Amazon's Home Security Company Is Turning Everyone Into Cops (vice.com) 256
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Motherboard: Neighbors is not just a social media app: it's a service that's meant to be used with Ring security cameras, a Wi-Fi-powered home security company that was acquired by Amazon last February in a $1 billion deal. Neighbors was launched in May 2018, three months after the acquisition. If you have Ring security cameras, you can upload video content straight from your security camera to Neighbors. [...] Beyond creating a "new neighborhood watch," Amazon and Ring are normalizing the use of video surveillance and pitting neighbors against each other. Chris Gilliard, a professor of English at Macomb Community College who studies institutional tech policy, told Motherboard in a phone call that such a "crime and safety" focused platforms can actively reinforces racism.
In Amazon's version of a "new neighborhood watch," petty crimes are policed heavily, and racism is common. Video posts on Neighbors disproportionately depict people of color, and descriptions often use racist language or make racist assumptions about the people shown. In many ways, the Neighbors/Ring ecosystem is like a virtual gated community: people can opt themselves in by downloading the Neighbors app, and with a Ring camera, users can frame neighbors as a threat. Motherboard individually reviewed more than 100 user-submitted posts in the Neighbors app between December 6 and February 5, and the majority of people reported as "suspicious" were people of color. Motherboard placed the "home" address at the VICE offices in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and kept the default 5-mile neighborhood radius, meaning the neighborhood encompassed all of lower Manhattan, most of Brooklyn, and parts of Queens and Hoboken. According to the Ring Community Guidelines, the Neighbors app bans "direct threats against any individuals, bullying, harassment, and any posts that demean, defame, or discriminate," but it relies on Neighbors users to report posts that violate that rule. The guidelines also claim that only "crime and safety related content" is allowed. The guidelines do not define what qualifies as "safety," but they do encourage users to "consider the behavior that made you suspicious and whether such suspicion is reasonable."
When asked if Ring moderates content on Neighbors or reviews posts for racism, a company spokesperson said, "The Neighbors app by Ring is meant to facilitate this collaboration within communities by allowing users to easily share and communicate with their neighbors and in some cases, local law enforcement, about crime and safety in real-time."
In Amazon's version of a "new neighborhood watch," petty crimes are policed heavily, and racism is common. Video posts on Neighbors disproportionately depict people of color, and descriptions often use racist language or make racist assumptions about the people shown. In many ways, the Neighbors/Ring ecosystem is like a virtual gated community: people can opt themselves in by downloading the Neighbors app, and with a Ring camera, users can frame neighbors as a threat. Motherboard individually reviewed more than 100 user-submitted posts in the Neighbors app between December 6 and February 5, and the majority of people reported as "suspicious" were people of color. Motherboard placed the "home" address at the VICE offices in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and kept the default 5-mile neighborhood radius, meaning the neighborhood encompassed all of lower Manhattan, most of Brooklyn, and parts of Queens and Hoboken. According to the Ring Community Guidelines, the Neighbors app bans "direct threats against any individuals, bullying, harassment, and any posts that demean, defame, or discriminate," but it relies on Neighbors users to report posts that violate that rule. The guidelines also claim that only "crime and safety related content" is allowed. The guidelines do not define what qualifies as "safety," but they do encourage users to "consider the behavior that made you suspicious and whether such suspicion is reasonable."
When asked if Ring moderates content on Neighbors or reviews posts for racism, a company spokesperson said, "The Neighbors app by Ring is meant to facilitate this collaboration within communities by allowing users to easily share and communicate with their neighbors and in some cases, local law enforcement, about crime and safety in real-time."
Racism (Score:2, Insightful)
Motherboard said it was racist, that settles it, and I believe them without question.
I don't get it (Score:3, Insightful)
Um, ok? Is it racist because of his skin color? Millennials are confusing.
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Their racism made him steal that package.
And had it been a white or Asian dude they would have been happy, thanked him, and wished him best of luck in his future endeavours.
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Even if it's not racist, it still sounds rather vile. Some people feel better about themselves when they have a 'deserving' person who they can hate and hurt, and criminals - regardless of race - can fill that niche quite well.
