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Post by ThirdMan on Oct 25, 2018 18:31:31 GMT -8
Other countries have the freedom to promote controversial ideas, Jeremy. And I don't know what I'd consider to be the greatest country in the world (I'd have to do a lot of detailed research) right now, but it sure as hell isn't America.
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Post by Jeremy on Oct 25, 2018 18:49:27 GMT -8
I won't deny that America has plenty of problems these days. But until you find me another country that has had a greater historical impact on shaping the modern world, and which offers a wider variety of ideas and opinions across the cultural, political, ethnic, and religious spectrum, I will have to offer this response.
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Post by Zarnium on Oct 25, 2018 19:05:05 GMT -8
I might have a more positive opinion of the USA if the "greatest country in the world" line weren't used by the people telling me I was going to Hell as a child.
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Post by ThirdMan on Oct 25, 2018 19:10:46 GMT -8
I just think it's absurd to refer to any country as great. There are great things about America, and there are awful things. And the latter seem to be taking the lead in the past few years. I'm hopeful that trend will be reversed in due time.
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Post by Jeremy on Oct 25, 2018 19:34:09 GMT -8
There certainly are some awful things about America, and the way things currently are, I don't expect that some of them will get better for a while. However, it's important to remember that the country does have a long history of resilience, and that compared to most other countries, it offers a wider and more expansive variety of opportunities for its inhabitants.
Most other countries would not allow me to safely and freely practice Judaism the way this one does. And I'm grateful for that every day. Even acknowledging the troublesome rise in anti-Semitic attacks in recent years, I'm still safer here than in countries where just wearing visibly Jewish clothes can get you in trouble. I'd wager that plenty of other minority groups are safer here as well. That's not to say America is perfect when it comes to minority groups - far from it - but its track record is better than most.
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Post by otherscott on Oct 26, 2018 6:19:22 GMT -8
I won't deny that America has plenty of problems these days. But until you find me another country that has had a greater historical impact on shaping the modern world, and which offers a wider variety of ideas and opinions across the cultural, political, ethnic, and religious spectrum, I will have to offer this response.I think Will McAvoy may be about to give you a lecture.
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Post by Jeremy on Oct 26, 2018 6:32:49 GMT -8
I probably deserved that, if only because I should have seen it coming.
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Post by Incandescence 112 on Oct 28, 2018 12:59:00 GMT -8
There certainly are some awful things about America, and the way things currently are, I don't expect that some of them will get better for a while. However, it's important to remember that the country does have a long history of resilience, and that compared to most other countries, it offers a wider and more expansive variety of opportunities for its inhabitants. Most other countries would not allow me to safely and freely practice Judaism the way this one does. And I'm grateful for that every day. Even acknowledging the troublesome rise in anti-Semitic attacks in recent years, I'm still safer here than in countries where just wearing visibly Jewish clothes can get you in trouble. I'd wager that plenty of other minority groups are safer here as well. That's not to say America is perfect when it comes to minority groups - far from it - but its track record is better than most. Compared to Europe, most (if not all) Muslim majority countries, and Latin America, the U.S. looks like paradise for Jews (Though admittedly, I'm probably not the best person to comment on this).
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Post by Jeremy on Oct 28, 2018 14:56:04 GMT -8
Indeed.
And even coming off yesterday's terrible events in Pittsburgh, I've seen plenty of support for the Jewish community coming from Christians, Muslims, atheists, and so forth. It's comforting that people are occasionally able to set aside their differences, even if it may take real tragedy to provoke them.
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Post by Jeremy on Dec 20, 2018 18:18:11 GMT -8
So... even by typical #MeToo standards, this Eliza Dushku thing is kind of messed up. I mean, legally speaking, she's not accusing anyone at CBS and Bull of assault, but of fostering a hostile work environment. That's bad, but it may not sound as bad as some of the other cases we've heard about in the past year. And yet... she was still fired from the show and given a settlement of nearly $10 million for her silence. CBS was apparently more willing to pay her four years of salary than go through the headache of trying to change the workplace culture. That this revelation comes a few months after the chairman of CBS has resigned - following accusations of harassment from a dozen women - perhaps gives this story a little more context. But still, it's just plain bizarre. (For those who don't know the story, you can hear it from Dushku herself.)
