Social Class as Culture
POSTED BY: Fremdfirma
UPDATED: Friday, August 19, 2011 00:54
VIEWED: 3534
PAGE 2 of 4
That's an interesting study and makes some sense. I'm very communalistic, bery pro being with one's family and doing for each other.
"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya
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Well, firstly, I was thinkin about life "down there" when it's kinda good, cause it never really gets "good", but you know what I mean, or you don't, prolly never will and that's all good too.
And the words know who to lean on kinda jumped out at me, and brought to mind the perfect song for the empathic community concept you see "down there" when they get it together, which is what I have been formenting like hell in Detroit right now.
THIS.
As the local rumor goes, whisper the devils name in the wind, and he just might show, what you got to lose ?
ETA: And that ole devil, he's got some pretty big shoulders for such a little guy..
Was dropping off some outgoing at the post office yesterday and there's this guy sitting there, I see him ask someone if they were going east, and got brushed off pretty hard - I wasn't goin east but I asked him where he needed to go, which was basically home as his ride back from the day-labor place left him swinging (got fired and drove off in a huff).
Now, mind you this was a large rough looking guy who was a little darker in complexion than most of the neighborhood, if you know what I mean, and it wouldn't be too long before the local badge bearing thugs moved him on, cause most of the locals of that area wouldn't be too inclined to help him - one of those "well, someone should do something" moments, and well, I was there, wasn't I ?
So I took him home somewhere up on Wayne Road, and even volunteered to stop at a check cashing place and wait for him so he'd have something more than useless paper in his hand when he got there - guy tried to throw me a couple bucks for gas but I waved him off, told him "I been where you are, man, you need that more than I do."
The expression on his face as I drove away was worth every ounce of time and effort, I do stuff not only as a spit in the eye to a system turned rabid, but also as a quasi-religious gesture, in order to restore other peoples faith in humanity before they succumb to the lure of that dog-eat-dog myth which does our humanity so much harm, and maybe, just maybe a little bit to prove to the universe that not EVERYONE is an asshole, a great big digitus impudicus to the very gods themselves.
-Frem
I do not serve the Blind God.
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Quote:
Originally posted by dreamtrove:
Also, i'm getting gorram sick of the partisanship, does every thread have to turn into a slugfest?
Yanno, I been biting my tongue, but imma call you out on this, DT.
You know how wulfenwhiner likes to claim the liberal method of evading debate lies in crying racism ?
Which is mostly bunk, but only mostly, cause the SPLC is the most revolting pack of scumbag liberal do-gooder crusader types I've ever known and they *are* known for playing that card...
Well, it seems that every time someone finally calls out the right wing and their corporate masters there's you crying "partisanship!" as if it's a code-word for how-dare-you-call-them-out.
And I am calling YOU out on it.
If they weren't such dickheads, had not displayed such malice, such ignorance, perhaps folk would be a little more inclined to get along with them, but when they've made it ABUNDANTLY CLEAR that it's gonna be us or them...
It ain't gonna be them, not if I have anything to say for it!
That ain't partisanship, that's self-defense, learn the goddamn difference.
Besides which, I *WAS* being intentionally snarky/sarcastic, or tying to be, but hey, if folks wanna add more evidence to the assertion I made whilst posting the story with their own behavior, you feel free to do that.
-Frem
PS. How on *earth* could anyone think me a democrat partisan when everyone here KNOWS imma Anarchist, for crying out loud, or are you just whining to hear yourself whine ?
now go away, or I shall taunt you a second time, nyaaah!
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Quote:
Originally posted by RionaEire:
That's an interesting study and makes some sense. I'm very communalistic, bery pro being with one's family and doing for each other.
"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya
Which is kinda funny, in a way, because "commune" is the base word behind "communism", which is really nothing more than the idea that we're ALL part of the same family and should be doing for each other the way we'd do for our own.
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Quote:
Fremdfirma wrote:
So I took him home somewhere up on Wayne Road, and even volunteered to stop at a check cashing place and wait for him so he'd have something more than useless paper in his hand when he got there - guy tried to throw me a couple bucks for gas but I waved him off, told him "I been where you are, man, you need that more than I do."
The expression on his face as I drove away was worth every ounce of time and effort, I do stuff not only as a spit in the eye to a system turned rabid, but also as a quasi-religious gesture, in order to restore other peoples faith in humanity before they succumb to the lure of that dog-eat-dog myth which does our humanity so much harm, and maybe, just maybe a little bit to prove to the universe that not EVERYONE is an asshole, a great big digitus impudicus to the very gods themselves.
And THAT is why you are a hero. Not because you did the impossible, but because you're one of the very few who will actually step up and do the POSSIBLE!