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Not committing crime to get amazon packages is white privilege and part of patriarchal oppression.
Re:I don't get it (Score:4, Informative)
The bit before the bit you quoted maybe, where they have a post making random accusations about black people using the stairs. Or the one after it, where someone finds a black person using a phone in the street "suspicious".
"Doing X while black" seems to be a problem for some significant number of Americans, and Amazon built a platform where people can post semi-anonymous accusations and mug shots.
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Makes one wonder who are the bad people here. Or rather it is pretty clear who are. Sure, I have had parcels stolen as well and was angry, but it is a minor annoyance. Wishing rape and torture on somebody for real (and I do not doubt this is for real) is something else. That is true viciousness and I do not know what can be worse in a person.
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Wishing rape and torture on somebody for real (and I do not doubt this is for real) is something else
Yeah, I wouldn't wish rape or torture on someone.
There are a few out there I'd greatly enjoy torturing but I've managed to resist the urge so far. I wouldn't just wish it on them though, outsourcing that shit is just immoral.
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Paranoia makes people insane, violent and dangerous. These apps seem to be really dangerous in promoting that.
Observed data (Score:4, Insightful)
>"Motherboard individually reviewed more than 100 user-submitted posts in the Neighbors app between December 6 and February 5, and the majority of people reported as "suspicious" were people of color."
That is not evidence of "racism" as claimed by the article. It is mostly prejudice based on actual observed experience. Most would not deny that racism exists in society, but now so much of what is reported as "racism" is not. So much so that the word is starting to lose all meaning. "People of color" *do* commit vastly more crime per capita. That is absolute fact. Being more wary or suspicious might not seem fair, but it is not illogical, irrational, immoral, or racist.
Men commit far, far, far more crime than women. Being more wary of strange men checking out your house is not sexist. Again, it is justified prejudice.
I would absolutely expect such reporting by "Vice".
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Wrong. Prejudice is pre judging a specific situation. You may have general information or experience that makes doing that reasonable, rational, and logical. You can still be wrong. You can't be prejudiced until there's a specific thing to judge.
If you hear constant barking from your neighbor's house you might think their dog is an incessant yapper.
You may later find out it's actually their parrot messing with you, the dog, and everyone else. Or their retarded child being retarded.
You can be prejudiced,
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>"Prejudice means to form the opinion without pre-existing knowledge."
Of that exact individual. But we DO have plenty of knowledge, just not of that individual. That is what prejudice is- pre-judging.
>"Reason requires knowledge. Justifying an opinion requires reason. Ergo, prejudice can never be justified."
Wrong. Not only wrong, but crazy wrong. Humans would have died off as a species, instantly, otherwise.
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Yes, neckbeards combust when they admit to making a category error. That's also why they get frustrated by words that have more than one meaning; dangerous. So dangerous. Sad.
Alternative Title: Technology helps out racists (Score:2, Insightful)
Racism is an intellectually bankrupt set of beliefs that only survives through isolated and sheltered ignorance. Better to expose it to the light than let it fester in the dark.
If everyone is racist, no-one is. (Score:2)
I'm sure there is some real racism left.
But by and large, there's not real any racism left, just a lot of people claiming this or that is racism - even when not referring to race.
One of the most aggravating aspects of this faked racism, is that when you cannot refer to someones race for purposes of pure description - which would seem to be the case with the Ring videos. Why is it so wrong to say someone s black if they are? Why has that become evil, in an age where people of all color should celebrate who
Re: If everyone is racist, no-one is. (Score:2)
It's a poor way to phrase it, but the sentiment is correct. If everyone is racist then it's a meaningless category. There'd be no value to calling anyone racist; we would all just shrug our shoulders and say "yeah ... so?".
Re: If everyone is racist, no-one is. (Score:2)
Your position is that if people sometimes do bad things we should shrug and say "yeah so".
Nonsense; my position is that that's what WOULD happen. The word "should" was inserted by you. Stop being a disingenuous fuck.