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Post by Zarnium on Dec 21, 2018 8:20:40 GMT -8
Honestly... while I don't condone anything she was put through, especially if it's actually caught on an objective record, the idea of people receiving millions of dollars in settlements of this nature kind of puts me off the whole thing. 9.5 million dollars is around 279 times my annual salary, and probably around ten times more money than I'll make in my entire life. If victims/alleged victims want their claims to be taken seriously and garner public sympathy, why are they accepting these ridiculously enormous sums of money in exchange for dropping the case?
It just causes all sorts of issues. One, it reveals how privileged some of these rich stars are; in the event of sexual harassment, they stand a good chance of receiving large sums of money for it. Most people don't have that luxury. Two, it hurts the "victims don't have a reason to lie" argument. 9.5 million dollars is a huge reason to lie (though I do doubt she's lying in this case). Three, at the time, she decided that her harrassment was "worth" the money, and she accepted it in exchange for silence. This event happened relatively recently in her career, right? She was already rich, if she wants us to think highly of her and her efforts to fight against sexual harrassment, why didn't she give up the money and pursue the case? She didn't need it. And if she accepted the money when she didn't need it, why shouldn't we just ignore her case altogether? She's been compensated already.
I'm just... totally galled by the amount of money that trades hands between millionaires, and that people want me to feel sympathy for them when they haven't done anything to bring themselves down to the commoners' level, or given up anything to further causes that they supposedly support. I'm not against them just because they have a lot of money, I'm against them because they take these ridiculous deals to earn even more mounds of cash when doing so is both unnecessary and should realistically hurt their reputation. I mean, after breaking her silence, has Dushku given the 9.5 million dollars back to CBS, or given it to a charity or something? The article doesn't say she did.
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Post by Jeremy on Dec 21, 2018 11:30:40 GMT -8
Believe it or not, the $9.5 million was a case of splitting the difference. Dushku signed on to the show with the option of being a regular for six seasons, which would have netted her about $14 million. (And for a show that does 22 episodes a season, that's actually not considered a high salary. I'll... stop now.)
It's unfortunately true that even just right the #MeToo movement began (this story occurred in early 2017), actresses were reluctant to come forward, and networks were more than eager to keep them quiet. With the exception of Rose McGowan, few if any of them are putting their careers on the line when the movement against Hollywood harassment is in full swing. I do take these charges seriously, but I don't know if I'd consider coming forward now that the floodgates have been opened to be brave or heroic.
(Of course, if someone offered me $9.5 million to keep my mouth shut about something, I'd... probably take it. I mean, I kind of hope I wouldn't, but I probably would.)
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Post by Zarnium on Dec 21, 2018 11:51:07 GMT -8
It's just, I'm by no means destitute, but I'm also just barely able to pay my living expenses and medical bills (both trans related and not) without going into debt with my current salary/health insurance. And if I did lose my job somehow, I'd immediately lose my health insurance and not be able to pay for any of it until getting another job. That's fine, I'm not necessarily complaining about that in objective terms... but it irks me to see someone who's already so independently wealthy that their bank account could pay all of my expenses for the rest of my life give up on pursuing a fairly cut-and-dry sexual harrassment case in order to receive a second sum of money that would pay all of my expenses for the rest of my life, and then claim to be a big #MeToo advocate.
And what about people who are actually poor and not famous? A friend of mine in college who was significantly less financially well-off than me had a bad breakup with her boyfriend once, who then abused her and destroyed some of her personal possessions. She also got stuck with a much-older 40+ year old roommate once, who had a creepy 40+ year old boyfriend who hung around all the time and made her uncomfortable. She didn't have an opportunity to receive a settlement of millions of dollars.
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Post by ThirdMan on Dec 22, 2018 22:12:04 GMT -8
If CelebrityNetWorth.com is even remotely accurate, she basically doubled her net worth with this settlement...which I have absolutely no problem with. Sure, she was rich, but not THAT wealthy. It still raises another red flag with regards to CBS's work environment, and she would've gotten the money anyways had the lead actor on that show not been such a piece of shit, and/or the producers addressed her complaints when they first arose.
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Post by Zarnium on Dec 23, 2018 17:40:09 GMT -8
If she doubled her net worth with it, then she was still a multi-millionaire before...
People like Eliza Dushku are going to have to actually press charges and follow cases through to their conclusion in the criminal justice system instead of accepting hush money if things are going to make any progress.
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