You're a good man, Frem, no matter what anyone else may say.
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Quote:Humans in the wild have an even more heightened sense of depending on each other.
I suspect the day-to-day struggles of the lower class are more like humans in the wild than the selfishness of the upper classes.
ALSO.
I know we 'muricans like to think of ourselves as "classless" people, but we are in fact highly aware of class. Flash a picture of a woman at a man, and he is unlikely to be able to tell you the color of her hair but he will be able to tell you, within a very small range, her economic status.
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I think DT was referring to Kwicko and AURaptor's routine Vaudeville. If I didn't think you guys would kill each other I'd say you ought to go on tour.
I guess people will amuse themselves different ways.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FunnyBackgroundEvent
Of course, that means I don't read either of them much anymore, and skim past their posts because I know they're probably just snarking at each other. That's too bad, because everyone has something to say worth hearing.
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Quote:
and he is unlikely to be able to tell you the color of her hair
Well that's because boys do silly stuff like call teal and cyan "blue-green" or magenta and fuchsia "pink."
But that might be the gender specific colour blindness.
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Quote:
To me, that about nails it. I see nothing wrong with being rich, but rich people who can afford to buy power and are bent on doing so, THAT bothers me.
it's not that the richare dicks, but that they think different.... Both parties are parties of the rich..... it's a handful of ruling families from a handful of communities
When one grows up with immense wealth, I don't know quite where one would get the opportunity to get perspective. They live in their own world, and I don't blame them for that; my only complaint is that they've bought the government into giving them more and more and more. THAT I'd like to see changed, but to imagine they'll ever have any grasp of how the "common man" lives, thinks, behaves or anything else is kind of illogical.
I am confused by the Jon Stewart thing. Has he ever said he's a "man of the people"< or has anyone else ever said he was? I've never heard that before. I know Colbert is unashamedly "rich" and uses it frequently to further is satire, but I've never heard Stewart remark on his own wealth or lack thereof. So I'm not sure where that comes from, unless it's just your perspective that we see him that way.
Mike, I agree; Frem will step up to the plate when most won't. I try to do my bit; rescue loose dogs and even take them home when they have tags ('cuz the Humane Society, tho' they do good things, will fine people, etc.). I've stopped and helped out people with motorcycles or bicycles and driven them where they need to go (tho' I don't do that anymore, a bit too risky) and NEVER walked around the City without paper money in my pocket to give out to those who need it. Took a huge bag of dog food to a guy I got to know on Market Street who had a pit bull he loved (the SFSPCA will keep their animals for the homeless if they can't--like if they're thrown in jail--until they can take them back, but losing your dog, even for a bit, when homeless is awful. One Xmas I took half of my Xmas bonus, broke it into twenties, and went to the East Bay and gave it out. I saw far too many families, with kids in tow, pushing shopping carts--and that was YEARS ago, I can't imagine how it is now!
But I've never done what Frem does, and I freely admit my focus is on animals first, I just do what I can for people when the chance presents. To this day I keep money in my wallet and give it out to people standing on street corners with signs, but I don't have the wherewithall to do anything else except support a few nonprofits.
Frem, I've said it before, but it bears repeating: 
Byte, I don't pay them much mind either; if there's something in the discussion that interests me, I'll respond, but to Raptor it's mostly snarks (I gave up snarking at Mike long ago; HE should have the brains not to engage, but obviously he enjoys it, so who am I to say?).
Hippie Operative Nikovich Nikita Nicovna Talibani,
Contracted Agent of Veritas Oilspillus, code name “Nike”,
signing off 
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Hello,
I think the main thing about being rich is, it removes a lot of inhibitors from human behavior. This, as the article says, because rich people don't need other people as much in order to survive. Worse, non-rich people may need rich people in order to survive.
Hence if your whimsy makes you want to curse someone out in a moment of anger, you may be less inclined to stop yourself. Ever been really mad at your boss? What kept you from demonstrating your anger? Was it a respect for the basic human decency that all communications should embody? Or was it the potential loss of a paycheck?
A lot of the decisions we make to be 'nice' stem not so much from deep seated moral fiber as from an understanding that we are stuck with these people in our lives, and had best get along with them. But rich people are much less stuck with anybody. They can go and do pretty much as they please.
Just the same, I would like to test the theory by winning the lottery and reporting back to you all on my findings. ;-)
--Anthony
_______________________________________________
“If you are not free to choose wrongly and irresponsibly, you are not free at all”
Jacob Hornberger
“Freedom is not worth having if it does not connote freedom to err. It passes my comprehension how human beings, be they ever so experienced and able, can delight in depriving other human beings of that precious right.”
Mahatma Gandhi
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