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Sue's avatar

Loved your framing-especially this part at the end, "We shouldn’t be saddling people with our preconceptions, entering a conversation with the political equivalent of a facial recognition algorithm, trying desperately to match them to a preconceived archetype so we can decide whether or not to discard them. These are maps—let’s not confuse them with the terrain itself, especially when we’re surrounded by so much common ground."

Beautifully written!

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Thomas Ward from PA's avatar

This is truly thought-provoking, wise, and informative.

One slight critique I might offer is the characterization of "generational wealth" as being impacted by legacy systems of oppression. If, by that term, you mean per capita or per household or per worker wealth, then you might want to leave the word "generational" wealth out. If, by that term, you mean the accumulation of wealth over generations, then I would submit that until very recently (~the last 20 years) little to no wealth was transferred from one generation to the next. My family has been in the northeast since the 1630s one one side and the 1920s on the other. One side was certainly more well-off than the other, but neither parent started with any accumulated wealth from their parents. They bought a house for $12k in 1965 and did not start saving for retirement outside of pension until around 50 years of age. They were typical. The vast majority of wealth is generated by the people who hold it, not passed down. As you emphasize, it is the "human and social capital required to grow and retain wealth," that differs among groups of people. Efforts to close wealth gaps must therefore focus on human and social capital.

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