Observations of the Random sort

[Jennifer]

"and those of a different gender or sexuality or skin color have suffered because of [my skin color and gender]."

Yes, a lot of Americans who are something other than white and male suffer precisely because they are not white and male. Max Boot says he dismissed such complaints for years, but has recently come to the realization that there really i something to it after all. Why does this bother you?

Because his skin color isn't causing it. It may be insulating him from it, but it has fuck all to do with their maltreatment at the hands of others.

But ignoring such problems makes it far more likely they will continue(and, conversely, the problem can't be fixed until enough people admit there is indeed a problem). Which is why it's good indeed that Boot has finally figured out and admitted these complaints are valid after all, even though he personally had no reason to complain.

The language of benefit and guilt-by-association is weird and seems to be the product of warped zero-sum thinking about the subject.

Everyone here has agreed multiple times that "privilege" and related terms are bad labels for the concept we're discussing here. Still, for better or worse, those ARE the terms currently used to discuss the problem.

Besides, your initial complaint about Boot's piece wasn't even about that; your first comment was the strawman summation "I could go the rest of my life without seeing another "I used to think everything was fine but then I realized all the presidents shared my skin color and genitalia and therefore somehow I benefitted even though the only things I can point to is not getting screwed as hard as a black male" piece." Which is not what Boot said; his whole point was that yeah, despite his initial skepticism he came to realize black Americans really DO have cause for complaint regarding the police, and women really DO have cause for complaint regarding sexual harassment.

[Mo]

"and those of a different gender or sexuality or skin color have suffered because of [my skin color and gender]."

Yes, a lot of Americans who are something other than white and male suffer precisely because they are not white and male. Max Boot says he dismissed such complaints for years, but has recently come to the realization that there really i something to it after all. Why does this bother you?

Because his skin color isn't causing it. It may be insulating him from it, but it has fuck all to do with their maltreatment at the hands of others.

The language of benefit and guilt-by-association is weird and seems to be the product of warped zero-sum thinking about the subject. It's not like whites will be worse off if the justice system stops persecuting black men in the inner city. We'd actually benefit, because a whole lot of the economy that goes to making peoples' lives actively worse will be redirected back to normal activity, and then the black men would actually be contributing value instead of being forcibly stopped from doing it.

The rest of his argument doesn't make that language not weird in the weird way lots of social justice types are weird.

He never says his skin color causes it. What he is saying is that he didn’t think police brutality, racism or sexism were big issues we deal with today. However, recent events and facts coming to light have caused him to reconsider that things he thought were not problems are bigger problems than he previously thought. There’s literally no zero sum thinking in this at all.

[tr0g]

Tory Burch is the Ed Hardy of middle class suburban soccer moms.

[Jennifer]

Today, and only today, all adults were born in the 1900s and all children were born in the 2000s.

[tr0g]

I have 4 dogs and a child half-asleep on the couch. Of course, this only makes me suspicious about the whereabouts and activity of the fifth dog.

[Jennifer]

When I checked yesterday's mail I found a copy of Us magazine, which I figured belonged to one of my neighbors but the mailman must've put it in my box by mistake. But when I read the address label to determine who to give it to .... it had MY name and address on it!

How the fuck did I end up on Us magazine's subscription list? I have never given them a cent, and Jeff hasn't either.

[Shem]

When I checked yesterday's mail I found a copy of Us magazine, which I figured belonged to one of my neighbors but the mailman must've put it in my box by mistake. But when I read the address label to determine who to give it to .... it had MY name and address on it!

How the fuck did I end up on Us magazine's subscription list? I have never given them a cent, and Jeff hasn't either.

Might have gotten signed up automatically if you bought anything on credit card from certain stores. Should check your card statements to be safe.

[Jennifer]

When I checked yesterday's mail I found a copy of Us magazine, which I figured belonged to one of my neighbors but the mailman must've put it in my box by mistake. But when I read the address label to determine who to give it to .... it had MY name and address on it!