You want to equate everything from occasionally mild things with the absolute worst so you can devalue the whole term.
No, that's what the left is doing by throwing around words like "racist" and "Nazi" every time someone disagrees with them. I think it's stupid, and it needs to stop, exactly because - as you pointed out - it completely devalues the terms.
I know why: it's because you are racist
And you're a child rapist. We all have our shortcomings, but yours is clearly far worse than mine.
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Nonsense; my position is that that's what WOULD happen. The word "should" was inserted by you. Stop being a disingenuous fuck.
Lol wow you don't like being called out on your bullshit. Funny you accuse me of being a er "disingenuous fuck" and yes selectively quote.
No, that's what the left is doing
So you're a member of "the left". I didn't have you pegged for that.
And you're a child rapist.
This is exactly what I mean by you equating random shit. I have an actual example of you being racist, and that's equiv
Re: If everyone is racist, no-one is. (Score:2)
Just stay away from kids, OK?
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I see in your mind, libel is equivalent to having a rational argument with evidence. That... well that explains a lot about your posts.
Re: If everyone is racist, no-one is. (Score:2)
Not at all; I think it's disgusting that you're going around randomly libeling people as "racist" in order to distract from your pedophilia.
I do understand it to some extent, though. You're unable to string together a rational argument, and you're angry that we won't let you legally touch little boys, so you lash out in the only way you know how. Like a feces-flinging capuchin, it's just instinct for you. I get it. Doesn't meant I have to like it, any more than I have to like your pederastic proclivitie
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Not at all; I think it's disgusting that you're going around randomly libeling people as "racist"
It's not random, it's you. And it's not libel if it's true. For example the other comment in this thread where you don't think that universities founded by brown women count but ones founded by white men do.
Unlike me, you have no evidence for your accusations, you're just doing your crybully thing.
Re: If everyone is racist, no-one is. (Score:2)
In your defense, it's not criminal libel if you're actually stupid enough to believe what you're saying. In the USA, anyway. In other countries you might still be found liable. Either way, reguardles of whether or not it's criminal, it's definitely libel.
We've all seen your comments talking about how much young boys excite you. Ffs, even your name is an allusion to pedophilia. You're not fooling anyone.
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It's interesting that you think that demonstrable facts are on the same level as invented accusations. Did you vote for Trump by any chance. Anyway, here's you being racist (this is not the worse racism I've ever seen by a long shot, but you're still being racist):
https://yro.slashdot.org/comme... [slashdot.org]
You in your own words. Fatima Al-Fihri founded a university yet you don't accept it as a university, claiming superiority of European ones, despite the European ones starting as very similar institutions.
The only t
Re: If everyone is racist, no-one is. (Score:2)
You didn't need to demonstrate that you are stupid enough to believe your own libelous words; I previously already stated that your stupidity could constitute a valid defense. It doesn't change the fact that your words are lies, and that they constitute libel. And certainly none of it changes the fact that you get off on scoping out minors.
Re: If everyone is racist, no-one is. (Score:2)
Words are not actions you ignorant fuck.
Best of luck with your reality denial. Maybe you can keep screaming about my supposed racism while they're castrating you to prevent you from abusing any more children. I'm sure it will make you feel much better.
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Words are not actions you ignorant fuck.
Ah I see you're not racist because you only say racist things, you don't actualy do them? Your action of typing out racist things and posting them on the internet is, well, a bit racist.
Hey here's a thing. If you could go "oh hey yeah I did simply dismiss Fatima al-Fihri, that wasn't good" and it's no harm no foul. Or you could simply be racist and own it. But what you're doing is wanting to be racist but never ever have anyone call you on it.
So stop being a coward, e
Re: If everyone is racist, no-one is. (Score:2)
That's exactly why I haven't been bothering to actually debate your stupid ass; because it's been clear from your second comment that the only thing you care about is "winning", rather than what's actually true. No honest person would ever say the kind of shit you've been saying. You feel free to go ahead and declare victory; I know you've been itching to do it right from the start.
Hope you're not too attached to those testicles, kiddie diddler.
