The Current Events Thread

[Madican]

Crown Heights riots, three Jewish men dead and many injured. Freddie's Fashion Mart, several customers shot to death and seven store employees dead of smoke inhalation in the fire.

That's just deaths. He's also gotten involved in several cases and ruined lives of innocent people just because they happen to have been white. The Duke lacrosse team case and the Tawana Brawley case are good examples there of him siding with people who fabricated their stories.

He claims to be non-violent and yet incites it, claims to be for equality and shows the exact opposite, he is a hypocrite of the worst kind who I think has hurt race relations rather than helped. He is seen as a figurehead in the black community, which means his words have weight, and he frequently abuses that weight.

[Lambeth]

after a reading of his wikipedia page, I think you're overstating it a bit. There are worse people out there, anyway.

[Kamak]

The fact that there are worse people out there doesn't preclude the fact that he's not exactly someone that should be in the position he's in.

People say the same thing about many other authority figures, and the fact that they may not be the next leader of a genocide/actively doing the murdering themselves does not matter if they're still ill-fit for their position.

At the very least, Al Sharpton is a figure that incites a lot of tension and builds it up for his benefit. This inflammatory response is not always the solution and can often twist situations or exacerbate them when they can be left well enough alone.

[Reyo]

after a reading of his wikipedia page, I think you're overstating it a bit. There are worse people out there, anyway.

By that logic, we can justify any action by comparing them to Hitler (I think there's some internet law out about it even...)

For example, Zimmerman may have shot Trayvon...but then again Hitler gassed 6 million jews. Is he really that bad?

Everyone else's fuckups shouldn't justify your own fuck ups.

[TheStranger]

after a reading of his wikipedia page, I think you're overstating it a bit. There are worse people out there, anyway.

By that logic, we can justify any action by comparing them to Hitler (I think there's some internet law out about it even...)

For example, Zimmerman may have shot Trayvon...but then again Hitler gassed 6 million jews. Is he really that bad?

Everyone else's fuckups shouldn't justify your own fuck ups.

Actually, since Zimmerman killed the guy personally, and Hitler just ordered those deaths, Zimmerman is technically guilty of murder, Hitler is just an accessory.

[TheStranger]

Fine, we'll just move onto another war criminal or despot, its not like there's a lack of them

[Madican]

McDonalds can't figure out how its employees survive with what it pays them.

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/arc ... ge/277845/

This is with it assuming the worker has a second full-time job, doesn't pay for utilities, and doesn't have outstanding debt (loans, mortgage, etc).

[Syobon]

In other words the minimum wage is too low. Don't McDonalds' employees get tips tough?

[Madican]

No they don't receive tips.

It's also not as easy as just raising the minimum wage. That would just lead to people being laid off and the remainder worked harder to make up for it. Change needs to hit companies right in their profits, basically force them to adhere to new standards without exploiting loopholes to keep, or increase, their current profit.

[Syobon]

Enforce better worker rights then to keep companies from doing that.

[Madican]

And that's where our clusterfuck of a political system shows its horrific glory. To get better worker rights we'd have to change laws, to do that we'd have to convince politicians, and to convince politicians we'd need to bribe them more than what the corporation lobbyists are giving them to keep things the way they are.

It can happen, but it would need vast numbers of people raising their voice like with PIPA and SOPA.

[Lambeth]

The fact that there are worse people out there doesn't preclude the fact that he's not exactly someone that should be in the position he's in.

People say the same thing about many other authority figures, and the fact that they may not be the next leader of a genocide/actively doing the murdering themselves does not matter if they're still ill-fit for their position.

At the very least, Al Sharpton is a figure that incites a lot of tension and builds it up for his benefit. This inflammatory response is not always the solution and can often twist situations or exacerbate them when they can be left well enough alone.

Nobody is perfect. When you're public face like Al Sharpton is, those imperfections get magnified greatly. I think he's done more good than bad in this world and that the bad this he has done are justifiable. He's better than fucking Pat Robertson, which wikipedia compares him to.

[Madican]

Are you seriously saying he was justified in destroying the lives of innocent college lacrosse players because he couldn't be assed to find out the facts before jumping to conclusions? That he was justified in marching in the Crown Heights riots and deliberately calling Jews "diamond dealers" and further inciting the rioters? That he was justified in inciting someone to burn down a store and kill various customers and staff?

No. Fuck no. Al Sharpton fucked up and has zero excuses for it. He regularly causes a shitstorm by inserting himself in situations where he is neither needed nor wanted and makes it all worse. Those imperfections aren't "being magnified" when they're actual things he did personally!

[Lambeth]

Are you seriously saying he was justified in destroying the lives of innocent college lacrosse players because he couldn't be assed to find out the facts before jumping to conclusions?

Googling around, Al Sharpton is a footnote in that case, nothing more.

That he was justified in marching in the Crown Heights riots and deliberately calling Jews "diamond dealers" and further inciting the rioters?

He was entirely justified in marching during the riots but what he said was pretty bad. From his perspective a black kid was just ignored by an ambulance in favor of the guy who ran him over. It's pretty easy to get caught up in that mob mentality.

That he was justified in inciting someone to burn down a store and kill various customers and staff?

Yeah I can't really defend this particular case

[TheStranger]

It doesnt help that you pretty much have to be a loudmouthed blowhard these days to get any sort of group support at all.

Back to the McDonalds topic, what business owners do towards their employees in the US is criminal, and they should be ashamed. Though I doubt they have the ability to feel anything except greed and scorn