Mother, mother, mother - there's too many of you crying.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally Posted by ThurgreedMarshall

But the fact that white people place terrorism about 18 notches higher because they are included as targets seems significant, doesn't it?

"Terrorism" basically means violence by brown people with political/ideological aims. Violence by white people with political/ideological aims (Dylan Roof, that dude in Quebec, etc.) is not seen as terrorism.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Like.

[sebastian_dangerfield]

Originally Posted by Tyrone Slothrop

"Terrorism" basically means violence by brown people with political/ideological aims. Violence by white people with political/ideological aims (Dylan Roof, that dude in Quebec, etc.) is not seen as terrorism.

"Terrorist" is what our govt calls people with whom we used to do business (bin Laden, Hussein, Gaddafi) after our deals with them are concluded, they are no longer useful to us, they know too much, or we've screwed them and they've threatened retaliation.

See also: "Drug Kingpin," as applied to Manuel Noriega.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally Posted by sebastian_dangerfield

"Terrorist" is what our govt calls people with whom we used to do business (bin Laden, Hussein, Gaddafi) after our deals with them are concluded, they are no longer useful to us, they know too much, or we've screwed them and they've threatened retaliation.

See also: "Drug Kingpin," as applied to Manuel Noriega.

(if A then B) does not mean (if B then A). Yes, the government has called those people terrorists. No one thinks that's what the word means. Also, all of those people were brown, not that you disagreed with me.

[Adder]

Originally Posted by sebastian_dangerfield

It's part of this silly new language used by people overly fixated on identities.

It's a means of distinguishing between trans people and non-trans people. You're really stretching to find a problem with that.

Because it's frivolous. I go about my day; others go about theirs.

You're doing a whole lot to demonstrate your lack of privilege, bro.

How much of your day is spent wondering whether someone else is going to harm you?

Where they'd disagree is with people like you telling the "don't give a fuck; live and let live" crowd like me that I have some obligation to recognize I'm privileged.

Dude. You declared a universal list of priorities that you argued everyone should agree with. I pointed out that maybe people might have different priorities than yours because they face issues you don't face.

This has led to silly ranting on your part.

But I've no duty to empathize or sympathize with anyone.

I mean, if you want to be a decent human being you do. But we know you don't care about that.

Yes, the bathroom assault concerns of 5% of society are on par in terms of significance with climate change, and our creation of a domestic police state that jails more people than than the closest other nation by a measure of two.

Yes. They threaten real people's existence, just like those things do.

By making every gripe as loud as every other one, we, the masses, are precluding any serious change.

This is stupid and not at all how the world works. You make progress where you can while you can.

A million disparate grievances become noise.

Only because you don't value some of them.

So yeah, it's about priorities, and about those of us who are smart enough to understand how things work emphasizing things linearly

Man. You think progress is linear? You can't possibly think that.

in terms of immediate importance to the greatest number of people

That's a sure-fire way to never have to address the grievances of any minority.

ETA: Oh, and btw, that's not what your list does. For some reason you care about cops shooting tiny numbers of black people than you do certain other things. Weird, really. Maybe politics isn't just a straightforward weighting of collective utility.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

The Iron Law of Republican Politics: the "GOP moderates" will always cave.

[Greedy,Greedy,Greedy]

Originally Posted by Tyrone Slothrop

The Iron Law of Republican Politics: the "GOP moderates" will always cave.

I will be targeting one particular Republican, the one who represents the place I great up, John Faso, with a vengeance.

I just scanned the comments on his announcement of his support for this godforsaken piece of shit they call a bill, and they are running more than 99% against him.

[sebastian_dangerfield]

Originally Posted by Tyrone Slothrop

(if A then B) does not mean (if B then A). Yes, the government has called those people terrorists. No one thinks that's what the word means. Also, all of those people were brown, not that you disagreed with me.

First point: Gold star for you.
Second one: Yup.

[Replaced_Texan]

Originally Posted by Greedy,Greedy,Greedy

I will be targeting one particular Republican, the one who represents the place I great up, John Faso, with a vengeance.

