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[EuchreJack]

Black people are, in fact, less likely to get student loans (not least because of the many scholarship and grant programs intended to address long-standing systemic biases). They are, however, extremely heavily represented in the lower end of people with student loans. I don't have the exact figures on hand right now, but something like 80+% of non-white student loan holders are covered by the forgiveness program, while only around 30% of white male holders are. That's part of why you see so many people screaming about how it isn't enough - well-to-do white male techbros are extremely overplatformed.

Well, that does explain things. I'd wager to within a 23.46% degree of accuracy.^{made up numbers work better when you use decimals, although I think you're probably close enough}

[Rolan7]

Yeah I'm annoyed that they seem to be wasting money by overcomplicating it with means testing.  Regardless of the means testing mostly excluding well-off people who tend to be white, it seems like a waste compared to a more simple and inclusive approach.

Denying a few rich folks a benefit isn't worth making the process more difficult for everyone... at least in my cursory opinion, in this situation.  I'm sure it also leads to perverse incentives like the welfare system causing impoverished families to "separate" to get access.  So much unnecessary waste just for some moral victory against freeloaders (it's not actually about freeloaders- "the cruelty is the point").

[Lord Shonus]

It isn't "a few" people being excluded. Not means testing would take it from "rather modest and quite affordable" to "the absolute biggest welfare program in history", nearly all of which money would go to people who are already quite well off.

[Rolan7]

That's fair and I haven't looked properly into this program.  I guess I'm wondering if there's some middle ground... Maybe I'm being blindly cynical, but I expect it's more difficult than it really needs to be.

[lemon10]

I predict the Alex Jones cases will only make the hatemongers smarter. They'll hide the money better so they can perfect and do more hate-mongering.

As for Alex himself, he has probably earned himself the sort of cash and services that will keep him from experiencing true poverty. His insight is probably considered valuable enough that he won't just be abandoned, but will probably be an advisor and/or spokesman for the next generation of hatemongers.

Hopefully, someone can find some criminal charges with which to threaten Mr. Jones. That is the only real deterrent for him personally.  This would require Texas to decide they're done with his bullshit. It's not as unlikely as it might initially seem: Bad press can get old.

Jones is a pretty extreme outlier amongst republican "personalities", so most of them don't really have anything to fear from this.
The reason for this is that he broke a shitload of rules which is the only reason he's getting any punishment at all for this.
1) He's the person who made it all up. As long as you have another source to blame it on (eg. Alex Jones said, I found this random article on the internet) you will be fine.
2) He targeted private individuals who don't have any place in public life. Calling Clinton a child molester? Just fine, no trouble at all.
3) He left the shield of politics behind. Its one thing to target left wing/right wing people. Its another to target super super clear victims like this who everyone supports.
4) He just kept doing it for years and years like the energizer bunny.
5) It was a case where there was absolutely no ambiguity, controversy, or actual evidence at all. It was also not vague (eg. blaming "the Jews") and very clearly targeted a few individuals.

Its actually pretty hard to do all five at once.
Like all the actually vaguely political stuff? Safe. Hurling completely unfounded shit at politicians you don't like? Safe.
Blatantly lying only to retract it the next day in a three second "opps, I messed up"? Safe.
Saying the exact same shit as Jones for a few weeks while explicitly saying you are just repeating what Jones said? Bloody safe.

So yeah, even other nutzo's don't have much to fear here.

[Loud Whispers]

1) He's the person who made it all up. As long as you have another source to blame it on (eg. Alex Jones said, I found this random article on the internet) you will be fine.

I think there's a funny compilation somewhere out there of all the RW pundits going "I'm not an expert but..."

[None]

Those random articles found on the internet and quoted on infowars as fact are usually, and get this, opinion pieces written on infowars. They cite themselves all the time.

It's also a major spawning pool for the conservative conspiracy bullshit that gets peddled as mainstream talking points (satanic panic, 'globalists,' pedophilia rings, 'lamestream media,' etc etc).

It's at this point that I must recommend the Knowledge Fight podcast if you want to hear a) logical deconstructions of the bullshit Jones spews and b) a guy with a funny laugh become aghast about the stuff Jones says while they c) enjoy a bottle of wine. You need to have a stomach for actually listening to the stuff Alex says though, it can be kind of difficult.

It's... kind of uncanny if you start at the first episodes near the inauguration in 2016 and reflect on just how batshit crazy that presidency was and how standard so many of Jones' terms and boogeymen became.

[Vector]

In other news, looks like we're getting a red wave. Nice knowing you guys

[EuchreJack]

In other news, looks like we're getting a red wave. Nice knowing you guys

I'm sure there are other theories, but to me it's mostly the economy.

[bloop_bleep]

So glad people are willing to sell out their country and their future because they want billionaires to keep ripping like bandits and throwing them the scraps.

[Sirus]

It'll all trickle down, you know. Any day now. Soon we'll all be millionaires.

[Vector]

I'm sure there are other theories, but to me it's mostly the economy.

I'm sure that people are upset about the economy. I'm experiencing the same economy and aware that when the conservative party is voted in, the economy usually "gets better" for others, but not for me. My social status drops and I have to work much, much harder for much, much less.

[McTraveller]

Well the GOP does seem to have figured out how to play to the emotions of people, where for some reason the Democrats are still trying to appeal to reason.

Basically the GOP can easily just say "things are bad, vote for a change!" and everyone feeling like things have gotten bad, is like "well sure, why not?" because the average person is driven by instantaneous results, not more reasoned deferred gratification.

Far too many people are simply incapable of making a reasoned decision when they are inundated with decades of media and culture shifting to "do what feels good for you!"

Seems pretty inevitable... even if it does make me sad.  Means that I have to figure out how to more personally involve myself in unifying and "love your neighbor" measures, because the prevailing political powers sure aren't codifying those concepts and are instead fomenting division and "everyone for their own self and their buddies*".

Spoiler: * (click to show/hide)

I do include the "left" in this too - because they are just as bad at alienating the "right" when they are trying to promote what are otherwise good concepts like getting rid of systemic biases.  It's an uphill battle trying to remove those barriers by calling the people putting them up names, instead of finding a way to get the people to want to pull the barriers down.

So the "all the right are selfish control, power, and money freaks and want to oppress everyone; all the left are really the ones looking out for the oppressed" is an insidious manifestation of tribalism, because it sounds laudable.

[None]

All those folks who are mad about the economy should be mad at their GOP representatives for obstructing bills related to inflationary countermeasures and refusing to attend committees about it.

[McTraveller]

There you go, appealing to reason...