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Indeed. Racism is one way people that have little to offer try to elevate themselves over others. As nobody had any choice in their race, this is also hugely anti-intellectual.
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1) Though the meanings are identical, I should have wrote "helps to out racists" to avoid ambiguity.
2) Actually, racism seems to be one of the major critics from the article summary:
. . .focused platforms can actively reinforces racism.
In Amazon's version of a "new neighborhood watch," petty crimes are policed heavily, and racism is common.
Of course, given that the average /.er has no patience for ambiguous titles nor even reading the article summary these days, I consider this entire thread a write-off. . . It is ok, I have Karma to spare.
Anyway, it sounds like you had a bad week so, feel free to rage on. Why try to construct a thoughtful rebuke
RAAAAAAACIS!!! (Score:2)
Why do people associate crime with skin color? Isn't that racist? I associate crime with CRIME. That is what matters, that the criminal is caught and punished. I don't care what color the criminal is. In my area that is almost always white as if you cared.
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You do know that punishment does not work for most crimes, right? The only thing that works is removing the incentives.
Re: RAAAAAAACIS!!! (Score:3)
Of course it fucking works. If nobody bothered to enforce shoplifting laws, do you really think I'd go and pay $800 for a new phone? If police didn't impose insane punishments for going more than 20mph over the limit, do you really think I would stay under that? If the government didn't enforce tax law, do you really think I'd just give away 40% of my pay?
The fact that punishment isn't a deterrent 100% of the time doesn't mean it doesn't work; it just means some subset of the population will always be w
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Well, for psychos like you punishment may work. Sometimes. But only about 1% of the population is psychos and most criminals are not. Hence in general, punishments does not work and it could be argued that people like you are mentally ill and hence should not be punished either, but be put behind some hospital walls in a closed facility to protect the rest of humanity from you.
Re: RAAAAAAACIS!!! (Score:3)
If you think that the vast majority of people are not impacted by the prospect of punishment, you're either a retard or you're brainwashed.
Possibly both.
Pro Tip (Score:5, Insightful)
While in a predominantly white neighborhood, being any color other than white is going to instantly make you a person of interest.
( Like it or not )
The same is true for a white tourist in Mexico, a group of teens roaming around a neighborhood at 3am or a white guy walking through South Central LA.
Hell, if I spot a vehicle on my street I don't recognize, they get my full attention until I know what they're doing here.
It isn't racism.
It's simply realizing something is out of place. ( Which, by default, SHOULD warrant some extra attention on your part. )
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Reminds me of the time I was wandering around Boston at night, and I guess I was in a black neighborhood, because I went into a store and the guy behind the counter was so surprised to see a white guy at night, he asked if I was OK and if I needed him to call me a cab! lol I asked him why and told him it didn't look like a bad neighborhood, and he agreed it was safe and apologized for being so surprised.
But like, there was 0 chance anybody was going to call the cops on me for standing out.
Re: Pro Tip (Score:2)
But like, there was 0 chance anybody was going to call the cops on me for standing out.
Probably because a black clerk in a black neighbourhood is about as likely to be robbed by a white guy as he is to be struck by lightning while restocking the chips aisle. Statistics do matter, even if the judgements are made at a subconscious level.
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Bullshit, it is because a racist who disliked me being there wouldn't expect the police to be willing to harass me.
That is 100% of the reason.
Re: Pro Tip (Score:2)
lol. Well your delusions are entertaining, at the very least.
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Thinking that someone is out of place because of the colour of their skin is textbook racism. It's why when black people move into certain neighbourhoods people call the cops on them for entering their own homes or using their own pools.
The assumption that someone does not belong because of their race is what helps maintain these segregated enclaves.
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Thinking that someone is out of place because of the colour of their skin is textbook racism.
Walking through a village in Vietnam I was getting looked at and it wasn't because they were racist. They were friendly, the kids talked to me and the only guy to give me any shit was upset that his dog was barking at me.
