Hell, they parked their big fat asses on the other side of the scale and nary a peep.
Racist infrastructure bill is racist...
- Thread starter The Tradition
- Start date
And it's not exactly off the scale, either. It's insanity. The stats on wealth concentration/consolidation over the last fifty years are undeniable and sure as shit tell us whose feet are on the scale—feet well-served, pedicured, if you will, by op ed writers like the one in the OP, can't be bothered to read beyond the dumbass op ed, can't find the bill itself and do a find for the word "minority" to maybe find the section(s) related to this dumbass op ed's argument.
But that's Trad's siren song.
The "answers" to our complex predicaments are also complex, and inherently imperfect. What has absolutely no part in actually resolving any issues in this country is ignorance, in choosing dumb appeals because they're easy and they taste good. Trad will spend hours of research and hours of prep to make some meat taste good, but can't be bothered to read something better, or delve deeper, than the shit he linked in his OP.
But that's America.
I want to know what it is they're REALLY afraid of. It can't be favoritism exhibited by the govt...that's just a bullshit excuse because they've benefited their entire lives. So what is it?
So...did Republicans support it knowing it would all be halted in courts?
I would bet 90%+ Americans would be in favor of improving infrastructure. If it could just be that instead of trying to make it a wishlist all the time we might get something useful done. Not blaming dems here, Rs are just as bad about this stuff.
I would bet 90%+ Americans would be in favor of improving infrastructure. If it could just be that instead of trying to make it a wishlist all the time we might get something useful done. Not blaming dems here, Rs are just as bad about this stuff.
And then there will be talk of reperations 100 years later?
At what point does "two wrongs dont make a right" come into play?
This is ****ing stupid.
My amateur-psychologist ass thinks about pride. Prideful people love to talk about merit, meritocracy, about "earning" everything they've accumulated, be it wealth or status or whatever. There are people for whom their "achievements" are deeply central to their sense of self-value. And this is entirely understandable, especially in a status- and wealth- and consumerist-obsessed society.
Anything that even remotely suggests there were inherent advantages sort of bestowed unjustly or unfairly to them chips away at that, or threatens that self-worth. And when a person's very identity is threatened, well that is serious ƒucking business.
This can be applied to so many things. Think about the kneejerk reactions some have to discussions of toxic masculinity, for example. For some, their "manliness" is central to their identity, to their sense of self-worth. Any real or perceived threat to that is simply not allowable.
Or criticism of America. For some, being "American" is central to their identity, their sense of self-worth. Anybody who "dishonors", for example, the flag, well ƒuck that.
Pride is a real mess. It's one of my favorite seven deadlies to think about. Identity and self-worth, too. And how our society sort of engineers us to be prideful about some really trivial shit, how it engineers us to frame our sense of self-worth in some truly shitty, destructive, exploitative ways. And all, oddly, to drive consumption.
Who went to jail for Tulsa? Wilmington, NC? Rosewood, FL? Freedom, GA? Where were the authorities when white mobs massacred blacks and destroyed their property?
From the Wayback Machine - Pre-Civil War there was a thriving free-black community in NYC called Seneca Village - the largest group of free black land owners in the country. They were forced off their property that they owned outright. They were "compensated" under imminent domain but it does make one wonder - why THAT land? Where Seneca Village once stood you now have Central Park. Imagine the value of that property today had it remained in their hands. At least they didn't drive them off with violence so that's something.
I get so damn tired of hearing this. Maybe if you looked at dealing with the fallout of our racist govt policies of the past as a duty rather than a "wrong" you could get past it. Trying to fix something that was wrong really and truly doesn't make the fix a wrong.
Um. That's hard. It's also likely disaffirming. We don't like hard. And we DEFINITELY don't like disaffirming.
By fixing it with something that will inevitably make more victims down the line....
You said "stolen".
