Class and Classism: Do you care?

[JanMichael]

Just curious. If you're totally unfamiliar with the concept of Classism go here and take a looksy.

"Classism is the systematic assignment of characteristics of worth and ability based on social class. It includes individual attitudes and behaviors; systems of policies and practices that are set up to benefit the upper classes at the expense of the lower classes, resulting in drastic income and wealth inequality; the rationale that supports these systems and this unequal valuing; and the culture that perpetuates them."

Personally I do believe with the extreme pressures on the so called "middle class" and with some strong systemic problems in the horizon ie. Energy problems on a global scale, Globalisation where the multi-nationals and the very rich win and the rest go pound sand, etcetera, that alternatives will indeed start gaining steam.

BTW class mobility in the US has sunk to become much like the rest of the Plutocratically controlled World.

Norway has the greatest mobility read it here.

Rah-rah sis boom BAH!

EDIT: I should add that Katrina is perhaps the most obvious eye-opener about class in America in recent memory...

[stray cat]

1. There are things we can do to equalize opportunity

There will always be class differences, poverty and a wealthy minority that hold most of the power but there are things that can be done to provide more equal opportunity. John Edwards is right - we need to value wages from work more than estates and divideds and provide access to quality education K-12 to all children and ways to go to college for qualified individuals from any class.

[JanMichael]

2. Why will there always be Poverty?

Since it's simply a relative measure.

Why accept this concept in the first place?

[stray cat]

3. I get your point if we call poverty a certain income level

However, the disabled or elderly who are unable to work, the drug or alcohol addict who can't support the family, the person who is illiterate, the high school drop outs, the mentally ill. I think ife is always going to be tougher for some individuals compared to others.

[JanMichael]

4. Tougher yes. But so long as certain things are considered rights then....

...much is mitigated.

Decent housing, healthcare, education, wages, etecetera.

[1932]

8. I think we should not be afraid to talk more about equalizing OUTCOMES

i think we reinforce the myth of equal opportunity by only talking about giving people opportunities.

I think we'll really equalize opportunity once we decide that there's nothing wrong with equalizing outcomes every once in a while.

For example, i don't want to give kids an equal opportunity to a good education. i actually think we should make sure all kids HAVE a good education. i don't want to equalize the opportunity for good health care. I want everyone to HAVE good health care.

When the opportunity is there, but the outcomes aren't equal, I think we need to try harder to figure out why that is and start doing things to make sure the outcomes are good.

[Nikia]

5. An issue that I have discovered

Being a young college educated adult is the advantage that those with "connections" have in securing high paying employment and that those without connections could be even stuck in a low wage job. It is great that many more people are getting college educations. Unfortunately it means that unless you majored in one of the specific career field majors that is in high demand like electrical or chemical engineering, you are far from being guarenteed a well paying job. If you have good connections though, you will get a good paying job regardless of your merits.
If you have to find jobs in the classified ads, you might apply to an ad that requires a 4 year degree, sometimes in a specific field, and pays less than $12/hour. Some of these jobs are dead end within a company and somehow it actually becomes harder to get a better job after a few years. A few years at a low level job, even within a pertient field, lables you a low level person. Your previous salary affects your future salary, even if you have the skills and experience of a higher paid person with a different title. At one large company, I applied to an hourly position requiring a 4 year degree and expressing a desire to move up within the company, I was told "This company does not promote hourly people."
For both the educated and uneducated, I don't really think that there is such a thing as working one's way up. Getting a good job is about who you know and being a specific type of person.
I know that there are draw backs to this type of hiring, but I almost wish that a certain percentage of jobs were required to be filled on the basis of a skill based/apitude test.

[IChing]

6. Einstein said:

"Not until the creation and maintenance of decent conditions of life for all people are recognized and accepted as a common obligation of all people and all countries - not until then shall we, with a certain degree of justification, be able to speak of humankind as civilized. "
Albert Einstein

[JanMichael]

7. Einstein also wrote "Why Socialism" in the 40's.

http://www.monthlyreview.org/598einst.htm

"This crippling of individuals I consider the worst evil of capitalism. Our whole educational system suffers from this evil. An exaggerated competitive attitude is inculcated into the student, who is trained to worship acquisitive success as a preparation for his future career."

[Nikia]

9. Kick

I think that we should care.

[JanMichael]

10. I wonder though...

DU is a specific demographic that may have a devil of a time actually concieving that this is a reall issue and one that's someday going to rock their relatively non-poor asses.

Cultural issues are acceptable for the white middle-class/upper-middle class Liberals to get revved up over, you know like abortion, or guns, or gay marriage, however Class and Classism isn't too cool with them anymore...Hard core economic questions may perhaps be too much?

Go figure?

On EDIT: The poll results however show some encouraging returns, just not the discussion.