Walking through a poor area in Bridgetown in Barbados I got suspicious stares from fucking everybody. The moment I said 'good morning' or smiled the men nodded and said good morning back, and the women gave me the most beautiful smiles in return. They weren't racist, they just knew I wasn't
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In all your anecdotes people didn't freak out and call the cops. They didn't label you a criminal on social media just for being there. And, you were a tourist and not trying to live your life there. Living somewhere is a very different experience to merely visiting.
Also, this is America, where a large proportion of the population is non-white. While you can give a little more leeway to cultures that are almost 100% one ethnicity and haven't developed diversity and understanding quite so much yet, that does
Racism? (Score:5, Funny)
I watch my neighborhood at night through a night vision scope. So everyone looks green.
Predisposed (Score:2)
A (anti)social media system like this will be attractive to people who by nature are suspicious, hair-trigger, types already. This just gives them an outlet for their fears and paranoia. One that will support and magnify their already jittery emotional state. It will make them feel normalised and validated: look! there are loads of people reporting the same crimes that I see every day .
So yes, this encourages extreme behaviour. Unless normal people go onto the site too, and tell them all to calm down, stop
again with "disproportionate" (Score:2)
It's not an argument. Period.
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if you're in TX or FL, have at it.
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Naa, but you can tell on your neighbors and get them sent to some concentration camp. You have to wait for a few years though, the police state is not in full bloom at this time.
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Go banana!
Re:ME FAIL ENGLISH? (Score:5, Informative)
such a "crime and safety" focused platforms can actively reinforces racism.
That's unpossible!
It's also bullshit.
"Motherboard individually reviewed more than 100 user-submitted posts in the Neighbors app between December 6 and February 5, and the majority of people reported as "suspicious" were people of color. "
In New York City (where they found this example of "racism") non-whites are responsible for 93% of all murders and 80% of all robberies. People have very good reason to be suspicious of "people of color".
Keep up the good work, VICE, and don't let facts get in the way of trying to make everything into a problem of "racism".
Re: ME FAIL ENGLISH? (Score:5, Insightful)
It's racists to notice facts. You're like a literal Nazi.
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More likely they are just another corporation unleashing a new product on the world without bothering to consider what effect it might have on anything other than their bottom line.
Re:Maybe black people should stop robbing (Score:5, Informative)
Racism exists because black people commit basically all the crime. If they stopped then people would complain about mexicans instead.
I'm as racist as the next person, but poor people commit basically all the crime. Keeping minorities in poverty through through subjective (nowadays virtually silent) bias, merely ensures they will live up to the stereotype you have carved out for them.
This is somewhat different from profiling, which is an often individually observed behavior based on probability. LEOs looking for drug mules pull over vehicles piloted by young male hispanic & black occupants with far more frequency than vehicles piloted by blue haired older ladies.
Re:Maybe black people should stop robbing (Score:4, Informative)
It's also a vicious cycle. Poor people do crime because ... they're poor? or because they're criminals? and then the system puts them in jail and that keeps them poor because they're poor? or because they're criminals?
America is the greatest example of how poor people can become very rich through hard work and honesty. There is massive economic mobility, regardless of your race, the largest predictor of success being 1) whether you have both parents at the home, 2) how hard you're willing to work and 3) whether or not your parents are criminals.
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America is the greatest example of how poor people can become very rich through hard work and honesty.
True, yet hard work and dishonesty is too often profitable. Perhaps it's fair to say the poorer criminals are disproportionately investigated and prosecuted. For every Michael Milken, there's a pound's worth of farthings' in broke people stealing food at the Super Duper Mart.
The great Carlin once said, "Honesty may be the best policy, but it's important to remember that apparently, by elimination, dishonesty is the second-best policy."
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Hard work is profitable for the top 1% of criminals. The rest make less than minimum wage or end up dead or in jail. The prospects aren't good for most criminals.
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I think it's a myth that anyone can become "very rich" although by 3rd world standards even I could be considered "very rich". Granted, I started off being born to parents of at least above average wealth.
I recognize that I could have been richer if I had made different choices in life, but I once turned down 2 job offers that paid more money to take a job that I thought I would like more and I still think that was the right decision. But maybe that was a failure on my part for not negotiating harder.
