Also, those environments you speak of effect all races. There is a very real economic and social advantage for some, but it is not based on anyones race.

Well, then you are horribly naive or, at best, simply uninformed. Those environments I spoke of do not uniformly affect all races. Why do you ignore this? Are you simply ignorant of the facts?

https://www.kff.org/other/state-ind...c&sortModel={"colId":"Location","sort":"asc"}

 

[River]

Well, then you are horribly naive or, at best, simply uninformed. Those environments I spoke of do not uniformly affect all races. Why do you ignore this? Are you simply ignorant of the facts?

https://www.kff.org/other/state-ind...c&sortModel={"colId":"Location","sort":"asc"}

I agree with that statement. However, it does not change mine. Race is not the factor that determines someones economic or social advantages.

 

[Cabbage]

I agree with that statement. However, it does not change mine. Race is not the factor that determines someones economic or social advantages.

Then to what do you attribute the fact that blacks are born into disproportionately higher poverty?

And please bear in mind, an important part of this discussion is not merely the intrinsic nature of a person's race, but the extrinsic nature of systemic racism. Do you disagree that that is an issue here? And that that is part of the impossibility of a true meritocracy (which, after all, is where this discussion began).

 

[River]

Then to what do you attribute the fact that blacks are born into disproportionately higher poverty?

And please bear in mind, an important part of this discussion is not merely the intrinsic nature of a person's race, but the extrinsic nature of systemic racism. Do you disagree that that is an issue here? And that that is part of the impossibility of a true meritocracy (which, after all, is where this discussion began).

Someones (anyones, regardless of ethnicity, or sex) available economic resources, and social resources are the determining factor. It has nothing to do with race. People of all races benefit from social and economic advantages. Do you disagree?

 

[Belz...]

Someones (anyones, regardless of ethnicity, or sex) available economic resources, and social resources are the determining factor. It has nothing to do with race. People of all races benefit from social and economic advantages. Do you disagree?

...you don't think that the fact that slavery and segregation led to a baseline poverty for black people in America has anything to do with race?