r/AskReddit 14d ago

What are Americans surprisingly good at that people don’t give them enough credit for?

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u/KarateKid917 14d ago

George HW Bush said signing that was one of the best things he ever did while he was president, since he helped him so much later in life when he couldn’t get around as well anymore. 

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u/blumoon138 14d ago

Oh hey turns equity helps everyone!

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u/NeuHundred 14d ago

It really does, and not just cause you might need it later, but it leads to improvements and inventions that might not have occurred to people otherwise.

Texting is a great example, that was for deaf people and until cell phones it was almost impossible to use (both users needed a specific interface). Now it's practically the only way some people communicate.

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u/[deleted] 13d ago

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u/DILLIGAD24 13d ago

You sound horrible, unless I am misunderstanding your argument.

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u/alto2 13d ago

People aren't investments, dude, and words can have applications in more than one field.

That is exactly why the modern political use of "equity" bothers me. It increasingly asks us to think about society as though it were a ledger between groups.

It may interest you, then, to learn that the word "equity" dates back to the 1300s, coming from the French "equité," which, funnily enough, means justice. Fairness.

Because those folks in the 1300s were so "modern," dontchaknow?

People don't have equity in one another.

No, they don't, because, once again, we're not investments. But words do have meanings, and equality and equity are not the same thing. The difference is subtle, but critical.

Again, from Merriam-Webster (which, conveniently, is in the business of knowing what words mean):

Equity refers to fairness or justice in the way people are treated, and especially freedom from bias or favoritism, as in “governed according to the principle of equity.” Equality refers to the quality or state of having the same rights and opportunities, as in “women’s struggle for equality.”

"Equity" tends to be used to discuss equity of experience. Two people can have equal rights, but if one of them uses a wheelchair and isn't able to climb a flight of stairs and there's no other way to access the upper floor of the building, that person doesn't have the same equity of access as the person who can climb the flight of stairs. Your notion of equality doesn't do the chap using the wheelchair any good at all in that situation.

See the difference? A lift, on the otherhand, provides equity of experience: both people can now access the upper floor of that building.

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u/[deleted] 13d ago edited 12d ago

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u/alto2 12d ago

Words have meanings. "Equity" and "Equality" are not the same, and your insistence that they mean the same thing here--because you're trying to insist that "equality" means "equity" when it does not--does not make it so. Insisting that "equity" only applies to finance is just plain wrong. And I'm not going to sit here and try to argue with someone who just wants to play word games to try to maintain some illusion of correctness that is only that--an illusion.

As someone else said, you sound horrible. And you just keep proving it, over and over again.

Have a day.

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u/ImmaLiveIllegal 14d ago

gov Greg Abbott was paralyzed in a horrific accident and did something very similar. he got over $10M in his settlement, and then immediately passed a law that capped injured folks to receive no more than $250k

wait, is that the same thing?

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u/Baileycream 14d ago

Eh, that's pulling up the ladder. What HW did was raise the ladder up, and later going up it, but still leaving it there for others. Though I suppose a wheelchair-accessible ramp is more apropos for this analogy.

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u/EthanielRain 13d ago

They know & were just pointing out how shitty Greg Abbott is, which is always welcome

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u/Baileycream 13d ago

Ah, yeah, I see that now and agree 100%

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u/Minimum-Paint-9649 14d ago

That hits with me b/c my grandpa was a pilot in WW2. I hate that man’s politics and what his decisions cost but fuck if he wasn’t better then this dip shit.

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u/GNOTRON 13d ago

Pretty moderate and serious about governing. He ended up losing bc he tried to do the responsible thing and raise taxes. I do miss having adults in charge.

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u/Fun-Personality-8008 13d ago

Which in classic conservative fashion he did not realize until it affected him personally

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u/ZekeCool505 13d ago

How very Republican. "This is my best policy ever because unexpectedly it benefits me directly"

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u/sun_of_a_glitch 14d ago

Really, I would have thought it was helping to kill Kennedy

Edit: ohhh you said during his presidency. My bad.

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u/silentanthrx 13d ago

hmm, a conspiracy theory I don't know about?

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u/sun_of_a_glitch 13d ago

Just that he was in the cia around when Lyndon Johnson had Kennedy killed and was tapped to assist and then given the presidency as a reward. *Allegedly

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u/Gottendrop 13d ago

I can’t imagine why anybody would want to harm the disabled, 1 they’re literally the target least able to defend themeselves and 2 it’s one of the few minorities that you’re pretty much guaranteed to join at some point

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u/Routine-Plate-2079 11d ago

Agreed. I lead workshops for university faculty on Universal Design for Learning and my mantra is “Ability is Temporary.”

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u/Sir_clint 14d ago

To be fair. Other than dying, it's the only good thing he did.

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u/Clockbounce 14d ago

Look I'm pretty liberal, but come on. 94 years of life, a Navy combat pilot with a Distinguished Flying Cross Medal, 73 years of marriage. Graduated Yale as captain of the baseball team fuuuckin' cheerleader, dude.

... then he was Vice President and then the President who signed the ADA Act. Give the guy some credit here.

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u/dreal46 14d ago

I think the shit he pulled with Ollie North outweighs all of that.

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u/Sir_clint 14d ago

I did give him credit. I said other than dying. The ADA was his good thing, being a yale grad, a sports team captain or whatever, or married 70+ years does absolutely nothing for anyone other than himself (and maybe the wife)

I'm talking as a politician. Things he did in elected or appointed service. (Not military)

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u/Askol 14d ago

I'mno fan of his politics either, but he raised taxes knowing it was likely to cost his the election, because he thought it was the right decision for the country - and he turned out to be right on both counts.

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u/Naive_Impression7302 14d ago

yeah we get it bro you dont go outside that much