First of all, I gotta say that you are waaaayyy too hung up on this everyone had racist impulses thing. I'm not insulting you personally. [quote=@SleepingSilence] Okay, that starting analogy shouldn't be important. (because I get what you're trying to say. It's not literal, But I still feel like bringing it up.) The dictionary DOES tell you what calculus is. It has a very specific definition, every person I ask "what calculus is" should be able to give me the same answer...a branch of mathematics. Racism, is a word that has hundreds of different meanings now, varying by person. Even if both have them seem complex. One will always have a correct answer in the end and the other doesn't seem like there is a correct answer. Given the current definition you're using that "everyone" is racist. [/quote] That is a basic overview of what calculus is, but that definition doesn't get into the depth of what calculus is. What I'm saying is that is that the dictionary doesn't go into enough detail to be used as a be all end all for all discussions. [quote]Not quite sure what that was suppose to mean, the solid attributes/video game part. But your point is, people that live in non-multi cultured backgrounds are more likely to believe in stereotypes and what have you. But ones that do live with different races as neighbors and friends and co-workers and such, will likely not have those same problems? But misunderstandings may take place. [/quote] I'm saying communities are more complicated than you are making them out to be. Because... A: That some communities are multiracial doesn't mean all communities are. What is normal for one part of the country isn't neccessarily normal in every part. Where I live now, multi-racial relationships are very common. When I lived in Idaho though, black people in general were very rare. B: Not everyone adapts to the community around them. "Cuck" entered the current political lexicon with Stormfront types insulting white men who don't mind multi-racial relationships, as in "White men are being cuckolded by black men." [quote]Why is the racial divide getting bigger then? Or at least people feel and say that it is. When we have one of the highest amount of inner race relationships, and they have been on an incline...[/quote] It's not getting bigger. It's getting smaller I think. That comes with problems too, because it means communities that were previously uni-racial are now being integrated. That being said, the current racial tension seems to have been born out the controversy surrounding the deaths of some black people and subsequent Black Lives or Blue Lives matter. That being said, I am pretty well convinced racism is less of an issue than it used to be. Because, even though I'm afraid the push back is going to be successful and we will start to go backwards, I don't think that has happened yet. [quote]And we will still always be awful racist people even in the far future?[/quote] I don't believe in paradise. So yeh, we will have something like that in the future. I don't know that race will be it, but there are other things for people to be tribalistic about. [quote]And this is just about Jontron, and the video you posted earlier wasn't actually your opinion but you we're sharing something.[/quote] Are you talking about the AvenueQ video? I do think that. Albeit I think in many people it is unconscious, I think my examples have been largely unconscious attitudes. What I'm saying is that JonTron specifically jumped the line from the everyday sort of racism that healthy people try to control and embraced thought thoughts. [quote]The tribal thing honestly sounds like a DNA/or born with it argument and are babies really racist, sexist and the like?[/quote] Tribal as in innately prefer the group we were raised in. I don't think the specifics are DNA so much as the general tendencies. Or else, I think we are genetically predisposed to understand an "Us" and a "Them", and whether or not race fills that roll is decided by our culture. I'll create a scenario to explain. Imagine you have some kid growing up in a multi-racial black and white community. They don't have racist tendencies toward those races because they group up with them. But a Muslim moves nextdoor. Now, I'm not saying the kid is going to go all JonTron and start yelling at the Muslim neighbor to go back to their country, because lets say this kid is consciously fine with Muslims. But unconsciously, they might have thoughts. Maybe it is vague discomfort talking to a woman in a headscarf, or the occasional "I hope that isn't a bomb" thought when they see the guy getting into his car with a briefcase. I don't think those things would be abnormal, and they wouldn't be evil, but they would be racist (or religiousist or whatever). These could be passing thoughts, something internally laughed off. But they are still racism in its seedling form. It is that kid's duty as a well rounded human being to not let those feelings fester and become active racism. [quote]A lot of "racist" things to say, often are sarcastic remarks usually said to friends or people in your circles, as an inside joke. And people outside their circles not understanding and instead of trying to, assume the worst. [/quote] Well, somebody telling racist in-jokes to people not in on the joke are fucking up a bit, socially speaking. But that's neither here nor there. [quote]...because most taboos tend to stay that way. [/quote] This isn't true. Taboos evolve quite a bit. Used to be taboo for women to wear dresses. [quote]Do you feel America needs hate speech laws?[/quote] Nope. I'm just defending a trait already in our culture, I'm not saying that the police need to get involved. [quote]"Taking a small drink mind seem harmless" *might (This isn't an attack...)