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wmw999

Privilege

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11 minutes ago, wmw999 said:

Privilege means having second, third, and further chances. Lack thereof means yoy maybe get one chance, and you have to be perfectly ready

Wendy P.

You play the hand you're dealt.

A level playing field allows the best of every sector to succeed, or the worst to fail.

Discrimination of either the 'bad' or 'good' variety helps the scum to rise to the top.

Equality is a double edged sword.  'Equity' is bad news.

 

BSBD,

Winsor

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9 minutes ago, winsor said:

You play the hand you're dealt.

Indeed. And some people are dealt better hands than others. Part of playing the game is knowing when to sit out the round and get a better hand next time. Life is not fair and it is not a casino game either. I have no idea why you would think that the playing field is level. How ridiculous.

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Politicians like to tell us that the playing field is level.

For example, B.C. politicians like to tell us that the medical care playing field is level.

I call B.S. because the rich have always been able to buy whatever level of medical care they like, including "medical vacations" to resorts in the Carribbean that grant surgical privileges to the best Canadian and American surgeons. We also have the False Creek Surgical Clinic in downtown Vancouver.

Secondly, Workmans' Compensation Borad pre-pays for time in operating rooms, with the goal of returning injured workers to gainful employment as quickly as possible.

Thirdly, the general public gets an "average" level of care, frequently waiting 2 or 3 years for knee surgery.

Finally, the poor get whatever level of medical care remaining.

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1 hour ago, wmw999 said:

Privilege means having second, third, and further chances. Lack thereof means yoy maybe get one chance, and you have to be perfectly ready

Wendy P.

Yep.  I've mentioned this before, but John Scalzi wrote a great essay on this entitled "Straight white male - the lowest difficulty setting there is."  Everyone is playing the same game, but for some people, the game is set to easy.

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2012/05/15/straight-white-male-the-lowest-difficulty-setting-there-is/

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28 minutes ago, gowlerk said:

Indeed. And some people are dealt better hands than others. Part of playing the game is knowing when to sit out the round and get a better hand next time. Life is not fair and it is not a casino game either. I have no idea why you would think that the playing field is level. How ridiculous.

Neither do I.

As an ideal, however, a level playing field is infinitely better than anybody's version of unearned privilege.

I tutored athletes who could be criticized as getting a free ride at an institute of higher learning by dint of skills wholly unrelated to education.

Having said that, I worked with kids who took their opportunity seriously, and immersed themselves in the toughest courses they could.  I would hire people with that kind of drive any day.

Funny thing - though I got many swimmers, gymnasts and the like through advanced Math, Physics and Chemistry, I don't recall any Football (the American variety) players.

 

BSBD,

Winsor 

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56 minutes ago, winsor said:

You play the hand you're dealt.

Indeed you do.  Some of us prefer that the dealer not cheat.  Others, mainly those who have benefited from the dealer cheating and dealing them a better hand, would prefer to maintain that state of affairs.  Both because it's what their used to, and because acknowledging that he was cheating might mean they are not quite the card sharks they see themselves as.

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2 minutes ago, SkyDekker said:

But it never is a level playing field. That is the part you seem to be unable to grasp.

If you take a professional certification exam, there is no preference to anyone.  Period.

Thus, if you hire a Licensed Surveyor, Architect or Engineer you know it didn't make any difference if their grandfather built a building on campus or if they they got preferential admission due to a fashionable social category.  They either passed or they didn't.

I don't claim the there is ever a level playing field by your standards, but I've come across instances that come close.

 

BSBD,

Winsor

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3 minutes ago, winsor said:

If you take a professional certification exam, there is no preference to anyone.  Period.

Thus, if you hire a Licensed Surveyor, Architect or Engineer you know it didn't make any difference if their grandfather built a building on campus or if they they got preferential admission due to a fashionable social category.  They either passed or they didn't.

Like I said, you don't grasp that this isn't a level playing field.

To get to the national licensing exam as an architect, you first have to get professional experience. I know you don't understand how gaining that professional experience and the level of that experience is NOT a level playing field.

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13 minutes ago, billvon said:

Equality is letting everyone walk into a public school and get an education.

Equity is letting people without legs use wheelchairs.

If that was really what it meant, fine.

The other popular definitions are odious.

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Just now, winsor said:

The other popular definitions are odious.

I've said this before. Here where I live people regularly complain the first nations peoples are given too many advantages for free. I have never once heard anyone say that they would prefer to change places with them though.

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18 minutes ago, SkyDekker said:

Like I said, you don't grasp that this isn't a level playing field.

To get to the national licensing exam as an architect, you first have to get professional experience. I know you don't understand how gaining that professional experience and the level of that experience is NOT a level playing field.

Hi Sky,

As it is for engineers also.  I do not know any details about architecture, but most states require that engineers also pass a written test.

Jerry Baumchen, PE

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31 minutes ago, winsor said:

Neither do I.

As an ideal, however, a level playing field is infinitely better than anybody's version of unearned privilege.

I tutored athletes who could be criticized as getting a free ride at an institute of higher learning by dint of skills wholly unrelated to education.

Having said that, I worked with kids who took their opportunity seriously, and immersed themselves in the toughest courses they could.  I would hire people with that kind of drive any day.

Funny thing - though I got many swimmers, gymnasts and the like through advanced Math, Physics and Chemistry, I don't recall any Football (the American variety) players.

 

BSBD,

Winsor 

Hi Winsor, 

Yes, the vast majority of American professional athletes have a rather poor education; and most do not graduate.

One exception is Mac Jones, current QB for the Patriots.  It is my understanding that he graduated with a 4.0 GPA in mathematics.

Jerry Baumchen

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1 hour ago, gowlerk said:

I've said this before. Here where I live people regularly complain the first nations peoples are given too many advantages for free. I have never once heard anyone say that they would prefer to change places with them though.

One of my favorite zingers from Chris Rock; Jump to 2:24

 

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9 minutes ago, gowlerk said:

I'm sure it's funny, but not available in my country.

Probably relates to HBO copyright. 

This is the punch line at the end of an extended rant about racism:

Shit, there ain't a white man in this room that would changes places with me;

None of you;

None of you;

And I'm rich!

[Followed by long pause with applause]

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