
Biden to Coal Miners: Learn to Code - datashow
https://gizmodo.com/biden-to-coal-miners-learn-to-code-1840735758
======
esotericn
It's far easier to solve individual issues than societal issues.

If you, personally, are having trouble with employment (or anything, really),
then you, personally, with the support of those around you, should do
something about it. Realistically your only other option is sitting around
waiting for a magic fairy to fix your life, and it just doesn't work that way.

But on a societal level, if the employment landscape is changing rapidly it's
easy for whole groups to go under in a short period of time.

That uncomfortable truth doesn't change the fact that for any individual the
best course of action is likely going to be improving themselves rather than
hoping the entire world changes around them instead.

20 years on, my hometown is still poor, and I'm not. In another 20 years, the
situation is likely to remain the same.

Is it insensitive to point that out? I'm not sure. If you'd asked the younger
me, I'd tell you that 'sensitivity' was a thing that rich people worry about.
The poor are trying to make ends meet, they couldn't give a fuck about ivory
tower waffle.

Perhaps you try your best and it doesn't work out anyway. Life can be a cruel
mistress.

~~~
dTal
You've almost put your finger on it, but I think you've missed the reason a
remark like this is unacceptable.

When an individual says to another individual, personally, "you know, coal
mining is dead - you should learn to code" \- then that is nothing but a
helpful suggestion; it's not insensitive or rude. Whatever social problems led
to that situation are not your concern, or theirs.

It _is_ supposed to be the concern of a politician, however. When a politician
'advises' an entire class of people that way, it implies that they view the
problem that affects that entire class as fundamentally not their
responsibility to solve. As a person (aspiring to be) in charge, you need to
take responsibility for social problems, and that means providing class-based
solutions to class-based problems. Suggest individual action as a solution is
effectively victim-blaming. An acceptable thing for Biden to have said would
be to have mooted the idea of government subsidized retraining initiatives.

Other examples include: women need to wear less slutty clothing to avoid rape;
poor people need to work harder; racial minorities should avoid mostly-white
areas to avoid abuse; etc....

~~~
esotericn
> When a politician 'advises' an entire class of people that way, it implies
> that they view the problem that affects that entire class as fundamentally
> not their responsibility to solve.

I think you've pretty much hit the nail on the head here, however it's not
unacceptable to everyone, just a particular group of people (I don't know much
about US politics but certainly in Europe that'd be a standard left/right
split).

A lot of people just don't see that as being the role of government.

They might, in a reduced form, roughly subscribe to the idea of welfare as an
insurance policy (against crime at a low level, and uprising at the more
extreme end of the spectrum), but not as some sort of moral imperative.

------
reaperducer
This feels like when privileged people on social media say things like, "Why
don't the poor just go get more money?"

~~~
zozbot234
Right on target. "Learn to code" is the new "let them eat cake". And Biden
doesn't get this?

------
Bostonian
Not everyone is smart enough to be a coder. Here are some suggestive numbers.

According to the College Board, the PSAT Reading+Math test scores needed to
have a 50% chance of scoring 3 or higher on the AP Computer Science A exam is
1130, and 1280 to score 4 or higher [https://cb.collegeboard.org/ap-
potential/app/expectancy.html...](https://cb.collegeboard.org/ap-
potential/app/expectancy.html?compa) . PSAT Reading+Math test scores are
comparable to SAT scores, and the average SAT score is 1060, even though SAT
takers are a self-selected group. The average SAT score in West Virginia,
where there are many coal miners, is 974.

~~~
reaperducer
Perhaps if previous administrations (one of which Biden was part) had properly
funded education, then those coal miners would be smart enough to take him up
on his career suggestion.

Tone deaf. Just tone deaf.

~~~
didgeoridoo
The USA spends more per student on public education than any OECD country
besides Norway. It’s probably not a funding problem.

~~~
cma
Look at marginal utility of the dollars spent per student. Each additional
dollar on a given student is worth less than the previous one, and since
wealthy neighborhoods get 3-10x the funding, lots of their dollars are having
dramatically less impact.

Gingrich proposed tweaking child labor laws to let poor students work as
janitors to make the schools look close to as shiny as rich schools (
[https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/11/newt-
gi...](https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/11/newt-gingrich-
thinks-school-children-should-work-as-janitors/248837/) ), but I think that is
missing the real problem.

~~~
didgeoridoo
Not sure where you’re getting 3-10x. The discrepancy appears to be closer to
10-20% (~$11k per student in poor districts vs. ~$13k in rich districts). Are
you saying there are districts that spend $30k-100k per student?

[0] [https://edtrust.org/resource/funding-
gaps-2018](https://edtrust.org/resource/funding-gaps-2018)

[1]
[https://edbuild.org/content/23-billion#CA](https://edbuild.org/content/23-billion#CA)

~~~
cma
Wow seems my numbers may be way off.

------
haspoken
Perhaps Politics might be a good career choice for the miners to consider.

