MetaFilter posts tagged with class

Modern journalism: Only rich kids need apply.

shetterly — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 12:23:27 -0800

The Costs of Becoming a Journalist: "Journalists born since 1970 predominantly come from middle class to upper middle class backgrounds. And Journalism ranks third in the list of the most socially exclusive professions, just behind doctors and lawyers." One reason: "a prerequisite for entrance into a career in journalism is at least one internship experience, and ... many, if not most, are unpaid." For some of the problems with unpaid internship: Take This Internship and Shove It

Decentralized User-Generated Cellular Education

Miko — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 08:39:23 -0800

"The Public School is a school with no curriculum. At the moment, it operates as follows: first, classes are proposed by the public (I want to learn this or I want to teach this); then, people have the opportunity to sign up for the classes (I also want to learn that); finally, when enough people have expressed interest, the school finds a teacher and offers the class to those who signed up." A project of Telic Arts Exchange.

Oh, Daddy and Mommy keep their boat down by the house on Martha's. More Gin?

leotrotsky — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 06:16:21 -0800

The Atlantic takes a look at the American Class System: a look at Paul Fussell's Class 25 years later. Of particular interest is the movement of Class 'X' from outside the system to the core of the status-obsessed center. Not that I'd know anything about it, of course, I'm too busy riding my fixie around Portland twittering for my ecopreneur gig.

All The Best People.

The Whelk — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 07:33:47 -0800

Indeed, all three of Hitler’s prized leather whips were presents from high society ladies. : Christopher Clark reviews High Society in the Third Reich by Fabrice d’Almeida in the London Review Of Books.

Class War on the Dancefloor

mippy — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 15:16:17 -0800

As laddish 'landfill indie' bands take over the British charts and the previous vanguard of art-school bands trouble the mainstream less, the old debate on class in pop music rears its head once again.

The case of the disappearing Toff

MrMerlot — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 11:36:52 -0800

The Bullingdon Club is an elite ~~drinking~~ dining club for members of Oxford University in England. Its alumni include the London Mayor, Boris Johnson; the leader of the Conservative Party, David Cameron and the shadow Chancellor, George Osborne - in other words the three most powerful Tories in the UK. Photographs of the club are already extremely rare, but recently it surfaced that one of the two in wide circulation, might have been doctored. Incidentally, a previous image of the Club featuring David Cameron and Boris Johnson has recently been withdrawn from circulation.

An Anthology of Privilege Checklists

WCityMike — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 09:41:23 -0800

Privileges: Gender: 10 things only men can do (Askmen.com), male privilege (wiki), 21 Things Women Can Do That Guys Can't (Cosmo), female privilege (2 3 4 5). Race: white privilege (wiki). Sexual orientation: straight privilege (2) (wiki), cisgendered privilege. Body: able-bodied privilege, non-fat privilege. Money: non-poor privilege (2), class privilege (PDF). Demographics: Christian privilege, American privilege, adult privilege, black male privilege, Muslim male privilege. Combo: gamer privilege, male programmer privilege. Criticism and essays: victim privilege, "Point of Privilege", "We can't be equal while ... ", "Where's My Extra Piece of the Pie?". And, lest this become too serious: pirate privilege and lolcat privilege (the latter via). (Covered in smaller scope previously.)

What's the problem with Yale?

roomthreeseventeen — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 10:28:51 -0800

William Deresiewicz examines the pitfalls of an Ivy League education Apparently, the Ivies prepare you for... mediocrity.

Kiki and Bubu

homunculus — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 00:00:26 -0800

Kiki and Bubu! Austrian art collective monochrom presents the adventures of two sock puppets. Part One: Kiki and Bubu and The Shift. "Bubu wants to know why his dad is busy all the time. And Kiki explains him why... because of the neoliberal shift." Part Two: Kiki and Bubu and The Privilege. "Bubu ran into a bunch of liberals and they gave him a book. They said if he doesn't read it, they're going to beat him up. But Bubu can't read! And so Kiki helps..." [Via BB]

Class distinctions in the US and UK

mosessis — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 19:38:56 -0800

Social Class in the US and UK Lynne Murphy, a linguist from the US living in the UK, looks at the differences in class distinctions through the lens of the language we use to talk about them.

Bridging the Green Divide

lunit — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 14:12:25 -0800

"It used to be that the more radical you were on environmental issues, the farther you were from working-class people, poor people, and people of color, because you were making individual lifestyle changes that alienated you from the majority. You looked different; you ate different foods; you wore different clothes. Working-class people were shopping at Wal-Mart and eating at McDonald’s, and you were mad at them for it. With this new environmentalism, the more radical you are on environmental solutions, the closer you are to the working class." Van Jones works to create "green-collar" job opportunities to train disadvantaged workers in emerging green industries. Jones is the co-founder of the Ella Baker Center, an Oakland-based organization running the Green-Collar Jobs Campaign, the founder of Green For All, and the co-founder of Color of Change. He also writes for the Huffington Post.