Of cou
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Actually, the best single predictor of wealth in the U.S. is the wealth of your parents. There's a lot of people doing back breaking labor for minimum wage and a few people putting in a "hard day" at the golf course for millions a year (and I don't mean pro golfers who may actually have to work at it).
In most rags to riches stories, the rags turn out to be Gucci.
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There are very few "criminals" around. Most people labelled as such just find they cannot obey all the rules made by people in in much better situations. The actual criminal minded ones (meaning they do have a real choice) you mostly find in positions of power and wealth.
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You should look it up. Amongst the developed nations, America is actually one of the worst. Basically, Americans are most likely to earn the same income as their parents. The income mobility is largely myth based on a few successes. You do do better then the UK though.
To quote https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
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America is the greatest example of how poor people can become very rich through hard work and honesty. There is massive economic mobility,
No it's literally not and no there literally isn't.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
While a few people (Bezos, Gates, Zuckerberg) can make out like the bandits that they are social mobility is not that high. Much, much much worse than you excessively polite Northern neighbour.
largest predictor of success being 1) whether you have both parents at the home, 2) how hard you
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Actually the American Dream is a bit of a myth, especially these days.
Pew did some research [pewtrusts.org] on it, but this article [forbes.com] has some great graphs illustrating how social mobility has declined in America (and many other places).
People born in the 80s have a much poorer chance of moving up in the world than their parents. Their fortunes are much more closely tied to their parents'.
Americans tend to overestimate social mobility by quite a margin, which stops them taking action (via the ballot box) to fix it.
https://in [northwestern.edu]
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America is the greatest example of how poor people can become very rich through hard work and honesty. There is massive economic mobility, regardless of your race,
This is no longer the case. America now has much less economic mobility than Europe. [economist.com]
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That study (and one other one that keeps getting quoted above) has been heavily debunked.
Ed Conard, has a nice expose on those studies that ignore the relative worth of the money, healthcare and other tax benefits, smaller families (less mouths to feed) etc. You can buy more goods cheaper now than you could in the 70's and 80's. We live in a relative welfare state in the US (we're dying not because lack of healthcare, but either too much intervention and/or lifestyle choice issues).
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"Heavily" debunked? As opposed to normal debunked?
If I understand correctly, Conard's argument is that since the economy has grown over the last few decades, everyone is better off than before, even if the relatively-poor are forever stuck in the relatively-poor spot on the ladder.
If so, he is not disputing that economic mobility is lower in the US than Europe. He's just saying it doesn't matter, because everyone is getting richer.
The problem is:
1) Even if poor people now are doing better than poor people a
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Unfortunately true. Also true is that those in power want that to happen and to continue to happen, so the population is focusing much attention there and is reduced in intelligence as a result of fear, and hence ignores what those in power do. And a whole industry (police, legal, prisons) critically depends on crime. They will _not_ kill what feeds them, sad as that is.
Also completely agree with your sig. Best you can get as an intelligent person is temporary contentment.
Re:Maybe black people should stop robbing (Score:5, Insightful)
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First, nobody keeps black people in the US in poverty
What about Donald Trump? His companies blocked non-whites from renting/buying his real estate, or even getting jobs building it.
One guy from Uzbekistan
Don't have a link to this channel do you? Apologies but I need to verify your extraordinary claim before accepting it.
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Cherry picking the extremes tells you nothing about the overall statistics or the common case. Exceptional individuals exist.
99% of people aren't exceptional by definition. That means if you're born poor you'll stay poor. And you're essentially blaming them for not being more cabable than the vast majority of the entire population.
You can work two jobs and still barely make rent. But sleep's for the weak right? Thise people should jsut work even harder.
Re: Maybe black people should stop robbing (Score:2)
Exactly my views on the problem. It's culture, not race
I have acquiantances from every single country in North Africa whom I meet on a daily basis. Blacks, of course. Culturally, they are different from majority of blacks born here. Very different. They are much more similar to all other first gen immigrants than to American blacks.
