ZooGuru's recent activity
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Comment on Does the "inflation due to wage growth" narrative hold water? in ~finance
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Comment on Affirmative action and its role in your life in ~life
ZooGuru Link ParentIt’s amazing to me the way women are underrepresented and flat out mistreated in my particular STEM profession. There was a woman of color I helped to get hired in my department. Very intelligent...It’s amazing to me the way women are underrepresented and flat out mistreated in my particular STEM profession. There was a woman of color I helped to get hired in my department. Very intelligent and hard working, but she had the audacity to be opinionated and not take any one’s shit. Now she’s gone to a different department. It’s a shame to have lost her.
There’s are two recents hires in my department that are in supervisor roles. One has a background in engineering while the other does not have a STEM background. They are both women of color. The vitriol I hear about these women because they got the job over other people hoping to be promoted to it is infuriating. There is a third who has transferred in from another department for the same role and I just don’t hear the same stuff about him (he is white).
I think a lot of the people I work with, like many in the southern U.S., have varying levels of prejudices they don’t recognize they have. That makes having open discussions with them about all this especially difficult.
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Comment on Affirmative action and its role in your life in ~life
ZooGuru Link ParentI’ve heard this about Asian Americans and hadn’t really ever thought about it in regards to affirmative action. The idea of “model” minorities is messed up. I know it has been a talking point to...I’ve heard this about Asian Americans and hadn’t really ever thought about it in regards to affirmative action. The idea of “model” minorities is messed up. I know it has been a talking point to compare other minorities unfavorably.
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Comment on Affirmative action and its role in your life in ~life
ZooGuru Link ParentThis is a good point. I think it’s a positive thing to push for institutions that more closely resemble the demographics of the population, but perhaps affirmative action wasn’t the best way of...This is a good point. I think it’s a positive thing to push for institutions that more closely resemble the demographics of the population, but perhaps affirmative action wasn’t the best way of doing that? I don’t really know.
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Comment on Affirmative action and its role in your life in ~life
ZooGuru Link ParentWhen I started my current job in 2016, a guy who had been through the application and interview process twice told a room full of other recent hires (all white men) that he didn’t get hired those...When I started my current job in 2016, a guy who had been through the application and interview process twice told a room full of other recent hires (all white men) that he didn’t get hired those times because of discriminative hiring practices. Around 1,000 people work at the site and the town demographics are not reflected here, especially so in our department. I was astounded. There were maybe three persons of color at the time in a department of around 200 people.
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Comment on Affirmative action and its role in your life in ~life
ZooGuru Link ParentI see what you mean. I think my distrust of corporations to do the right thing is what predominantly informs my opinion on having something on paper requiring it. Perhaps I’m too pessimistic.I see what you mean. I think my distrust of corporations to do the right thing is what predominantly informs my opinion on having something on paper requiring it. Perhaps I’m too pessimistic.
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Comment on Affirmative action and its role in your life in ~life
ZooGuru Link ParentI really don’t know a lot about affirmative action except that, as I said, agree with it conceptually. I did want to know personal experiences. I’ve had multiple other interactions with other...I really don’t know a lot about affirmative action except that, as I said, agree with it conceptually. I did want to know personal experiences. I’ve had multiple other interactions with other people in this thread that don’t have the same opinion as me and none of them devolved to this.
I certainly don’t think it’s okay to treat anyone different because of their skin color and shame on you for implying I do. You “know me” through less than 10 interactions over the internet. I do think it’s the job of people and government to close gaps that were made by racists practices of the past. Individual institutions can implement the practices you’ve stated, but are not required to. I don’t trust businesses to do the right thing because they often don’t.
You’ve been argumentative from the start when I really was just looking for clarification on your first comment because I didn’t get out of it what you intended. You’ve accused me of things I haven’t done because you interpreted my words the way you wanted. I wasn’t trying to convince you one way or another. You engaged in ways where I felt like I needed to reply. I have no illusions thinking I can change your mind.
You’ve dealt with me dishonestly as you consistently assumed any questions were meant to trap you so I could score some points in an argument. Good luck to you, friend. I’m happy to see this discussion end.
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Comment on Affirmative action and its role in your life in ~life
ZooGuru Link ParentI don’t think targeting race is the answer. I think targeting income groups is the answer. It just so happens that POC are statistically more likely to belong to lower earning income groups, which...I don’t think targeting race is the answer. I think targeting income groups is the answer. It just so happens that POC are statistically more likely to belong to lower earning income groups, which I believe to be a different discussion of a different problem. Just my opinion on it.
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Comment on Does the "inflation due to wage growth" narrative hold water? in ~finance
ZooGuru Link ParentI don’t know that I believe employees should be thought of as a cost. I understand O&M and capital expenditures, but why can’t there be a protected budget for employees outside of O&M? Companies...I don’t know that I believe employees should be thought of as a cost. I understand O&M and capital expenditures, but why can’t there be a protected budget for employees outside of O&M? Companies are continuously working to drive down O&M cost and that has led directly to wage stagnation since the 80s. Employees are the only reason businesses exist let alone function. I know that I can’t people can’t expect a 10% pay bump, but it’s not uncommon for pay increases to not be offered low wage employees at all.
Quit and find a new job isn’t that simple for everyone.
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Comment on Affirmative action and its role in your life in ~life
ZooGuru Link ParentI agree there are other ways to help disadvantaged people and affirmative action does not have to be the answer. It’s fair to not want to have your race be what defines you first. I get that. The...I agree there are other ways to help disadvantaged people and affirmative action does not have to be the answer. It’s fair to not want to have your race be what defines you first. I get that. The concern for me is about those potentially harmed in the interim to if/when another answer is given. At the same time, we have a political climate where there are actors who would do away with safety net programs entirely if they could. I don’t have faith in our current system to find another answer.