How the fuck did I end up on Us magazine's subscription list? I have never given them a cent, and Jeff hasn't either.

Might have gotten signed up automatically if you bought anything on credit card from certain stores. Should check your card statements to be safe.

No credit card, nor any legit magazine subscriptions in my name.

[Jasper]

Prank? I've "given" gift subscriptions of magazines to friends that had nothing in common with their interests.

But this also seems more like a bro-prank.

Do girls even prank friends?

[pistoffnick]

I used to sign my very atheistic friend up for the Watchtower. I once sent a registration card in his name for a monastery in Nebraska. I got him ordained through the Universal Life Church (he officiated our wedding later and has gone on to officiate for 3 other couples).

[Jasper]

Nice.

[nicole]

Magazine subscriptions are often given away with other purchases. My Runners World subscription came from a membership to a local running org, for example, and you can get a free...Marie Claire? maybe...subscription with any purchase at Sephora, stuff like that. So you may have just not noticed some box being prechecked that it was giving you away a sub.

[Jennifer]

I can't think of anybody who'd prank me like that, and I have made NO purchases of the sort that require me to give my name and address - no gym or club memberships, no subscriptions to other magazines, NOTHING like that. (Plus, even if I did have friends who did pranks, Us magazine isn't bad enough to be prank-worthy, IMO. It's a shitty magazine I'd never read, but still not prank-worthy the way something like Incontinence Sufferers' Monthly would be.)

[Jennifer]

Another copy of Us in the mail today. W. T. F.

[Jennifer]

Just checked their subscription-information website; sho'nuff, I have a subscription through December 2019. I'm currently on their "Contact us" webpage to try and determine who paid for this (my main concern is to ensure I'm not being charged, but if possible I'd also like to be taken off whatever mailing list they have of people who not only care about celebrity gossip, but shell out $50+ per year to read about it).

[Mo]

Sometimes if you subscribe to a magazine, you get a free gift subscription. You may have received that.

[Jennifer]

Sometimes if you subscribe to a magazine, you get a free gift subscription. You may have received that.

Pre-Us, I personally have NO magazine subscriptions in my name, at ALL. There are a few subscriptions in this household, but they're all in Jeff's name, and none of them are in the same family of publications as Us (when I was on their website, the other name/logos at the top of the page included National Enquirer, the Globe, Men's Health and several others, none of which Jeff or I have ever subscribed to). Jeff has subscriptions to a couple of English-import magazines, the Economist, and (through a "stupid-cheap magazine subscription" offer at his job last year) the Atlantic, Pacific Standard and Popular Mechanics.

As for me: since moving here, the only financial or business transactions I've had with people who have my name and mailing address are my bank, various doctors and medical personnel, and DMV/voter registration/government things. And job applications, of course (none of those were with Us-related magazines, either).

[Highway]

One should not watch a Mike Holmes show when one is in the middle of a home renovation, or has worries about drywall water damage...

[Warren]

One should not watch a Mike Holmes show when one is in the middle of a home renovation, or has worries about drywall water damage...

I sometimes think he goes too far to "make it right", but he has uncovered some hideous, not to mentions criminal, construction practices. But it's Canada, so what do you expect.

[JasonL]

I'm pretty tired of John Legere of tmobile fame. His bit is tired, spending all day on twitter is tiresome, and people trying to imitate him are even worse.

[the innominate one]

Never seen him. Do you follow him?

[JasonL]

No, but he's A Big Thing in corporate leadership / CEO circles. T Mobile has been on fire growth wise and he's a quirky man of the people who tweets like a tween and does slow cooker sunday youtube things. He's really like one of the kids you know?

[Mo]

Obligatory

[thoreau]

No, but he's A Big Thing in corporate leadership / CEO circles. T Mobile has been on fire growth wise and he's a quirky man of the people who tweets like a tween and does slow cooker sunday youtube things. He's really like one of the kids you know?

Fuck. Is he running for President?

[JasonL]

I mean, maybe?