The problem is culture and very influential pieces of shit that perpetuate it in mass culture.
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Black American culture is unique, but why is that? Could it have anything to do with generations of systemic racism?
It's true that black Americans have to overcome culture that works against their interests, but it's both black culture AND American culture that's to blame. Does anyone honestly believe that black American culture would be what it is without hundreds of years of racism?
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> Could it have anything to do with generations of systemic racism?
It does not matter. There is no systemic racism. Racist of 100 years ago were racist to all racists. The notion of prejudice and treating people just by their general appearance was very prevalent. Yet some races in United States recovered from it, while some did not.
Eradicate the culture, you will eradicate both perpetuated poverty AND racism. There is very little racism now in US towards Asians.
>Black American culture is unique
Stop l
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"As the guy below said, the problem is poor cultural attitude towards hard work and education."
That is A problem, but but not the only problem. Furthermore, the "poor cultural attitude" is a result of a broader culture that includes racism.
Your single example may not suffer from the same discrimination that many blacks do and for every successful immigrant story there is a successful black American story. While your example is interesting, it simply doesn't support your claim.
Now...of course "nobody" keep
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Ok, I'm calling this out (Score:2)
We lose orders of magnitude more to white collar crime then we do some punk taking the stereo out of your car, and violent crime is at historic lows. Meanwhile that "Tough on crime" bullshit your parroting gave us the Drug War and Civil Asset forfeitures. Oh, and while you were busy worrying a punk with an untreated drug problem stealing a few bucks from the till somewhere Wall Street deregulation crashed the economy multiple times, lowering y
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You're right, if the calculation to most of the crime is skewed toward total dollars of damage, but if it is more representative of number of occurrences, the crimes of the poor towards the understandable goal of basic substinence wins out.
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shitty "fathers" who don't support their kids
It's hard to support a kid when you're in prison for being black, or in prison for being a man.
Prosecute and sentence black men the same as white women that do the same crimes and you'll suddenly find far fewer fatherless black households.
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When did /. turn into 4chan?
After 4chan threw a few deplorables out?
Re:Maybe black people should stop robbing (Score:4, Informative)
Racism exists because black people commit basically all the crime. If they stopped then people would complain about mexicans instead.
Right. THAT'S the reason racism exists. It never existed before blacks committed crimes. There was no trying to prevent blacks from getting an education, no attempts to prevent them voting, no attempts at letting them live wherever they wanted. There wasn't even any slavery. All those black people volunteered to work on the plantations with little to no pay.
Here's a question: which group commits the largest amount of mass shootings, by far, than any other group? How about child molestation?
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What's truly pathetic is you're getting downmods.
Re: Maybe black people should stop robbing (Score:2)
Well he should be, he's a dumbass. The original AC may be an idiot too, but he's right about one thing; the people of India are Caucasian.
Also this virtue signaling fuck just had to toss out the "founded by a woman" line. Only one problem; Fatima Al-Fihri didn't found a university; she used her inheritance to found a mosque. Universities didn't become a thing until 300 years later. That her mosque eventually became a university is nice and all, but like a good SJW he's trying to rewrite history by sugge
Re: Maybe black people should stop robbing (Score:2)
The racist GP sais "white". People from india are not white.
White is a synonym for Caucasian, dupshit.
Why do you always virtue signal
If someone else were misusing that phrase I would point out that they don't know what it means ... but not you. I know from past experience that you know what it means; you're just a disingenuous asshole who intentionally misuses it in order to troll.
We both know she founded a mosque AND a madrasa. The madrasa is a place of learning, the kind of thing we call universities these days.
Now this part I'm not sure about; are you actually stupid enough to believe that a 9th century madrasa was anything remotely like the later European universities? Or are you aware of the difference, and are again bei
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White is a synonym for Caucasian, dupshit.
Christ you're thick. And dishonest. Probably both. Here's a picture of an idian guy you complete moron:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/... [wikimedia.org]
still think that guy is white?
