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Re:SF tech bro: ‘I shouldn’t have to see the pain, struggle,... by ZeroGravitas on Thursday February 18, 2016 @11:10AM (#11126736)
I have a theory that "left" and "right" can be replaced with how a big a circle of humanity you care about.

The people towards the right care about their family, or their community. The people on the left care about a slightly wider circle.

On the far "right" you get sociopaths that only care about themselves. On the far "left" you get utopian hippies that care about people suffering on the other side of the world.

What this frame of reference shows is how close together the traditional left-right are in a wider view. Someone who wants to tax the rich to help the poor doesn't often mean using money from Americans to help Mexicans or Ethiopians, they mean taxing rich Americans to give to the sligthly less rich Americans.

Re:SF tech bro: ‘I shouldn’t have to see the pain, struggle,... by civilian on Thursday February 18, 2016 @01:58PM (#11128288)
Yeah! It's why it's so weird to see politicians and their supports protest efforts to reduce trade tariffs. With more trade, we will be literally creating new wealth. It will be helping lower the cost of the related goods in the first world, and it'll be giving more and slightly better jobs to the third world, where it'll be helping the poorest there. So why is it a bad thing again?
Re:SF tech bro: ‘I shouldn’t have to see the pain, struggle,... by m3rc on Thursday February 18, 2016 @04:43PM (#11129558)
It's not good to end statements by throwing your hands up in the air and going "golly gee I just can't possibly fathom why anyone would think differently than ME!"

Right off the bat, never regulating trade means you only create short term wealth. You can't possibly think that no one would ever take issue with trade deals that take advantage of countries participating in human rights violations, or countries whose economic situation means they can offer manufacturing for drastically less and undervalue key industries

Re:SF tech bro: ‘I shouldn’t have to see the pain, struggle,... by civilian on Thursday February 18, 2016 @05:53PM (#11130021)
The "golly gee" isn't what I was going for--- I'm saying that if we're looking to help the poor, then we should help the poor, rather than the poor in region. But I am maybe trying to challenge people to come up with good reasons for trade regulation. :)

I agree that we shouldn't partake in violating human rights.

Your other points aren't good reasons to regulate trade. If other countries can produce goods for drastically less then that's exactly when we should be opening up trade! It's a more efficient use of resources, and it creates more wealth for everyone. Here's a Khan academy economics video on how trade creates wealth: https://www.khanacademy.org/economics-finance-domain/microec...

Trade does not produce short term wealth, it just creates wealth. And if anything, "short term wealth" is an oxymoron. If HDDs are $50 cheaper because they're manufactured in Thailand rather than California, then the people who buy those HDDs are never going to have to turn in the $50 they saved at some later point.

We still have trade protections set up from the great depression. That's why our sugar costs 2x what it costs the rest of the world. http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2014/06/us-trade-po... That's bad, and we should get rid of it.

Re:SF tech bro: ‘I shouldn’t have to see the pain, struggle,... by js8 on Thursday February 18, 2016 @01:52PM (#11128218)
I have a more complicated theory: What you're talking about (size of the circle) is liberal/conservative/libertarian distinction. Left vs. right is more about if you care about power imbalances (such as economic inequality) within the circle.
Re:SF tech bro: ‘I shouldn’t have to see the pain, struggle,... by aback on Thursday February 18, 2016 @12:18PM (#11127383)
I have long agreed with this theory.

There's a reason why the right is like that IMO, and it gets down to this diagram:

http://33.media.tumblr.com/e1aaee07d8101970433020eee016ff9b/...

It is my opinion that people naturally care mostly about themselves, then the people closest to them, and less about people on the other side of the world. It is also my opinion (referring to the diagram) that the closer you are to being the person with the "need", the more effectively and efficiently you can address the need.

So in general, a person is best able to help themselves, less able to help the people closest to them, and even less able to help others. This can be envisioned as rings of concentric circles, where each larger circle represents more and more people, but less and less sphere of influence or ability to understand the "needs".

Along with that goes trust. The closer you are to someone (literally and figuratively) the more trust you will have. So these concentric rings are also rings of trust. I can count on my wife to be there for me when it's time to have my butt wiped. You, who I've never met, probably won't even offer help out. When my BFF tells me something, I automatically believe it, because after 30 years, AFAIK he's never lied to me. When a stranger on the street tells me something, I'm hard-pressed to even pay attention.

So if someone is close to you, then not only can you assess / relate to that person's needs, but you can also trust that person not to abuse your generosity.

So in a family or among close friends, communism (from each according to ability, to each according to need) is usually the norm and usually works fine. What's mine is yours. Mi casa es su casa. I know you, you know me, we won't hurt each other.

But in the world, capitalism / plutocracy / might makes right is the norm. As distasteful as it is, and as much as I understand that the people on the other side of the world desperately need my money, I'm much more inclined to give it to my wife, or friend, because I have far more trust that it will be used effectively and efficiently. And I have to also consider that, being someone very foreign to me, that you might be hostile to me, and use my generosity against me. So sorry, if I don't know you, you're on your own.

That's why I like to call myself a "micro communist" and "macro capitalist."

Now in reality of course I offer kindness to strangers because I'm not a sociopath.

But let's be honest: the kindness I show a homeless man (a dollar or two, or a meal) is not the kindness I show my wife or child (my kidney, my home, my life).

Re:SF tech bro: ‘I shouldn’t have to see the pain, struggle,... by idanoeman on Thursday February 18, 2016 @03:31PM (#11129063)
Agreed, except that the marginal value of money is exponentially higher for the poorest people in the world. For example, the Against Malaria foundation can save a life for approximately $2838 [1] pre-tax dollars. The people closest to you do not need your money that badly.

[1] http://www.givewell.org/international/top-charities/amf#Cost...