I just scanned the comments on his announcement of his support for this godforsaken piece of shit they call a bill, and they are running more than 99% against him.

My rep, Ted Poe, was on the wavering list and caved. Motherfucker has been battling leukemia all year. I called his office to voice my concern as a constituent, a family member of someone who relies on the exchanges, and as someone who works in the Texas Medical Center.

May Karma be swift.

[SEC_Chick]

Originally Posted by Replaced_Texan

My rep, Ted Poe, was on the wavering list and caved. Motherfucker has been battling leukemia all year. I called his office to voice my concern as a constituent, a family member of someone who relies on the exchanges, and as someone who works in the Texas Medical Center.

May Karma be swift.

I'm in Culberson's district. I don't even check how he votes on things anymore because he's so consistently an asshat. It's awesome to see how he used to get shouted down at town halls at places like West U Elementary. Then he started making his town halls infrequent and at such times and places it would be inconvenient for anyone who isn't a retiree to attend.

[sebastian_dangerfield]

Originally Posted by Hank Chinaski

I never took an economics class. i have no idea what sebby is talking about half the time. I do know that telling society to prioritize solving the problems he mentions is absurd, and privileged. I was making a dumb joke.

Or if you want a meaning from my Star Wars equivalence, how is this: Prioritizing solutions as he suggests REQUIRES a dictatorial power like that of Darth Vader. No one in America has such an ability.

PS Hil promised jobs to Michigan.

It is true. But if you think about my laddering of issues, you'll notice, I'm carefully suggesting fixes at the top which will also fix a lot of the problems below.

It all comes down to money. Find a way to assuage the economic anxieties and most of the other ills self-correct.

Think about how addressing the priorities I listed fixes others, and fixes those lower on my own ladder.

[Adder]

For Sebby: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C_EC1bIX...jpg&name=large

[Greedy,Greedy,Greedy]

Originally Posted by Tyrone Slothrop

OK, but I really was asking what a startup can do differently and better.

Not be assholes.

Startups constantly give themselves an excuse for being assholes because its "innovative" or "disruptive". But, yeah, the key is, not being assholes. Or at least limiting it a bit.

[sebastian_dangerfield]

Originally Posted by Adder

For Sebby: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C_EC1bIX...jpg&name=large

http://www.tradingeconomics.com/unit...icipation-rate

http://www.tradingeconomics.com/unit...es/wage-growth

No, the lower participation is not because of retirements: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...orking-past-65

Shall we talk student loans next? Or perhaps how many millennials are living in basements? Or the automation/outsourcing chainsaw working its way through Gen Xers in middle management positions?

It's a good time to have assets. The "recovery" has been a gift to those who who were on top pre-2008 -- a preservation of their position on top.

And it's really funny to hear from you about how Everything's Just Dandy with the economy, but we have dire social issues to consider regarding non-cis bathroom users. The reason you're fixated on the latter and not the former, I suspect, is, like a lot of people in our social strata:

1. You truly do want social change;
2. But you don't want to change the economy, which is delivering for people like you; so,
3. You recoil at criticisms of the economy and support a narrative that insulates it from real, substantial change, but assuage your need to make a positive difference by focusing on social issues at the periphery.

Maybe people like you and me should start checking our "economic privilege." Let's see how many white liberals want to have a conversation about how their best decision in life was selection of their parents. It's quite easy to throw moral opprobrium around regarding somebody's failure to empathize (which is what accusing someone of failing to grasp their privilege is doing). I'd like to see some of the enlightened white folks with those criticisms atone for the privilege that grants them the ability to burn time tsk-tsking others: That daddy and mommy bankrolled our asses.

My white liberal friends who went to my white bread schools don't like that conversation all that much. They're all about solidarity with the little guy, until someone suggests a radical economic change that tanks their portfolios.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally Posted by sebastian_dangerfield

It all comes down to money. Find a way to assuage the economic anxieties and most of the other ills self-correct.

At heart, you're a Marxist?