NYT Questions

[amw]

annaserene noticed two focus group discussions in the NYT recently, this one featuring Asian Americans and this one featuring trans people. The three main questions are interesting and i wanted to answer them too. I'm interested to see what sorts of answers come up for those of us living in different countries

Comments

[king_of_apathy]

Couldn't agree more with your 'on average pretty much everything is better everywhere today than it used to be' take.

I find it odd when I come across people with a rose tinted idea of our past as some sort of harmonious natural golden age. In reality, regardless of where you lived in the world, you would most likely be a poverty stricken peasant who labored all day in the field with no access to the wealth of knowledge and entertainment we enjoy today.

The 21st century isn't perfect, but I'd take it over any other century humanity has had yet!

[annaserene]

Thanks for sharing your answers!

I agree that it's hard to narrow down the issues. Urban planning is a good one. I definitely resent the lack of public transportation options around here, and it has such a ripple effect in people's lives, particularly for those with lower incomes.

Yeah, best days for who. I just continue to be a pessimist.

[amw]

Yeah it's difficult to pin down what might be the best issue to tackle if you have to choose only one. I believe that a lot of social problems are exacerbated due to poverty, but i'm not sure that just giving poor people money solves that, because it's not changing the systems that led to poverty in the first place.

My thinking around better urban planning is that if you make an environment where poor and rich people share the same spaces, then when the rich spend money to improve those spaces, the poor who live there too also benefit. Also I think if people have easy (walkable) access to jobs and schools and good food, then they are less likely to become exhausted or frustrated or unhealthy, which are states that can lead to other problems like drug abuse and crime.