• Tedesche@lemmy.world
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    7 days ago

    In America, even the poorest person can afford a device with cellular or WiFi access. I’m not contesting that society discriminates against the poor or non-Whites, but I don’t see the discrimination here. Anyone can have access to email.

    • phoenixarise@lemmy.world
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      3 days ago

      There are so many remote parts of America that don’t have internet and library access that many of us do.

    • BeardedBlaze@lemmy.world
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      7 days ago

      Come down to Appalachia, where vast areas have no cellular signal at all nor ISP available.

      • Tedesche@lemmy.world
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        5 days ago

        I can’t attest to that area’s WiFi access but if it’s as bead as you say, and what I’ve heard about people stubbornly continuing to live there is true too, then they have only themselves to blame. I’ve been poor and I know plenty of other people who’ve been broke at some point in their lives. There are always options in a nation as rich as America. They’re not always good ones, but you can chain them together into something better.

          • Tedesche@lemmy.world
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            3 days ago

            Why should they have to what? I don’t think anyone should have to do anything because of my opinion. Is that the best you’ve got when it comes to a counter argument? I don’t even know what you’re referring to. Come at me with better slop than this.

      • Tedesche@lemmy.world
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        5 days ago

        Name a reason your grandfather can’t afford what I’m talking about. Housing subsidies exist. Disability exists. Social security exists. Free phones exist. Hell, you exist. I help hundreds of people a week get access to benefits that are free to them, which help them live. It’s not a luxurious life, to be sure. But it’s a lot better than most poor people from other countries. And we all pay for it with our taxes. The real crime is that it should be paid for many times over with corporate taxes, for which there are loopholes.

        • HumanoidTyphoon@quokk.au
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          3 days ago

          Are you unaware that this administration is rapidly eliminating all those social safety nets you mentioned?

          • Tedesche@lemmy.world
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            3 days ago

            No, I’m not, and I’m adamantly against it, but those nets are not yet completely dismantled, and the actions of this twat of a president do not disprove my overall point. America still has better safety nets than most countries in the world.

        • rustydomino@lemmy.world
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          4 days ago

          Old people have lots of difficulty with technology. Not all of it is because they are luddites. They lose mental faculties as they get old and have trouble remembering how to do things. Their eyesight gets bad so they can’t read tiny screens. I’ve always felt that there is a market for bonded employees to provide tech concierge services for old folks that have difficulty navigating things in the modern world.

          • Tedesche@lemmy.world
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            4 days ago

            I help elderly clients too and I’m aware of all those problems. We get them aides that can facilitate their shortcomings when it comes to technology. Solutions are available; all it takes is the will to enact them. People here are being very pessimistic about what’s possible.

            • rustydomino@lemmy.world
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              3 days ago

              To an extent I agree that we should find ways to lower barriers to tech for elderly citizens. I think that in this country the sad reality is that limited finances will be directed to other priorities like food and shelter. When disaster strikes then these vulnerabilities become clearly exposed.

              • Tedesche@lemmy.world
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                3 days ago

                And to an extent, I agree that adding barriers to disaster victims is entirely unnecessary and counterproductive; I simply meant to point out that it’s not discrimination to expect people of virtually all stripes to be able to handle email access, at least in America. I’ve worked with people who have all varieties of disabilities. Only in extreme cases is it reasonable to expect a person to not be able to handle basic instructions that can help them circumvent technological barriers. If the blind can do it, what are we really talking about here? In my experience, it’s 9/10 times the lack of will, and that is probably the toughest barrier of them all.