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Luxury beliefs are status symbols (2022)

robkhenderson.com

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Re: Luxury beliefs are status symbols (2022)

#191

Post by trollerator23 »

TheOtherHobbes wrote: post #133
surrTurr wrote: post #114

On the point of success and the rich believing it is just luck whilst the working-class beliefs it's hard work: Maybe both is true. Becoming successful in working class jobs often *does* require hard work, whilst becoming successful in upper-class jobs depends more on other factors such as luck. For example, to become a great construction worker, you need physical strength, stamina, and a strong work ethic, as the jo…

A high-paying job in finance or tech is not what rich means. Rich means ownership and rent-seeking . It means dominating some part of your culture to the extent that you can force your will and desires on significant numbers of people - often against their personal interests. One of the best examples is the health insurance industry, which bankrupts half a million Americans every year - usually people who have been p…

> A high-paying job in finance or tech is not what rich means.

> Rich means ownership and rent-seeking.

Huh? No it doesn't.

Re: Luxury beliefs are status symbols (2022)

#192

Post by Salgat »

JanSt wrote: post #132
indigo945 wrote: post #101

> When I was growing up in foster homes, or making minimum wage as a > dishwasher, or serving in the military, I never heard words like “cultural > appropriation” or “gendered” or “heteronormative.” > > Working class people could not tell you what these terms mean. But if you > visit an elite university, you’ll find plenty of affluent people who will > eagerly explain them to you. I figured out as soon as I saw the l…

cultural appropriation As a european, I just can't wrap my head around this. How is it racist if I like a food of an other culture so much I cook it? Or I like a hairstyle of different culture so I also want to wear it. Or clothes. Or making music. Or.... I mean, I admire all that stuff so much that I want it to be part of my life. How is this racist?

Cultural appropriation is a very real thing, but the line between disrespectful/mocking and genuinely participating in a different culture can get gray. Unfortunately sometimes people take this understanding to the extreme.

Re: Luxury beliefs are status symbols (2022)

#193

Post by stewx »

bryanrasmussen wrote: post #138
indigo945 wrote: post #101

> When I was growing up in foster homes, or making minimum wage as a > dishwasher, or serving in the military, I never heard words like “cultural > appropriation” or “gendered” or “heteronormative.” > > Working class people could not tell you what these terms mean. But if you > visit an elite university, you’ll find plenty of affluent people who will > eagerly explain them to you. I figured out as soon as I saw the l…

[flagged]

Intelligence and knowledge are two different things. An uneducated person may be highly intelligent but have little knowledge.

Re: Luxury beliefs are status symbols (2022)

#194

Post by stewx »

jyounker wrote: post #142

The poster's entire article is based on a strawman. The "Defund The Police" movement has very specific and very well documented goals: Use police only for law-enforcement, and use specialized responders for non-law enforcement interactions. For example, you send mental health specialists when someone is threatening suicide. This reallocates funding from the police to more capable responders, but allows the remaining…

> The "Defund The Police" movement has very specific and very well documented goals: Use police only for law-enforcement, and use specialized responders for non-law enforcement interactions.

It's not well-defined at all. There are many people who do literally want to "defund" and abolish the police entirely:

"Yes, We Mean Literally Abolish the Police": https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/12/opinion/sunday/floyd-abol...

Re: Luxury beliefs are status symbols (2022)

#197

Post by hoseja »

TheOtherHobbes wrote: post #130
boxed wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> be associated with a feminist and anti-racist outlook. Well.. it's not at all clear that those things he mention has anything to do with anti-racism and feminism. In fact, it seems quite clear they are the opposite of that.

The implication is clearly that "woke" is an effete privileged liberal attack on the poor and oppressed. It's ridiculously transparent libertarian/conservative PR. As others have said - far more directly abusive and entitled privileged beliefs are endemic among the very rich. If they weren't they wouldn't spend so much time strike-breaking, stealing pay, flouting laws and regulations, buying politicians, and proselyt…

Is it not though? Is the fundamental reason for most of these not the disempowerment of middle-class worker?

Re: Luxury beliefs are status symbols (2022)

#198

Post by steveBK123 »

diamondap wrote: post #195

> Only the affluent can learn these things because ordinary people have real problems to worry about. I can't say I agree with all the author writes, but that statement is spot on.

Yeah the key point is this plus "the affluent can hold these luxury beliefs because they aren't the people impacted by the downsides of them"

Re: Luxury beliefs are status symbols (2022)

#199

Post by ameister14 »

jyounker wrote: post #142

The poster's entire article is based on a strawman. The "Defund The Police" movement has very specific and very well documented goals: Use police only for law-enforcement, and use specialized responders for non-law enforcement interactions. For example, you send mental health specialists when someone is threatening suicide. This reallocates funding from the police to more capable responders, but allows the remaining…

You posted this elsewhere but to be clear, you are wrong.

The defund the police movement, at least the one in the US that gained popularity between 2017 and 2021, was explicitly aimed at eliminating the concept of policing. The belief is that because policing began with South Carolina slave patrols (it did not, but that doesn't matter) that the whole concept is corrupt and changes in execution won't fix the heart of the problem.

In order to fix it, policing needs to be entirely destroyed and rethought, from first principles. The funding would be allocated towards community building and outreach a la the Cure Violence programs in NYC. Since crime is of course solely an economic and mental health issue, with proper education, stipends and mental health resources crime can be eliminated without needing a police force at all.

Some of the elements aren't bad, but taken together it was not a good idea.

Re: Luxury beliefs are status symbols (2022)

#200

Post by torginus »

indigo945 wrote: post #101

> When I was growing up in foster homes, or making minimum wage as a > dishwasher, or serving in the military, I never heard words like “cultural > appropriation” or “gendered” or “heteronormative.” > > Working class people could not tell you what these terms mean. But if you > visit an elite university, you’ll find plenty of affluent people who will > eagerly explain them to you. I figured out as soon as I saw the l…

Yes, people are great fakers - we talk about things not because we believe them, but because we want others to think we do. That describes the great communication divide, where rich people, who rent out multiple apartments talk about housing is a human right, whereas the line cook at the local burger place couldn't be more excited to tell you about his crypto investment portfolio.
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