Reply #53: the trap here

[Two Americas]

This may be a hit and run post, but I will respond anyway for the benefit of the other posters if nothing else.

The respondent has no way to know my situation, and makes the assumption that I "can't put myself in someone else's position" thereby playing to the crowd in a clever and devious way. How does the poster know that I am not in that "position?" Now, should I admit that I am in fact in that position, there is a price to pay for that, as anyone who has been in that "position" well knows. Our society is dominated by status, and people are treated differently depending upon status. To admit that one is homeless is to accept diminished status, and then to not be taken seriously after that. Embracing the offer of free voicemail is presumed to be on the path to elevated status. Not embracing the offer is to be presumed to be unworthy of help and justifiably blamed for my own misery. And of course homelessness is not seen as a "position" by anyone close to the issue - using that word reveals the fact that this is in fact about status, not "help."

To admit that one is not in that "position" is to then admit that the poster's challenge - that what I say should be dismissed because I can't "prove" that that it is false that I "can't put myself in someone else's position" - is legitimate.

In other words, the post is dishonest. We are being asked to judge the validity of what I said based on my "position." There are two possible positions, and whichever of the two I am in, the poster says that what I say should be dismissed.