Lauralee Dukeshire (she/her) @LauraleeDukeshire@social.cleverlibre.org

The question shouldn't be "Why do Black folk see racism in everything?"

The question should be "Why do white folk not see any of this?"

The answer to the better question is of course, that there is an information delta between "what Black folk know about racism" and "what white folk know about racism."

Racist people don't want you to know any of this stuff. Because some people, on reading this stuff, say, "Sounds bad. We should maybe change things to be less bad?"

77.7% of Black students borrow.

50% default within 12 years.

No one cares.

https://www.brookings.edu/research/black-white-disparity-in-student-loan-debt-more-than-triples-after-graduation/

Much of the $1.6 trillion debt is held by Black students. Yes, I said trillion. With a "T." And yes, I said "debt held by Black kids," who are hired less and paid less.

The unspoken part of the US student loan forgiveness "debate," is racists thinking "I am fundamentally opposed to anything that would lower the suffering of Black people or prevent the siphoning of their wealth."

Q: Why are universities in Spain free and there is no student debt while in the USA there is more student debt than the GDP of Spain?

A: Surprisingly, also racism!

College in the US is too expensive, so loans.

Black kids are on average, lower income than white kids. Most college drop outs leave not due to poor grades, but for financial hardship. Poor kids very often don't graduate. 😢

Drop out without a degree, you still owe a huge debt.

Q: Why are homeless people so rare in Madrid and so common in San Francisco when here GDP per capita is half?

A: Racism.

Of the homeless folk in the USA, 45% have mental health challenges and 40% are Black, even though only 13% of the pop is Black. In SF, less than 5% of the population is Black, but 37% of the homeless population is Black.

In the 80s, when Reagan killed mental health facility funding and Black homelessness exploded, no one cared. 🤷🏿‍♂️

Not posted for agreement, if you share please leave my commentary intact, terms and conditions apply.

Like practically every other man, and every other human being regardless of gender, I'm strong in some ways, weak in others. Saying "strong men are ..." anything in particular is part of the problem: it carries with it the implication that men must be strong, in every way and all the time. Well, I feel good when I'm strong, but I'm trying really hard to learn not to beat myself up about weakness. That does nobody any good, not me and not the other people who want me in the world.

Same for other men: our ruthless enforcement of arbitrary rules of masculinity has a lot to do with why we have much higher rates of alcoholism and suicide. I went too far down that road once in my life. I'm not doing it again, and I'm not pushing anyone else down it either.

The older I get, the more I believe there's no real difference between "good man" and "good person who happens to be a man." Good *people* are protective and loving—when they need to be, and also capable of acknowledging when they themselves need protection and love. Good people also, of course, refrain from abuse and spite. When they feel themselves going in that direction, they try to understand what's driving their anger, and open up to the people who love them. The alternative is bottling it up until they lash out, at which point they're no longer good.

Mr. Aleczander's heart is in the right place, I'm sure. I don't criticize him or any man for struggling to reconcile ancient ideas of manhood with overall human decency. Let's all just try not to repeat the same mistakes.

While everyone is distracted with "aliens" a major environmental catastrophe is unfolding in #Ohio
https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/11/health/ohio-train-derailment-white-noise/index.html
https://www.newsweek.com/fox-dies-owners-arms-after-ohio-train-crash-releases-toxic-gas-1780529

Some technical info about the event here, and testimonies about animals dropping dead.
https://cen.acs.org/safety/Safety-questions-remain-Ohio-train/101/i6

#vinychloride #environment #spill #disaster #chemicals #transportation

Starts next Wednesday:

MMTed invites you to enrol for the edX MOOC - Modern Monetary Theory: Economics for the 21st Century - is now open for enrolments.

It’s a free 4-week course and the course starts on February 15, 2023.

Further Details: https://edx.org/course/modern-monetary-theory-economics-for-the-21st-century

If the US is really worried about variants and the spread of COVID through travel, it should require negative tests for all travelers, no matter where they come from, and require masks. Targeting single countries with bans and requirements is ineffective and racist.

#StopAsianHate #COVID #COVID19 #PublicHealth

The Biden White House requiring negative tests for only China is a move that puts politics over public health, and increases the likelihood of xenophobia and attacks on Asian people in the US.

#StopAsianHate #COVID #COVID19 #PublicHealth

Requiring negative tests for flights from a single country is ineffective because the US is already letting it rip and generating variants, and also because people travel everywhere, so variants that may become dominant in China will still reach the US via other countries.

#StopAsianHate #COVID #COVID19 #PublicHealth

It is a confusing moment
in which we find ourselves
wherein those
still taking precautions
are derided as holdouts
even as new travel restrictions
are put in place.

almost every hypothermic arrest is a policy failure

Parent rejection of a child’s gender identity is one of the greatest predictors of depression and suicidality for #trans people.