Comment by dijit

2 days ago

“Discrimination against individuals is not a problem” is quite possibly the most dystopian sentence I’ve read on HN.

I’m one of those individuals. So are the women and minorities you claim to be helping. We’re not statistical abstractions to be shuffled around in service of demographic targets.

If your solution to systematic discrimination requires you to declare that discriminating against individuals doesn’t matter, you’ve lost the plot entirely.

I can say the same thing at you. If your solution to large demographics experiencing systematic discrimination over decades leading to worse outcomes is to tell them that from now on it’ll be different but that all the disadvantages they experienced will not be dealt with then you’re either insane, or trying to disguise your bias.

  • You literally just said discrimination against individuals isn't a problem. I'm objecting to that specifically.

    I've proposed structural solutions throughout this thread. You've proposed accepting discrimination and deciding whose turn it is to experience it.

    These are not morally equivalent positions.

    • No you haven’t. You’ve offered platitudes. “I think about it all the time” ok, what are you actually going to do about it?

      The grow the pie approaches you mentioned only works while the pie is growing, and we’ve had layoffs for the past 2 years. What is your solution now that the pie isn’t getting bigger?

      It sure sounds like your solution is telling people to wait 150 years and hope the problem solves itself.

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