Hm, my point wasn’t that reparations is unfair to both sides, but that there are better and worse ways to go about it.

Regardless, I think measures that aim to fix economic inequality and wealth distribution, and particularly efforts that are rooted in morally defensible arguments about repairing the harms caused by slavery and racism are noble and worthwhile. I’m even happy for imperfect versions of this where the US government pays reparations using tax money - it’s a much better use of my tax money (whether I personally benefited from slavery or not) than a lot of the villainous stuff the US currently does with my tax money.

Besides, the positive outcomes are alone worthwhile.

Typically I think of reparations as being sent to those who can show their lineage goes back to African slaves in the US, in which case it’s usually African-Americans who are the primary beneficiaries of reparations, not bureaucrats in Africa.

The way you are thinking about reparations makes me think you are not very keen on projects of social justice in general. Maybe you’re just jaded or cynical about the possibility for justice to be handled fairly, but I think we should be motivated to supporting and finding paths forward that help people whether they are perfect or not, and I just don’t get that vibe from you.

yes, I do think reparations has many problems with it - ideally it would be a matter of transitioning wealth accumulated through slavery from the people who benefited from slavery to the people who suffered under slavery. We are generations away on both sides, but it’s not like the effects haven’t certainly enriched some while hurting others even today.

Usually when I hear about reparations, the idea is to use tax money to do it, but at that point a lot of the people paying the taxes for reparations are also the victims of generations of slavery, so … I dunno, doesn’t feel like the most targeted or ethical approach.

And yes, who do we decide who receives reparations? Is it just for slavery, or are we going to recognize the way slavery and racism are intertwined and related?

What about reparations for other racist choices, like segregating Black communities and building interstates through their communities, polluting and robbing those communities of health, wealth, etc.?

Again, reparations is just one tool. I’m not sure you can really argue that racism has been properly dealt with or solved, or that reparations has no place in a program of racial and social justice, even if we can pick out logistical difficulties.

Further, why does it feel like you are against this project of justice, rather than for it?

I think this might miss the point of reparations

I thought the point of reparations is not to “pay off” a historical wrong, but instead is meant to help offset the generational of disadvantage caused by slavery and racism to those who suffer from that legacy today

we need all kinds of changes to end cycles of poverty and generational trauma, and reparations is just one tool among many to help with that - but it’s more about fixing the broken thing now than about absolving guilt

yeah, and a NPS score for humans would be even worse tbh

yeah, I don’t think that makes too much sense - we’re social creatures, we probably should care about what other people think

I admit my insecurities are unhealthy, and the way I’m approaching my insecurities is unhealthy, but I don’t think the right conclusion is to think I’m a goddess or a 11/10, nor to completely ignore everyone’s opinions of me.

And besides, part of the reason I feel insecure is because of the feedback I get from society - I’m pretty sure based on the way people treat me that I’m not attractive, etc. - so in some sense I just want confirmation of what my lived experience is already telling me

exactly, it is so enshittified - and I’m not surprised Tinder already had this system on their backend (a hidden ELO score), that’s so scummy

no, I didn’t know about that - but hey, now I know at least I can upload my photos to Tinder and see how attractive Tinder thinks I am 😅

don’t you want to know if you’re a good citizen!? 😭

(admittedly I based my sense of self-worth on my grades)

you get one star for saying that: ★☆☆☆☆

it does seem like one of those horrible, but monetize-able, ideas that I can hardly believe hasn’t been introduced already

oh yeah, it would be super toxic and probably not even helpful for getting a sense of your “social consensus value”

but I admit I’m so insecure I can’t help but wonder if I’m a 4/10 🙃

yes, I guess this is a bit too much like that Black Mirror episode, Nosedive

(I give you five stars for this comment: ★★★★★)

we don’t know what the doctor is into, I don’t judge

around a year ago my A1C was 4.4%, more recently it was 5% - it’s been a 5 for many years.

It’s not a sweet smell, but a fruity coffee smell that only happens when I pee after I drink coffee.

fun fact: doctors used to diagnose diabetes by tasting the patient’s urine for sweetness :-)

then how else are my trees going to get fertilized? 🥺 👉 👈 🫙

I would probably just launch into my findings and results and ask them to share their observations about their coffee pee smells

counter point: I like how fruity it smells

which makes me wonder if it’s about the quality of the coffee you’re drinking (I roast my own green beans and always have really fresh and delicious coffee, I never buy pre-roasted coffee anymore)

maybe I should keep a log of my coffee piss and compare different coffees and how they affect my pee smell

ah, that’s a good point actually … I wonder if this means we need a new community, one that is for earnestly stupid questions - maybe /c/onlystupidquestions or something

lol, doesn’t that affirm they posted in the right community? after all, this is the community where we openly invite stupid questions - so we can’t complain, can we?

so … a CEO of a company that is valued in the billions of dollars - that CEO is not a billionaire, for context

The CEO is a millionaire, though - a quick search shows his compensation is over $4 million

I’m not saying every billionaire can be picked out in a lineup by a random member of the public, but just pointing out that no billionaire is escaping scrutiny or awareness of the public in some capacity (this is why I started with “even if not ‘famous’”).

You also didn’t really disclose anything about what I asked - why would my cousin be under an obligation to disclose he’s a CEO of a trucking company and has a salary of over $4 million?

I think it would depend on the kind of relationship I had with the cousin, and whether I felt he was lying or betraying me somehow by lying … but otherwise, no - I’m not seeing how a cousin has any obligation to disclose their net worth, their job, etc. to you.

I think I knew one of my cousins was a kindergarten teacher, that they liked to play softball, etc. - but they didn’t tell me when they changed jobs and I never knew their net worth. If they became a CEO of a company I wouldn’t feel they had an obligation to tell me.