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American society is so focused on race that it is blind to class

economist.com

121–130 of 888 posts

Re: American society is so focused on race that it is blind to class

#121
post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your first link contains an anti-semitic dogwhistle. Is this intentional?

In the racial representation of billionaires? What exactly is the dog whistle?

The caption on that same graph - "we also know who did this and why".

Re: American society is so focused on race that it is blind to class

#122
post #64

Racism was literally invented so the working class would fight one another instead of rising up against the elites. Look up Bacon's Rebellion in 1676.

Racism was invented long before that, as a proxy of the invention of race (specifically "white" as a racial category) to justify chattel slavery under the pretense of white supremacy.

So you're correct, for certain definitions of "working class," but I find attempts to dismiss anti-racism (and increasingly LGBT ) progressive efforts as being merely a distraction from class struggle to be tone-deaf at best, and counterproductive at worst.

Intersectionality is a thing. Race shapes class - especially in the United States where class was literally built around racial caste and identity - and class shapes race. We can have praxis along more than one dimension.

Re: American society is so focused on race that it is blind to class

#123

This was a pretty core topic of conversation around Bernie's run for president, and Marxist lefties have been saying this quite consistently. Would be fascinating to see the Economist actually engage with some of that directly.

the problem with the marxists isn't their evaluation of the problem, it's that they can study history and still somehow have picked the 2nd worst solution possible.

Re: American society is so focused on race that it is blind to class

#125
post #102
post #28

Class is not supposed to be much of anything in America. Success is everything.

Success is mostly class. US has a below average social mobility by international standards. https://www.oecd.org/els/soc/1-5%20generations.png

Depends. For instance, if I went to American Samoa, I would be in effect racially barred from owning most property despite being a US national just like the locals. Real estate ownership is a common element of measurement of success.

Re: American society is so focused on race that it is blind to class

#126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And this is why the term "white privilege" sells so poorly to whites. And why CRT is attacked so vigorously. Everyone likes to think they made it on their own. The guy who inherited a multi-million dollar business thinks he has had no more real advantage than then guy who was raised in an orphanage in Uganda. While I firmly believe that this privilege exists, you just can't legislate based on it, because you'll get n…

"White privilege" is like a DSM-5 diagnosis. It's only brought up with a treatment (or remedy) in mind. It's intended more as a tool to bring about a particular outcome, and less as a description of a scientifically measurable reality. I don't object to the use of "white privilege" to attempt an objective description of reality. I do object to the notion that more discrimination on the basis of race is the answer. Yo…

> You don't solve a structure fire by adding gasoline.

Do you refuse the insurance payout after a structure fire because it'd be unfair to the neighbor whose house didn't burn down?

Re: American society is so focused on race that it is blind to class

#127
post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quoted post unavailable.

Your first link contains an anti-semitic dogwhistle. Is this intentional?

I didn't make that infographic and I don't have another one without the bottom right part, but it would be weird to invalidate the whole point because whoever made it has said the taboo word.

I also think that it's extremely stupid to blame "all Jews" for anything. But it's equally stupid to call "all white people" privileged, especially if we need to use 2 different definitions of "white" when arriving at the privileged conclusion vs. applying the penalty for it. Both approaches are stupid, divisive and inconstructive, and the more someone pushes in one direction, the more pushback it creates. Focusing on class, or especially "self-made wealth vs. inherited wealth" could do wonders in terms of actually uniting people.

Re: American society is so focused on race that it is blind to class

#128
post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When you say “these journalists”, do you mean the economist?

It’s pretty much all mainstream media on both the left and right.

And why is the Economist mainstream? It's a British publication.

Re: American society is so focused on race that it is blind to class

#129

LMAO at these journalists pretending they're so surprised to find this. As if they had no hand in creating this environment... and as if this wasn't the whole point to begin with. The upper class owns journalism and this state of affairs was very much the goal.

Just wait until they find out the inter-generational conflict they've been fomenting for decades gets the same treatment. Every "Boomer this" or "GenZ that" is a diversion of class-resentment.

Re: American society is so focused on race that it is blind to class

#130
post #97
post #2

How do you determine the class of student being admitted?

I mean, it basically boils down to money. Set prices high enough and you get those who can afford it. And if you've always been elitest, then alumni admissions will all be upper class as well.

Elite schools practice need-blind admissions and have generous need-based financial aid. The more elite the school, the higher and gentler the taper to full price as you go up the family income scale. Poor kid gets a full ride anywhere. Middle class kid gets a full ride from Harvard, half off Chicago, sticker price at Northeastern.

Only the mediocre private schools (or stingy rich parents) actually price kids out. Almost all of the SES filtering is based on grades, test scores, and essays.

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