You clearly have some strongly held beliefs that are informed, like anyone else, by your experience and observation. That’s great. We don’t seem to agree. That’s fine. I understood how me asking that question sounded so I followed it up with “honest question”. There are plenty of people who do not believe it is our responsibility to right wrongs from the past. I asked the question to get perspective on where you were coming from.
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Comment on Affirmative action and its role in your life in ~life
ZooGuru Link ParentIs it not society’s responsibility to right previous wrongs? Honest question.Is it not society’s responsibility to right previous wrongs? Honest question.
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Comment on Affirmative action and its role in your life in ~life
ZooGuru Link ParentThis. Very well said. I have the hardest time in a work environment dominated by conservative white males that are so bought into the pull yourself up by your bootstraps narrative they ascribe to...This. Very well said. I have the hardest time in a work environment dominated by conservative white males that are so bought into the pull yourself up by your bootstraps narrative they ascribe to themselves to the point that they can’t see how much being a victim of circumstance plays into peoples lives.
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Comment on Affirmative action and its role in your life in ~life
ZooGuru Link ParentThanks for your input. I agree with you. Its very frustrating.Thanks for your input. I agree with you. Its very frustrating.
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Comment on Affirmative action and its role in your life in ~life
ZooGuru Link ParentDo you mean you might consider your using the system to your advantage potentiallly wrong or unfair?Do you mean you might consider your using the system to your advantage potentiallly wrong or unfair?
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Comment on Affirmative action and its role in your life in ~life
ZooGuru Link ParentYour points are fair and although I agree that SCOTUS isn’t specifically meant to represent the American majority but instead interpret the constitution, to say that having a supermajority doesn’t...Your points are fair and although I agree that SCOTUS isn’t specifically meant to represent the American majority but instead interpret the constitution, to say that having a supermajority doesn’t matter if they’re doing their jobs right makes a lot of assumptions. It fully ignores the multi-decade effort put forth to stack the court because of its potential power. Not to mention that the majority should unarguably be 5-4 if it weren’t for congress acting in bad faith refusing to confirm a judge while pushing through another judge years later in a similar, but worse, circumstance. None of that can be written off because they “just interpret the constitution”.
The current method is obvious. Make laws all across the country that challenge a precedent with the intent for one of the inevitable legal challenges to make it to the Supreme Court. That’s being done knowing full well how the “constitution will be interpreted” with the current makeup of the court. We can disagree on how it’s supposed to be, but the results are the results. I don’t think that can be ignored.
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Comment on Does the "inflation due to wage growth" narrative hold water? in ~finance
ZooGuru Link ParentSure. I understand that because of inflation the “numbers go up” which can give the illusion that companies are making more money and that profit needs to be adjusted for the economic climate....Sure. I understand that because of inflation the “numbers go up” which can give the illusion that companies are making more money and that profit needs to be adjusted for the economic climate. That doesn’t change that wages should increase to keep up with inflation. The argument that everyday people should just accept that they make less compared to cost of living than they did two years ago? I don’t accept that, and I think people should not accept that.
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Comment on Affirmative action and its role in your life in ~life
ZooGuru Link ParentThat’s really interesting. I did not consider the job market aspect. I always hear people around me complain about it even though where I live/work almost everyone is white. In the U.S. I’d say if...That’s really interesting. I did not consider the job market aspect. I always hear people around me complain about it even though where I live/work almost everyone is white. In the U.S. I’d say if that happens, we aren’t having a staff meeting about it. The hiring folks would be the ones who know. I’m also in a STEM profession where the field is overwhelmingly male and white.
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Comment on Affirmative action and its role in your life in ~life
ZooGuru Link ParentI’m 32, male, and as white as they come. I was raised in a middle class family until I was 11. My dad passed and we moved to the southern U.S. where I would say I classified more as a poor white...I’m 32, male, and as white as they come. I was raised in a middle class family until I was 11. My dad passed and we moved to the southern U.S. where I would say I classified more as a poor white southerner. My immediate and extended family was very supportive so we always had that to fall back on, which is not always the case for other poor families.
I am a college graduate with degrees in engineering and physics from a public university. I qualified for government assistance (Pell grant and state income based scholarship) but was in school long enough that I needed loans to the tune of about thirty grand. I now work in a supervision role at a nuclear power plant where I’m well paid.
I worked hard, but a lot of doors were open to me. I know that my hard work means very little without those open doors. For instance, I got in some trouble that could have put me in prison for a short time when i was in college, but instead was looked at favorably by the court systems and afforded a way through without a felony conviction. Statistically, that doesn’t go as well for me if I’m a POC.
All that to say that I don’t think I’m biased in this instance. I recognize that there are people that need help for different reasons. I was one of them and that help was readily available to me most of the time. I can see how that help is less available to others for the wrong reasons.
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Comment on Affirmative action and its role in your life in ~life
ZooGuru Link ParentCorrect. I was speaking generally about the makeup of SCOTUS, not the average Americans opinion.Correct. I was speaking generally about the makeup of SCOTUS, not the average Americans opinion.
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Comment on Affirmative action and its role in your life in ~life
ZooGuru Link ParentAbsolutely agree. My opinion won’t be informed by “most Americans think xyz”Absolutely agree. My opinion won’t be informed by “most Americans think xyz”
All fair push back. I am not super literate in the business side of large corporations. I’m on the technical side of things. Mainly, I’d like to see change in terms of average worker pay vs cost of living. Either a period of time where cost of living can stagnate or a new trend in worker pay. The fact that our grandparents were able to pay their way through college with part time jobs vs the debt people have to go into now to still potentially never own a home can’t be the answer.