@tenin0 @roderickgraham @ConceptualDoc @IanAdAstra You seem to be misunderstanding Rod's position, and I don't think it's totally your fault. These terms often create confusion. I think that when Rod says that inequality is not justified, he only means "in a moral sense." That doesn't mean he's intending to limit other freedoms.
@tenin0 @roderickgraham @ConceptualDoc @IanAdAstra I don't see how attempting to correct certain inequalities automatically means limiting the freedom of others, which seems to be your assumption. It is the mere recognition of a problem as a problem, and based on that recognition a conversation can be had about solutions.
@tenin0 @roderickgraham @ConceptualDoc @IanAdAstra Personally, I have a "forget the ceiling; raise the floor" approach. I don't care how rich or prosperous you get, so long as no one is left to languish in an unbreakable cycle of poverty, debt, and suffering that limits social mobility. We want to grant more freedom to all.
@tenin0 @roderickgraham @ConceptualDoc @IanAdAstra It is fundamentally unfair that people are born with different skills, and that society values different skills differently. It's not the fault of the person born a talented painter that our society doesn't value her art the way it might have 500 years ago. Why should she suffer?
@tenin0 @roderickgraham @ConceptualDoc @IanAdAstra The whole point of society is to create structures that mitigate the unfairness of nature in order to maximize flourishing. Given that no one chooses their genes, their parents, their upbringing, or their talents, no one is more or less "deserving" of that flourishing.
@tenin0 @roderickgraham @ConceptualDoc @IanAdAstra There are smart and stupid ways to approach this problem, and many people espouse what I would consider stupid ones. For example, removing blind auditions from symphony orchestras in order to achieve ethnic parity. This is silly, and helps no one.
@tenin0 @roderickgraham @ConceptualDoc @IanAdAstra But recognizing that perhaps not enough minorities have the chance to cultivate a musical aptitude, and recognizing that we as a society benefit from having more musical geniuses, regardless of where they're born, we can implement programs and policies...
@tenin0 @roderickgraham @ConceptualDoc @IanAdAstra to ensure that all children have access to musical education. This way any geniuses have the opportunity to flourish, and this isn't contingent upon whether they're born in Harlem or Westchester. It's unlikely to create parity in all orchestras everywhere, but it doesn't have to.
@tenin0 @roderickgraham @ConceptualDoc @IanAdAstra I don't see how this approach limits anyone's freedom to do anything they wish, unless you're going to complain about "who pays for it," in which case my response is, "We do. The same way we pay for roads we'll never drive on, and for the same reasons."
@tenin0 @roderickgraham @ConceptualDoc @IanAdAstra The fact is that if we cultivate a society where all people live above a certain standard consistent with our ethics, we *all* benefit. We all benefit from maximizing human creativity and ingenuity, and we should do everything we can to find it and foster it wherever it exists.
@tenin0 @roderickgraham @ConceptualDoc @IanAdAstra This may be dismissed as utopic, but I fail to see where any of this is pie-in-the-sky. I think it's perfectly grounded and practical, and it only requires our will to act to begin implementing.
@tenin0 @roderickgraham @ConceptualDoc @IanAdAstra And as for those of us who aren't born with creativity or ingenuity that we as a society happen to favor, that shouldn't be a death sentence for them. There should. be a standard beneath which we simply do not allow anyone to live. And we can do that. We already do, but poorly.
@tenin0 @roderickgraham @ConceptualDoc @IanAdAstra And part of the reason is because we still have this idea that people make themselves, that people choose their choices. They don't. Not only is there no such thing as a "self-made millionaire/billionaire," there's no such thing as "self-made."
@tenin0 @roderickgraham @ConceptualDoc @IanAdAstra Once you recognize that, it becomes profoundly immoral to let someone suffer a life of poverty and lack of opportunity. We can fix that, and we should.
@tenin0 @roderickgraham @ConceptualDoc @IanAdAstra Lastly, in response to the question about where we set the bar, that's also not a difficult thing to work with. We do it with health already. We don't need to perfectly define "health" to know what we want to avoid, and to work toward keeping people above a certain standard.

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More from @StrangelEdweird

12 Nov
Removed that tweet about suicide rates going up 200%, as it appears to be unsubstantiated.

Regardless, if you're feeling distraught or depressed, there are resources for you. Call 1-800-273-8255 (USA hotline)

factcheckni.org/articles/has-t…
Thanks to @PeavyPosy for the heads up on this. @roderickgraham, check it.

Other resources:

idealist.org/en/careers/sel…
And here are some tips for practicing mindfulness to help stave away overwhelming and negative thoughts.

idealist.org/en/days/how-mi…
Read 5 tweets
14 Oct
The conversation I'm seeing regarding "sexual orientation" versus "sexual preference" is like the moral argument in religious circles focusing on whether homosexuality is chosen or innate.

In each case, both sides completely miss the more important, fundamental point. 1/
If memory serves, "sexual preference" and "sexual orientation" were interchangeable (up until yesterday, apparently) with little cause for uproar, despite everyone being at least casually aware that they refer to different things: Orientation ≈ innate; Preference ≈ choice. 2/
The argument about homosexuality being innate versus a choice is motivated by the idea that if it's innate, then it is God-given, and we therefore can't justify persecuting homosexuals on religious grounds. 3/
Read 10 tweets
21 Sep
@DrIbram @darth_leveon @MD_Ed_Memes Hi, I’m not racist.

I’ll give you a moment to collect the bits of your mind that just exploded every which way.

This idea is ludicrous. Are babies either racist or antiracist? At what point does that happen? Immediately postpartum or sometime on the way home from the hospital?
@DrIbram @darth_leveon @MD_Ed_Memes And if it isn’t instant—if you see it in your heart to grant babies a few moments of peace before this nonsense ideology kicks in—then what are babies BEFORE they become either racist or antiracist?
@DrIbram @darth_leveon @MD_Ed_Memes What even is this, man? I can’t see how you honestly think this worldview actually does anyone any good, given how obviously nonsensical, tautological, and divisive it reveals itself to be under the tiniest bit of logical scrutiny.

Or is logic also racist?
Read 7 tweets
18 Sep
From @kmele on @wethefifth:

"The perspective that is allowable in certain corners of the intelligentsia and broadcast television is one that says that blackness is some kind of congenital defect—some sort of seal of your societal proclivity toward failure and awfulness." (1/10)
"And it’s not your fault, but you are likely to fail absent the intervention of white people to save you, help you, redeem you, to speak out on your behalf.

It’s a perspective that says that the most important thing about you—and about anyone else, perhaps—is your race." (2/10)
"At a minimum, it is among the most important things. It is a perspective that says that the only explanation for any disparity between racial groups is racial bias." (3/10)
Read 10 tweets

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