[/quote] Alls good. [quote]Ya know what, I'll admit I know almost fucking nothing about taxes. So, I won't pretend to. XD But the fact the united states has one of the highest corpotate tax rates of almost every single country. Yet when you go by taxes in general, we aren't gouged in the slightest compared to everyone else...And we wonder why businesses want to leave elsewhere. (Sorry, this is rather off topic. XD) [/quote] The businesses largely stay here, though they do like to send the actual work abroad to make use of shittier conditions. The world's rich use tax havens to get around these things. Oftentimes the argument I've seen about lowering the corporate tax is to make sure the rich actually pay the thing instead of storing all their shit offshore. This is, personally speaking, a sore spot for me economically speaking, because I agree with the Thomas Piketty line of thinking that we need to drastically increase taxes on the rich if civilization is going to progress in the way we all seem to expect it to, but I also think it isn't going to happen because they are rather good at getting out of paying their way. This is one of the main issues that has sent me careening way off to the far left in recent years. [quote]It's an odd thing to assume, because nearly everything I look up about it, is saying it's consistently getting worse. (whether it be pleas, to offer "kindness" because more and more refugees needs places to stay. Or crime and murder rates skyrocketing because of said "kindness." unfolding.) We still have people wanting these to come to the U.S, it hasn't gone away.[/quote] Syria can only produce so many refugees before there is nobody in Syria left. Also, like I said before, we won't have the same sort of crisis for geographic reasons. Syria is very close to Europe, and therefore can be reached by traditional refugeeing means. The Atlantic ocean divides the US from the region, meaning we have completely control over who we bring over and how they are positioned. People who bring up the Syrian crisis when talking about the United States are fishing for political points. [quote]While looking things up. I do find it a little strange that the statements of illegal immigrants do actually work a bunch and aren't just lazy. But simultaneously aren't taking any american jobs...Is that a contradiction? Feels like one.[/quote] That's because that particular line of thinking is a fundamental misunderstanding of economics. Immigrants work jobs, and then spend that money. Once more, capitalism functions on the assumption that workers produce more than they use, since growth would not be possible otherwise. Meaning that immigrants with jobs increase the net wealth of the society. [quote]we're pretty much the only place where you can change your 'income class'[/quote] [url=http://www.businessinsider.com/harvard-upward-mobility-study-2014-1]No we're not.[/url] [quote]But I mean I really don't, my mom used it, a long time ago when she was raising two girls alone going to college and working 2 jobs. I'm sure someone in your family does/did too.[/quote] Well, I suspect most of us have family on medicare or medicaid. That being said, I've only ever used unemployment myself. Though I guess since I am a government employee it could be argue that I am on the public dole. And I agree it is abused, I just feel this is another one of those issues where the abuse is unavoidable and a product of there being no perfect system, and to tone down our current system would involve hurting innocents. [quote] I guess to clarify when I say worse, I mean in my lifetime (as pointless as someone in the 20's to say that.) and more currently oppose to hundreds of years ago...[/quote] You're probably right, in our lifetime it is probably at its peak. [quote] And to paraphrase someone else's statement, even back then the hippies we're fighting for some kind of rights. This is the first generation of people, where a large group are actually and actively fighting to have less rights for themselves...[/quote] I think the Bernie Sanders left is largely fighting for rights too. Remember that the Hippies also gave us Weather Underground and the DNC Convention riots too. These things aren't black and white. [quote=@IceHeart] Oh no doubt if they 'could' make it to middle class they would, the problem is a lot would get cut off their welfare before they manage to get those middle class wages and therefore lose too many benefits and not be able to keep up payments. Also if you want to go the job route a good majority probably are only working 'part-time' jobs in order to make sure they are under the cut-out amount that boots them out of welfare. [url=http://www.nationalreview.com/article/356317/welfare-better-deal-work-michael-tanner]So unless you are actually making a whole lot more money, often staying on Welfare is easier and more profitable for many.[/url] This is completely unsustainable and will eventually collapse under its own weight. Also I've heard through family about some of the horror stories of families on welfare and the 'facilities' used to 'help' them. Often times all the government does is throw money at them and hope they become better people. Instead they just stay where they are and accept all the hand outs while never improving themselves. Welfare is basically a cancer to society in its current form. Are there good people who are doing their best to get out of such situations? Of course and that should be encouraged but there are too many benefits for people who don't care about improving anything but their own lives and their communities suffer as a result. Oh and don't use WSJ cause I can't read the article... [/quote] I've been in the trenches of those facilities. Most people using welfare are decent folk trying to feed their kids and get up in life. There are people who abuse it, but I suspect those people would find some other trick if it weren't for welfare. Actually, I know they would, because many of the people I knew who abused it also sold drugs or participated in credit card scams. The mistake is thinking that getting rid of welfare will make the bad people good and the good people better. In reality, it would just cut the throats of the good people and inconvenience the bad. But even more important than all that, welfare in its current form keeps the very unsteady nature of life in the working classes stable. When I worked in a grocery store a few years back, I remember this coworker who bitched about all the people on food stamps. Never mind most the people on foodstamps had jobs and were just struggling people. The thing that always got me about the dude complaining was; his fucking wages were payed by foodstamps. Seriously. We worked in a grocery store in the poor part of town for Christ's sake. If they got rid of food stamps the next day, him and I would have been unemployed in a few weeks. Which would put us on the streets, which would take our business away from other people which would put more people on the streets...