[humanrebar]

> If the bar for discussion on hacker news is the same as for a peer reviewed paper no one will ever be able to say anything of use here.

Agreed, but when someone posts some sources, replying with speculation isn't very useful, in my opinion.

[a_humean]

In my opinion pedantry isn't helpful for stimulating conversation. You admitted ignorance of the causes of US poverty and of US history ('As a non-American I am less than qualified to provide an answer'), suggested a very simple single parent household theory with evidence of a correlation with poverty. I merely placed your theory and evidence within a historical and ongoing context of oppression (slavery and state sponsored oppression didn't end 150 year ago).

Pretty sure that Jim Crow and Slavery aren't speculation, but are common historical facts that don't require citation, much like saying World War 2 or the Annexation of Crimea happened doesn't require citation.

The point wasn't that single parent households aren't a cause of poverty (it certainly doesn't help), but that it is far too simplistic, that it is probably more symptomatic than causal, and with a US political lens can be seen as a case of dog whistle politics (not accusing you personally of engaging in such politics, which I should have made more clear).

[humanrebar]

> You admitted ignorance of the causes of US poverty and of US history

You're confusing me with another commenter.