I feel terrible for everyday folks in Alabama today. (Just caught up on news out of the state, re: embryos now being "minor children" for lawsuit purposes.)
It's so easy to say "Alabama is a backwater, a lost cause", but most people there are just trying to get by, and there's so little hope right now of them being able to defend against the awful few striving to make the lives of women, families, and queer people even harder.
We could have built *such* a kinder world.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/02/20/alabama-supreme-court-frozen-embryos-ruling-ivf/72662533007/
Maybe they should get the hell out of Hellabama.
Considering the poverty rate in the state, it's not feasible for many families and individuals hit hardest by this BS - but I hear you, McFate. Would that there were easier solutions to scummy politics.
As I truly enjoy reminding people, an eleven-year-old walked from Ukraine to Estonia in mid-winter.
The only thing making it "unfeasible" is a lack of will.
I'm sure you're aware of how many people take perilous journeys across South and Central America to arrive at the US border as well, but "willpower" alone doesn't grant all of them safe arrival, let alone entry to a better life.
I understand that it's easier to blame individuals than address systemic failures, though. This is false attribution bias, but extremely common in our world.
I'm sure you understand that this observation has about zero relevance when it comes to a question of moving from one US state to another one.
Not to mention that it's a lot less effort to settle into the status quo and tell yourself that you'll just wait till someone "fixes" the "system".
Now on that, we agree! False attribution bias doesn't mean that individual humans don't still have a responsibility - and we certainly can't expect the system to change all on its own.
But the world is a complex place, and there are *many* factors informing our ability to improve our individual lives.
I'm sorry, when you claim "false attribution" you're also claiming that no person possesses sufficient agency to improve their situation.
Incorrect assumption. I was responding to your comments alone.
Without actually responding to them.
This is like a two-pack-a-day smoker insisting that the only problem he's got is that they put too much nicotine in cigarettes and that he'll quit just as soon as they stop keeping him addicted.
I did respond to them, with my illustration of how global migration is not sufficient to guarantee a better life. Willpower alone does not suffice for many, many migrants the world over.
But now you're getting into silly hyperbole. I admire how much you post in response to a lot of political BS in your area, and I appreciate that doing so habituates a certain combative attitude, but it's really not necessary.
We can just have a chat without leaping to personal attack.
But none of this has anything at all to do with "global migration".
You're going to need to point out where I "personally attacked" you. I don't believe I've done anything of the sort, that's a cheap imputation to make, and if you can't stand disagreement without feeling "attacked", block me.
One MORE time, we're not talking about "migrants the world over", we're talking about people in ALABAMA moving a couple of states over. They won't need to seek asylum.
No one can arrest them, detain them, or "deport" them back to Alabama. See how this isn't what you're talking about AT ALL?
There can be a LOT of financial and familial obstacles to the logistics of "just moving" to a different state if one hasn't a lot of resources already. I'm glad if your life has been one where willpower has been enough to work through all of the big challenges you've faced, but that doesn't mean that everyone's situation can be solved by just mustering enough determination.
Life is full of choices. You miss 100% of the shots you never take.
I'm suggesting, though, that just because a lot of people ARE able to do 'x' does not mean that EVERYONE could if they just TRY hard enough.
I can see, though, that you believe there just are not such things as insurmountable obstacles, so that pretty much makes further discussion of this pointless.
A person can decide that any "obstacle" is "insurmountable" and, indeed, many do.
Any obstacle I get cowed by and give up doing anything about is "insurmountable".
This is why a lot of people "will never understand math".
I'm not suggesting "everyone" should do it, but that "a lot of people" ought to.
Never let the perfect become the enemy of the good.
@CLManussier @MLClark
Sure. It's a lot easier not to take responsibility for yourself.
I didn't say it was easy or fun. I continue to maintain that if you want it badly enough, it's definitely possible. Tens of thousands of people manage to do it every single week.