dagblog - Comments for "How to Reduce Racial Animus 101"

Agree with some of the issues

Anonymous — Sat, 23 Jan 2016 18:35:28 +0000

In reply to How to Reduce Racial Animus 101

Agree with some of the issues. No one is to blamed in these issues. the only way which can eradicate all these is our way of we think about other races. The only thing which i think is live in harmony and let all to live with the same feel.

Among well-compensated

HSG — Thu, 31 Dec 2015 14:28:00 +0000

In reply to Ultimately, this is how we

Among well-compensated reasonably satisfied, i.e., privileged, people there's a tremendous resistance to acknowledging the damage that wealth disparities/economic injustice does to our society and the way it poisons relations. I explain why here. http://halginsberg.com/why-do-some-on-the-left-insist-on-practicing-divi...

2) Again you moved the goal

HSG — Thu, 31 Dec 2015 14:04:00 +0000

In reply to 1) Fair enough. I shouldn't

2) Again you moved the goal posts. I never said investment banking isn't exciting and intellectually stimulating or that it doesn't provide non-pecuniary benefits. My point was/is that it's not just a bed of roses. There are lots of thorns in there - including often incredibly long hours, sometimes extremely difficult supervisors, a constant temptation to engage in unethical behavior, the possibility that bad luck at any point can derail a particular deal, and the fact that the business really is even more soulless than most others - you are ultimately judged based on how much money you bring in to the firm. Nothing else really matters.

Regarding your rhetorical question - "what do I know about investment banking" - I think I know more than most people who haven't worked in the field. But I don't believe this kind of discussion is productive in the least so I won't engage in it.

3) We mostly agree here but I don't think physical labor is only less attractive because it's dangerous. Sometimes, it's not dangerous but it's repetitive, dull, and not intellectually stimulating. In any case, I guess you're persuaded by my point here. If we reduced economic inequality - by ensuring that those doing physical labor are paid more and are guaranteed a secure retirement and those who engage in investment banking ultimately take home a lot less - then the parents in central New Jersey wouldn't be as desperate about challenging their kids to achieve academically.

1) Fair enough. I shouldn't

Michael Maiello — Thu, 31 Dec 2015 04:08:17 +0000

In reply to Thanks Michael. We obviously

1) Fair enough. I shouldn't move your goal posts!

2) What do you really know about investment banking, investment management or the types of things that finance people do? Because advising two companies about a potential merger or advising a wealth management client about something as essential as their life and legacy is actually pretty interesting work. It's competitive, it's hard and it can be dreary and dull, but it can also be exciting and, yes, intellectually stimulating. I know some professional portfolio managers who are just incredibly clued in to how the world works. They have access to influential people and to incredible amounts of data and commentary, not to mention quantitative geniuses at the ready. Have you ever played with a Bloomberg terminal? Hal... you can look up a specific cargo ship on that thing, read it's manifest, pinpoint its exact location and pull up a satellite image of the ship at sea. To say that such work is not intellectually stimulating is just a lazy criticism.

3) Physical labor is only less attractive because it is dangerous, either quickly or slowly. It would be fine if these jobs were all like NFL careers, where you get paid big sums with the expectation that you will only be able to do that kind of work for 5-10 years. But when physical labor pays a wage so low that you cannot save for a retirement at 65, much less the retirement you might really need at 50, it loses some of its appeal despite its inherent dignity.

Ultimately, this is how we

Michael Maiello — Thu, 31 Dec 2015 03:56:33 +0000

In reply to As a parent of a freshman

Ultimately, this is how we all experience life. I remember, when I was a factchecker/reporter at Forbes that we had a meeting where the editor told us all point blank, "all of you are not going to be promoted to writer" (the most coveted promotion for our group), "because the magazine doesn't need that many writers, even if we never hire another person." Of course you wind up looking around the room wondering who is going to eat your lunch. The thing is, it's true. Of course it's true. There are desirable things in this world that are also in limited supply.

We can do a lot to address inequalities. But, of course, in the end, when things and positions are in limited supply, we will all have to fight for them and animus will result. Until we hit the Star Trek gold mine where scarcity is eliminated and anyone can have a Ferrari just by asking a computer to assemble one, we're locked in competition.

As a parent of a freshman

moat — Thu, 31 Dec 2015 01:34:16 +0000

In reply to How to Reduce Racial Animus 101

As a parent of a freshman student in College, looking back on the 1 to 12 experience prompts me to remember how some parents saw the process of education as a game of musical chairs where only some people would have a place to sit after the music stopped.

For that group, no amount of shared prosperity will change the dynamics of the limited number of jobs they see as available. The point of view is more of an opinion about means of production than social justice. I don't think of this perspective as an expression of any particular self-identity (racial or otherwise) because it pops up everywhere.

As an actual attendee of a

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Dec 2015 18:26:39 +0000

In reply to How to Reduce Racial Animus 101

As an actual attendee of a high school in this district, I can tell you straight up that money isn't really the issue here. In order to live here, people must pay awfully high taxes, the only reason being the school district. Nothing else in my town is noteworthy. Only about 4% of my school is eligible to receive some kind of lunch discount. The problem here is that we're being groomed merely to place checkboxes into scantrons, and many of the teachers here are apathetic to actually getting their kids interested in the subjects they teach. The real reason our super removed the midterms and finals wasn't because of the stress it gave students, but because they were arranged awkwardly and didn't do much for the final grade, so he removed them altogether instead of correcting the problem. I do agree, however, with your point about both sides being correct as well as the entire issue being a bigger deal than it really is. Our curriculum before the changes was great, but there were things wrong with it that should've been corrected instead of removed.

We're all centrists at heart

PeraclesPlease — Tue, 29 Dec 2015 12:03:52 +0000

In reply to I read the article several

We're all centrists at heart - you're either too much or too little, while my way is the perfect compromise. In Rome, they think Africa starts to the south, and Teutonic barbarians are to the north. Milan thinks Tuscany's already Africa, and the Huns don't start till Switzerland.

I read the article several

rmrd0000 — Tue, 29 Dec 2015 00:57:04 +0000

In reply to How to Reduce Racial Animus 101

I read the article several days ago. It is interesting viewing the disagreement between Asian and white parents with white parents thinking the Asians are pushing too hard. There is a search for a solution that soothes the white parents. Interestingly, if black parents pushed for the same lowering of standards, they would be viewed as attempting to destroy the educational system.

There should have been a lot

PeraclesPlease — Mon, 28 Dec 2015 17:56:01 +0000

In reply to Thanks Michael. We obviously

There should have been a lot more bankers committing suicide. The paucity of hard kiri is a scandal in itself. Yes, when you lose a billion dollars you should kill yourself, as when you get caught screwing your clients on a massive scale. But your anecdotes are over 5 years - hardly statistically significant, sadly.