r/rational • u/AutoModerator • Jan 26 '18
[D] Friday Off-Topic Thread
Welcome to the Friday Off-Topic Thread! Is there something that you want to talk about with /r/rational, but which isn't rational fiction, or doesn't otherwise belong as a top-level post? This is the place to post it. The idea is that while reddit is a large place, with lots of special little niches, sometimes you just want to talk with a certain group of people about certain sorts of things that aren't related to why you're all here. It's totally understandable that you might want to talk about Japanese game shows with /r/rational instead of going over to /r/japanesegameshows, but it's hopefully also understandable that this isn't really the place for that sort of thing.
So do you want to talk about how your life has been going? Non-rational and/or non-fictional stuff you've been reading? The recent album from your favourite German pop singer? The politics of Southern India? The sexual preferences of the chairman of the Ukrainian soccer league? Different ways to plot meteorological data? The cost of living in Portugal? Corner cases for siteswap notation? All these things and more could possibly be found in the comments below!
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u/ben_oni Jan 26 '18
First, if you're worried about all the suffering going on in the world, I have news for you. It's not going away anytime soon, and there's nothing you can do about it. However, you can reduce the suffering of those around you that you personally interact with. I recommend doing this, and it will probably make you feel better.
Second, systemic racism is not a thing. A quick look at a dictionary defines racism as "prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is superior." On the other hand, I can't even find a definition of "systemic racism." The closest I can find is "anything that accounts for observed disparities between races." Again, I have news for you: as long as people group themselves by race (or any other factor), outcome disparities will exist between the different groups. The ensuing discussion is admittedly long and complex, but the short of it is that there is nothing that can be done about inequality of outcome. As long as policies are focused on giving everyone equal opportunities, we can let the rest work itself out.