has always been a euphemism for aristocratic control. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/oct/23/population-egalitarian-cities-urban-growth http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122464532734457657.html Why can't people learn from history? At least look at the past eight years.
Here's my question. I'm trying to fit my thinking in with the article here, but there's kind of a difference. America has many, MANY programs set up to help out the "little guy" who has ambition. You want a scholarship? Much easier for minorities and the poor. Graduate from college, and you have a pretty good shot at getting a "middle-class" job. Do you think the "class divide" is because of nepotism somehow? That the rich didn't work for it? I went from getting WIC certificates as a child, to enlisting in the Marines, to getting a competitive admission into the Naval Academy, busting my butt for an engineering degree, to working my @$$ off on a submarine for 5 years, to getting a 'middle-class" job and trying to start my own business. Is it impossible in our country to work for something more than you have? Entitlement is wrong. Looking out for others is commendable, but no one "deserves" anything. In Abidjan, there isn't a way for the poor to pull themselves up through hard work. I don't know about Nairobi. I know for darned sure you can in Seattle.
Brian, I admire your accomplishments, I really do. I too know what it is like to come from a WIC background. But you are not the rule. It might be something inborn inside of you, or it might be something that was instilled. But without that something you wouldn't have succeeded. I can't tell you where that something came from. I just know that the worse things are the less likely a person has that something inside of them that let's them know that they can do better; that gives them the confidence to set goals and to reach them; that gives them the security that allows for independence. I do believe that there are elite families in this country who at least have an affect on government policy. But I do not believe they have all the power as to divide the classes in themselves. I want to get away from the word nepotism with regard to leadership because it's not so much applicable to a country of 300 million people who democratically elects it's leaders. It wouldn't make sense really. It's more a collective, metaphorical nepotism that divides the classes. And you find it through all class stratification. The billionaire is better than the millionaire is better than the middle class is better than the working class is better than the impoverished. The amount of money you have is directly tied to a sense of worth and that is instilled. For all intents and purposes, that worth becomes self-worth. Is this a marker for a man, their class association? It's one that cannot be fully denied. Man is greedy. Man wants control. I'm sad to say but money is necessary to have control, save for the lucky few who can live with intellectual prosperity outside of these societal rules. But a man has to prove it too himself to be able to climb this class ladder. Whereas those at the top inherently have a lot less to prove and on down the line. For example, a CEO's son will most likely never have to prove to himself that he has to go hungry or that he has to walk to work instead of driving or that he has to join the armed forces just to get ahead. And the consequences for not performing become more insidious as you go down the class ladder. And you bring up entitlement? It's hard not to feel entitled when you are surrounded by people who take the simplest things for granted. People don't have mothers or fathers or either of the two. People get raped. People are abandoned. People are physically and mentally abused. People are born with physical and mental disabilities. People are born with the wrong color of skin or the wrong sexual preference. This occurs in all class stratification but the percentages are far greater inverse to wealth. And if you've experienced any of these in your lifetime you should understand the detriment and the instability that it can cause in a person. So much so, that they often lose all hope and sense of self. People deserve a fair opportunity. And sometimes that means understanding that they don't have the inner drive or know how to make things happen for themselves. Drive is something that you are born with, that is instilled, or that is taken away. Don't fuck over the people who were less fortunate by demanding the same standards and then forgetting about them with they can't perform up to your ignorant expectation. People first need to believe in themselves. I don't see how that is possible when the first thing a poor person realizes is how inferior they are. Like I mentioned before, it's an aristocratic control and it goes on down the line. People are greedy. "What need would there be to be so impressive if it wasn't for fear of being the opposite." - Alain de Botton I really think this sums up quite well the manner in which drive comes to be in a person. I believe the unfortunate are instilled with the belief that they already are the opposite of impressive.
I'm with you on the "deserving opportunity". I shouldn't have said what I did. The entitlement issue is one I think we continue to disagree on. I understand that in the poorer economic classes there seems to be a larger proportion of disease, crime, single-parent households, etc. But I see that there are a lot of government programs set up to help people (such as WIC, for instance) who need a boost. Where I get into a problem with it is the entitlement factor. I was lucky, I guess, that I had both a mother and father around. One of the things my father made sure I knew was that you had to earn the title "citizen". I know it's not a "rule", but if more people cared about being a "citizen" making your particular community better (whether through jobs, child care/education, helping out neighbors, community service, reporting crimes, etc) there wouldn't need to be as much government support of entitlement. I think it's a disservice to expect that the government will pay for you to have a life that allows you to keep up with the Jones's, because you see someone else getting a bigger check or bigger TV or nicer car and think you deserve something that you haven't earned. It's totally respectable, though, to use those motivations to try to pull yourself up. Look, I go downtown into Seattle one weekend a month to feed and talk to people at the City Mission. It's not out of a sense of guilt or obligation, but because (as many may not believe) "there but for the grace of God go I", and if someone can get a square meal and talk to someone that cares about who they are, then maybe they can have the strength to take the next step (rehab, getting a job, reconciling with their family, etc.). I think it's important to work with young children to attempt to break the societal habits of poverty-driven crime, and government dependence. Complaining about class warfare seems to be the wrong way to look at things. My point, though, is that I don't think that the same measure are available in Abijian or Nairobi, so I don't think it's really right to compare the class problems there vs. socio-economic issues here.
