Coronavirus in Massachusetts (Clinton, Cohasset: credit, home, luxury)

[timberline742]

Originally Posted by AtkinsonDan

Some people conflate the words fortunate and privileged. I readily admit that I am fortunate that my job can be WFH and my skill set and education give me access to careers that can be performed remotely. Privilege implies receiving benefits without having to work or sacrifice for them, like being born into wealth.

That is one definition of privilege, not the sole one. Another definition is a benefit enjoyed by a person or subset of people beyond the advantages of most people. Being able to work from home certainly fits that since a minority of people can do so.

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by timberline742

That is one definition of privilege, not the sole one. Another definition is a benefit enjoyed by a person or subset of people beyond the advantages of most people. Being able to work from home certainly fits that since a minority of people can do so.

But who gave you the authority to decide who is privileged and who is not? I find that sort of finger pointing is all too often a sign that one's mirror is in need of adjustment. People need to worry about themselves.

[timberline742]

Some of us aren't selfish and worry about far more than ourselves. We worry about our communities, our states, our country and the world in general. If I just worried about myself and ignored the wide world, I'd become part of the problem. No thank you. Just like if I voted for my personal self interests: who would cut my taxes (or say, not wanting to fund education because I don't have children in public schools), who would enact policies to help my career, etc. I'd be a really bad citizen of the world. Nope. Not acceptable. People that live like that are the problem.


Just worrying about myself is naive, and promoting a fantasy land. We do very little by ourselves, in a vacuum. I have two advanced degrees and a BS. None of those were done just by myself. The loans I paid off for the undergrad in combination with the scholarships weren't just my doing. The jobs I had had clients... the scholarship funding came from somewhere. The assistantship that paid for one masters had funding paid for by others; sure, I worked to get it and worked for it, but its not due to just my work, mind, or effort. It's a societal effort. Very very very little is due to a single person's work and therefore as single person can't take credit for it. Not justly. We aren't individuals in little bubbles. We are part of the society and the world. We owe each other.


This thinking "worry about myself" is one reason we're in this covid problem of course.

[AtkinsonDan]

Originally Posted by timberline742

That is one definition of privilege, not the sole one. Another definition is a benefit enjoyed by a person or subset of people beyond the advantages of most people. Being able to work from home certainly fits that since a minority of people can do so.

Can we at least agree that people born into political influence and people born into wealth possess the greatest amounts of privilege, far above everyone else?

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by timberline742

Some of us aren't selfish and worry about far more than ourselves. We worry about our communities, our states, our country and the world in general. If I just worried about myself and ignored the wide world, I'd become part of the problem. No thank you. Just like if I voted for my personal self interests: who would cut my taxes (or say, not wanting to fund education because I don't have children in public schools), who would enact policies to help my career, etc. I'd be a really bad citizen of the world. Nope. Not acceptable. People that live like that are the problem.

Caring about others does not = judging others and/or playing referee on who is "privileged" or needs "self reflection", and who doesn't.

[timberline742]

Originally Posted by AtkinsonDan

Can we at least agree that people born into political influence and people born into wealth possess the greatest amounts of privilege, far above everyone else?

There are degrees. Sure. I was born a white male in the U.S. That's an incredibly privileged position in the world. I hit the lottery.



But yes, people born into money and power are near the top.

[msRB311]

Originally Posted by timberline742

Some of us aren't selfish and worry about far more than ourselves. We worry about our communities, our states, our country and the world in general. If I just worried about myself and ignored the wide world, I'd become part of the problem. No thank you. Just like if I voted for my personal self interests: who would cut my taxes (or say, not wanting to fund education because I don't have children in public schools), who would enact policies to help my career, etc. I'd be a really bad citizen of the world. Nope. Not acceptable. People that live like that are the problem.

Do you care about Trump supporters?

[timberline742]

Originally Posted by msRB311

Do you care about Trump supporters?

I do. I hope they can be helped and educated and learn to live better lives. I also care about the incredible damage they do to our world. The research on them is quite fascinating, and as someone who has worked a great deal in Midwestern rural communities (mostly Indiana, Kentucky and Wisconsin), I do feel sorry for so many of them at times. The rural areas are dying. The best and brightest leave for Universities (often the state flagship) and never come back. The rest are left. And they're grasping to hold on. I had to do a fair amount of traveling recently, via car because flying wouldn't have worked, WV, KY, IL, WI, PA etc... the rural areas are falling apart (unless its a county seat where services are located). Town after town of vacant downtowns with dollar generals and a gas station being all that's left. Trump signs everywhere highlighted the decay. It's sad. And no, its not like Dems are the answer at all. Definitely not buying that false dichotomy. Neither party has taken concrete steps to help these people. Relatively simple things like a high speed internet program for all of the country ala the electrification and phone programs of the past. It's pathetic.

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by timberline742

And no, its not like Dems are the answer at all. Definitely not buying that false dichotomy. Neither party has taken concrete steps to help these people.

I'm glad that you at least realize this. But fact is, Trump brought lower taxes and oil prices (here in rural Maine that is HUGE) which helps most of these people in the short term. When one is struggling, the short term is really all that matters. The Democrats (pre-WJC) once had many of these folks. You ought to ask yourself why and how they lost them, if you really want to talk about self-reflection. For one who hates Trump (or whoever) so much, the first step is understanding how they ended up there in the first place.

[timberline742]

I don't need to ask myself, as I've been researching, discussing and writing about it for years. Thank you.

(Though there is always more to learn.)