I know from past experience that you know what it means;
I know exactly what it means: you bleat about race and gender and whatnot and how you're so virtuous for making *just* the right comments on it, so your fellow idiots from whichever nutty political wing you stick to think you're marvellous.
Now this
Re:Maybe black people should stop robbing (Score:5, Insightful)
Going AC for this post for reasons...
There are of course shades (inappropriate pun intended) of racism. On one extreme there are the genocidal racists. Then you have those who just make assumptions based on race.
I've been guilty of this when I was younger. My exposure to black people consisted of 4 people, 2 students in my class and our maid and our lawn guy. They were hard-working and the students were intelligent, but I viewed these 4 examples of black people as exceptions, which I have now come to believe was wrong.
Since then I have met many more people of all races and I've seen examples of hard-working, intelligent humans and I've also seen those who I would consider the scum of the earth. I don't see a whole lot of correlation to so-called "race".
And you also have to take into account socio-economic factors. When everyone expects you to be a criminal, lazy or stupid one might tend to live down to those expectations. If black Americans seem less educated, it might have something to do with the shitty schools we send them to. If Asian people seem smarter, it just may be that only the privileged and/or smart ones get to come over, at least for the most part.
I've been slumming around the Fox News comments section way too much lately and the racism is so blatant I can't believe no one calls them out for it.
When Jayme Closs escaped her kidnapper, it took nearly a day for the cops to release the name and picture of her assailant. During that time the big question on 90% of the commenters minds was whether he was black or an illegal immigrant or Mexican.
Oops, he was white.
And when 4 cops were shot executing a warrant in Houston the same thing happened. They said the reason they haven't announced the suspect's names or pictures was obviously because they were black or Mexican (which is of course a term they use for anyone with a Spanish-sounding name, even people from Italy). And again all they could agree on is it had to be one or the other.
Of course the reason the names were not immediately released is because 4 cops had just been shot and they were trying to investigate everything and figure out just exactly happened while 4 of them who were there were lying in the hospital.
And once again the suspects were white.
I'm white and I'm sick of racists. Can you imagine how black people feel?
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Oh, and remember last year when Trump said it's "a very scary time for young men in America"?
Did everyone forget how Trump reacted to the Central Park Five [wikipedia.org]?
To summarize a woman was brutally assaulted in 1989 and 4 blacks and one Hispanic were convicted despite very shaky evidence. Trump took out full page ads before the trial proclaiming them guilty and calling for the reinstatement of the death penalty.
Based on DNA evidence and a confession from someone else their sentences were vacated in 2002 and yet Trump still kept proclaiming their guilt as recently as 2016.
What he REALLY meant was "It's a scary time for WHITE males who might actually have to suffer the same kind of injustices that we've put minorities through for all of our history. MAGA!!!!!"
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What he REALLY meant was "It's a scary time for WHITE males who might actually have to suffer the same kind of injustices that we've put minorities through for all of our history. MAGA!!!!!"
Well, you were doing great up until this point, but why would "white males" "have to suffer... injustices?"
And why do you presume that whatever injustices were committed in "all of... history" were also committed by all white males alive now?
You seem to completely reject the idea of the individual. I was raised to believe that the problem in the first place was the belief that the differences are substantive, and the solution is simply to treat people as individuals.
Maybe white people should stop robbing (Score:2)
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Re: Maybe black people should stop robbing (Score:4, Insightful)
Well, if my home security camera catches a black person trying to break into my house, then yes, a black person will be blamed.
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Re: "racism" (Score:2)
Yeah, Poland ain't very diverse.
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Half of human DNA encodes the brain. It's not credible to believe a tribe of people can have similar characteristics that makes them visibly stand out and yet not have any mental characteristics that makes them mentally stand out as well.
You're wrong in about 18 different ways here but I'll focus on just two:
Skin colour is a tiny fragment of DNA, with people of all skin colours sharing far more in common than having differences. By your logic you should also be arguing for differences in behaviour by hair colour, eye colour, finger length and the shape of ears.
Further, people with brown skin are not all from the same tribe. There are tens of thousands of tribes in the world, with natural skin colours varying immensely, and interbreeding pre