Obama's data geeks add up to four more years

Obama's data geeks add up to four more years | Technology | The Observer

Why American women need Obama

Why American women need Obama | Jessica Valenti | Comment is free | The Guardian

Racism is still very much with us. So why don't we recognise it?

Racism is still very much with us. So why don't we recognise it? | Gavan Titley and Alana Lentin | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk
" The insistence that we live in post-racial societies, and the outrage when racism is called out, denies those who experience racism the right to define it and combat it on their terms. This is a central anti-racist principle, yet it is those who perpetuate racism who increasingly claim the right to say what racism is and, more frequently, what it is not."

"you didn't build that" : fairness and proportionality

The current "you didn't build that" spat between Obama and Romney actually I think captures a key divide between Republicans and Democrats. For me, Obama is making the valid (and to me crucial) point that all success depends on the foundation and support of surrounding society. This is not to belittle hard work and skill, but to highlight that while these of course make some difference between people's success, it doesn't make the exponential difference that exists. Even for someone add undeniably inventive and diligent add Bill Gates, no matter how hard he works, he can't work thousands of times harder than the average hard working laborer or cleaner, as his "earnings" would suggest. Without the infrastructure society provides, physical, economic and educational, there would be no way for him to have developed his products, or for people to buy them.  But it is a well known psychological fact that people attribute successes to their own skill, and I believe many wealthy succumb to this (and social mores reinforce it, even for example by terms such as "earnings" for diverse and self-multiplying income).
But, on the other side, as Jonathan Haidt shows in his boom The Righteous Mind,  the left sometimes misses the key moral principle of fairness as proportionality,  and not just equality. People should not only be protected, but rewarded, and Republicans tap into a fear that democrats would ignore this in favor of widespread redistribution. As always a balance is needed, but being honest, seeing the levels of income inequality in the USA, and the "I'm alright and the devil take the hindmost" social systems, then I know which side I would favor.
Romney attacks Obama over 'You didn't build that' quote - US politics live | World news | guardian.co.uk

Extract:
The Romney campaign's "These Hands" ad attacking Obama's recent remarks in Virginia is a classic example of how a comment gets skinned of context and turned into an attack ad soundbite.

Here's what Obama appears to say, based on Romney's ad:

If you've been successful, you didn't get there on your own. You didn't get there on your own. I'm always struck by people who think, well, it must be 'cause I was just so smart. There are a lot of smart people out there. It must be because I worked harder than everybody else. Let me tell you something. If you've got a business, you didn't build that. Somebody else made that happen.

Here's what he actually says, based on the transcript of his speech. In bold I've highlighted the lines the Romney campaign has spliced together:

There are a lot of wealthy, successful Americans who agree with me – because they want to give something back. They know they didn't, look, if you've been successful, you didn't get there on your own. You didn't get there on your own. I'm always struck by people who think, well, it must be because I was just so smart. There are a lot of smart people out there. It must be because I worked harder than everybody else. Let me tell you something, there are a whole bunch of hardworking people out there.

If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. There was a great teacher somewhere in your life. Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you've got a business, you didn't build that. Somebody else made that happen. The Internet didn't get invented on its own. Government research created the Internet so that all the companies could make money off the Internet.

The point is, is that when we succeed, we succeed because of our individual initiative but also because we do things together. There are some things, just like fighting fires, we don't do on our own. I mean, imagine if everybody had their own fire service. That would be a hard way to organize fighting fires.