Context matters.
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One of my biggest fears is that the values cherished by the left may not be sustainable in the long term, which is to say that as soon as the dominant culture is forced to share resources with minority groups (whether through health care, social security spending, education, immigration policy or whatever), there is this pernicious pattern of people just kind of picking up the ball and saying “nope, we don’t want to share any more.”
It seems like it is easier for countries when there is a perceived cultural homogeneity. I started to worry about this under Bush II, but since then have seen the pattern continue in France, Germany, England, the Netherlands, Japan (which still refuses to acknowledge that minority groups even deserve status), among others.
So I guess one way to look at it is that maybe there isn’t a large enough population of minorities for racists to freak out over in Minnesota?
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Good…can’t stand the Koch (rhymes with rock!) bros and their bullshit.
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Ooooor, just maybe, there’s enough general, wise appreciation of the benefits of diversity to minimize the number and influence of white supremacists?
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What a pity. Sorry to see you go.
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Gods, I hope so! But I am starting to watch the same thing unfold in Canada and it scares the shit out of me.
Never underestimate humanity’s capacity to fuck up a good thing.
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How did bachelors manage that? Single motherhood was pretty taboo almost into this century in much of the U.S. I’m a bastard myself and believe me, the neighbors did gossip behind our backs.
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I never do, thanks. But I also know it’s worth paying attention and trying to learn when it does the opposite.
GO MINNESOTA!
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You misunderstand. They grow the batchelors.
Sort of like this:
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Good looking ones, too. Not to mention the strong women and above-average children.
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Consider the numbers @lolipop_jones referenced are the percentage breakdown of the 87% white (with only 3.8% being Hispanic) population of Minnesota I wouldn’t lean heavily toward diversity. Especially considering the county with the lowest percentage of whites is also the county with the highest percentage of people below the poverty line. But overall Minnesota does have a family median income that is +$8k higher than the national average. Considering that their tax structure is similar to a state like NC (which has a family median income about $7k lower than the national average) it’d be interesting to see how the money works out per person/family once you factored state revenue and spending into things.
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Yes, im sure you wouldn’t. Like, ever.
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The states are referred to as “laboratories of democracy”. Minnesota and California took almost opposite approaches to their economies over the past few years than Kansas and Wisconsin and the results have been dramatic. What people need to understand is that what Trump and other extreme conservatives want to do with the US budget is far worse, proportionally speaking, that what Brownback and Co. have done in Kansas. Ever since Brownback got everything he wanted and boasted that the country would see what conservative policies could do, Kansas has been on the austerity gerbil wheel of reduced revenue, deficits, service cuts, education cuts, etc. EVERY DAMN YEAR. People should look at the results of these 4 experiments, plus the US economy in the 90’s and be able to admit that raising taxes on the wealthy and spending it on things like education, unemployment, infrastructure and social programs are not economically crippling. But no, instead, despite the evidence, we are told that what we really need is to take the Kansas approach. And I’m sure, as with Kansas, we can look forward to being told to ignore the bleak economic numbers because dramatic growth is going to kick in next quarter or next year, but meanwhile we have to cut more services because tax revenue is coming in lower than expected…again.
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I know good bachelors are hard to find but is farming them an ethical solution?
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It depends on your philosophies on husbandry.
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Makes me think of Soapy Williams.
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There’s a case to be made that this is what the fundamentalists want. This is how you get “small government.”
…you know, just small enough to enrich the cronies at the top only.
Culture is a technology. Much like the wheel, or fire, or the iPhone, once it’s invented, other places can pick it up and use it to achieve their own goals. Saying that it only works “because of their culture” is like saying the tribe over the next ridge is well-fed just “because of their ability to make fire.”
Well, yeah. So how about we learn to make fire here, too? Maybe one of them has some idea…
The countries where this works in aren’t aliens from outside of space and time who bear no relation to who we are. They’re just people, who are doing a different thing. If it works, let’s do that thing, too, or some version of it.
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The Republican/Libertarian ideal is Neo-Feudalism, with a noble class at the top and peasantry at the bottom. The primary difference of opinion between the two factions is Cyberpunk Neo-Feudalism versus Neo-Medieval Neo-Feudalism: who the Church will be (Christ versus The Dollar, although the merger in the form of Prosperity Gospel might smooth things over there) and how many robots you’ll need to replace the human peasants entirely versus how many robots you’ll need to keep the womenfolk in their place (i.e. perpetually pregnant and ignorant).
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Perhaps so. While I can understand (though not necessarily support in all cases) freezing someone out of a forum for their behavior, I find it unhelpful to only be shown responses to that behavior without the option of finding out what the initial trigger was.
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