THE CREATION OF CENTRAL PARK
During the early 1850s, the City began planning for a large municipal park to counter unhealthful urban conditions and provide space for recreation. In 1853, the New York State Legislature enacted a law that set aside 775 acres of land in Manhattan—from 59th to 106th Streets, between Fifth and Eighth Avenues—to create the country’s first major landscaped public park.The City acquired the land through eminent domain, the law that allows the government to take private land for public use with compensation paid to the landowner. This was a common practice in the 19th century, and had been used to build Manhattan’s grid of streets decades earlier.
Always interesting when and where one becomes concerned about the (potential) "victims".
I have no problem acknowledging past wrong doings and have been very vocal that some form of reperations are needed. What I hate is that it is all a swinging narrative of who has been wrong done by and constant creation of victims.
Who's a "victim"? The companies that don't get a contract THIS time? I think we found your problem.By fixing it with something that will inevitably make more victims down the line....
I dont understand what you are going for?
Do you think Billy Joe contractor isnt going to raise his hand about unfairness when his business gets passed over simply due to skin color? This is ****ing stupid and you know it.
So you're okay with focusing infrastructure spending in urban corridors on redesigning or even removing highways that were explicitly designed to segregate the black community? Even if it occurred fifty years ago?
Then stop acting like a victim. Read the bill. Research what's behind the language the author of the OP's weak ass op ed is calling "racist". And then, if you're still all up in arms about this, maybe point us to some ideas you think are better towards addressing some of the issues. I mean, how in the ƒuck do you, in one breath, suggest interest in some form of reparations, while, driven-by-ignorance next-breath, get all worried about "creation of victims".
Starting to think this is asking too much, but whatever, surprise me.
There will always be an example in the past of unfairness and doing dumb shit like this will give the people of the future something in the past to point at.
Looks like this involves segregation. Not seeing anything regarding land that was stolen.
Dude sometimes you have normal conversations and sometimes you go full pisspants. Wherethe **** have I, wddt, in any ****ing way acted like a victim in this thread? Im saying i hate the victimhood mentality this will continue. Quit being a bitch and get your shit together Rudy.
Do these highways still get used? What would removing these highways honestly do NOW?
I have dealt with these type of requirements many times in my career in the construction industry. It’s actually pretty comical how it ends up working. Long story short, the minority opens a shell company that teams with a general contractor large enough to meet the other FAR requirements in the bid. That shell company will usually have about two people. They get paid a large amount to do nothing
Last edited:
I'd tell Billy Joe that maybe he should have thought about that when his black competitors weren't allowed to raise their hands at all and he remained silent. Not just silent but fully supported it because it was "good fir bidness". I'd tell Billy Joe he got lots of jobs...and loans...and wealth..."simply due to skin color" so he might want to STFU.
Because Billy should pay for the sins of some butt**** he didnt know 100 years ago..... you are a pisspants.
Lol. You're acting like a victim to policy aimed at attempting to address the wrongs you claim to be interested in somehow addressing. Victim to "****ing stupid" policy ideas.
Of course, it does not appear that you have read the bill, thus we're now victim to your laziness and ignorance, your preference for emotion over pragmatic research and investigation.
I mean, look at you, dropped a pisspants in there! I love it.
It was wealth that was stolen. How do you build wealth if you can't buy a house or start a business because you are officially barred from getting a loan?
LOL...100 years ago? I think we found another of your problems.
whiskey is certainly on board with addressing the wrongs of the past. He just doesn't want to actually do anything about them.
Not once have I in anyway claimed to be a victim and have been very clear that this will only continue a pisspant victim mentality. Rudy, I fear I gave your intelligence too much credit.
The issue being addressed is being minorities involved in the "game" so they can compete. To me, it's analogous to finally allowing African Americans to compete in a sport, say track. Whites say now that they are allowed, all is fair even though the new competitors have no shoes, no training, no experience. It's not equal and fair, we need to bring them along and get them involved which may mean giving them opportunities they aren't the best at - yet.
It's about don't what's right for all, for society rather than only looking at your own selfish interests.
It's about don't what's right for all, for society rather than only looking at your own selfish interests.
Gota drive to extremes and get hyperbolic, you know, otherwise, well, shit, maybe the argument isn't so strong.