Class dismissed.

anotherpanacea — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 07:25:17 -0800

How rich is rich? Becker and Posner debate billionaires. (They're rich, right?) How rich is too rich for democracy? Maybe the problem is that we're all middle class. Check your facts.

Low-Paid, Liberal, Nonprofit Yuppies Unite!

afu — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 22:08:31 -0800

The Trap. Are you a young, college educated liberal who can't afford health care or a place to live? In his new book, Daniel Brook says you are getting screwed by being forced to choose between a job that you would actually like or selling out so you can have a middle class lifestyle.

Eunice Norton on Well Tempered Clavier Book I #12, #13

tss — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 10:40:19 -0800

Eunice Norton (1908-2005) wiki, great-great-grandstudent of Beethoven, gives a detailed, analytical tour of Bach's Well Tempered Clavier #12 in F, Bk I (part 1, part 2, part 3) and #13 in F#, Bk I (part 1, part 2) in a 1989 video. I can't take credit for noticing this. In an e-mail from my dad (links are mine): Another interesting thing: Go to YouTube and search for Eunice Norton [recordings] and her discussions of Bach's WTC ## 12 and 13. She made these videos when she was 80, and she demonstrates Bach much as he likely sounded in his own time. It is quite extraordinary. She lived in Pittsburgh from about 1934 until a little after 2000. One of her teachers in the 1930s was Artur Schnabel wiki, probably the greatest pianist of the 20th century. He, through his teachers and their teachers, was a very direct link back to Beethoven, who practiced the WTC every day and considered Bach to be the master. What Norton says about Bach comes directly from Schnabel and probably comes equally directly from Beethoven. She died in 2005 but she too had a number of students who continue the link. The structure that Norton so expertly describes perhaps explains why Bach's music can transcend even... unconventional performances.

The proletariat will rise. And then go away.

Alex404 — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 16:53:45 -0800

Gunman bursts into party, tastes cheese and wine, gets hug, then leaves.

Ethan Hass Was Right

tellurian — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 22:02:52 -0800

Look to the stars for help - A flash puzzle.

Social class

caddis — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 21:49:42 -0800

Social Class Calculator From the NYT series on social class. What is social class in America? Little has changed in fifty years, or has it?

Viewing American class divisions through Facebook and MySpace

heatherann — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 05:19:25 -0800

Viewing American class divisions through Facebook and MySpace: "Hegemonic American teens (i.e. middle/upper class, college bound teens from upwards mobile or well off families) are all on or switching to Facebook. Marginalized teens, teens from poorer or less educated backgrounds, subculturally-identified teens, and other non-hegemonic teens continue to be drawn to MySpace. A class division has emerged and it is playing out in the aesthetics, the kinds of advertising, and the policy decisions being made." (Related blog post)

Buying experience, no Rekall required

stbalbach — Sat, 09 Jun 2007 09:05:27 -0800

Mint Lifestyle is the most exclusive "lifestyle management" service in the US - bored with luxury options, the wealthy are seeking unique and exclusive authentic life experiences. Want to meet Nelson Mandela? Shut down the San Francisco Zoo for a private tour? Watch a shuttle launch from a private NASA lounge? Tour Berlin with a former German Spy? Mint Lifestyle extends the hotel concierge concept to provide clients with an authentic life.

Mandingo Party

jason's_planet — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 07:22:02 -0800

[NSFW] “[T]onight's orgy is fairly typical. . . . Within an hour or so, the guests—23 white couples and 3 black couples—have arrived, all of them here specifically to have sex with single black men often a decade or two their junior. There are 12 such men in the house tonight. They call themselves Mandingos. And this is a Mandingo party.”

"I look up to him, because he is upper-class. But I look down on him, because he is lower-class."

Aloysius Bear — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 02:07:28 -0800

In Britain: Upper class, Upper middle class, Middle class, Lower middle class, Working class. An American on class.

Labor, Inc.: SEIU president says unions should serve corporations.

univac — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 02:46:36 -0800

SEIU President Andy Stern says unions should be less like unions. He recently teamed up with Wal-Mart to call for incremental healthcare reform, and has said that unions should assist employers in outsourcing their employees. His union once teamed up with CA nursing home operators to limit the rights of abused patients. This is the same union that promoted this insipid PR campaign.

Upwardly Goth

untitledalex — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 22:06:18 -0800

Goth Life Now "They won't like me saying it, but their lifestyle, unlike the punk scene, is a middle-class sub culture.' But hasn't it always been this way?

More free online courses!

loquacious — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 22:44:39 -0800

Do you love learning? I know you do. This might help keep you busy for a while.

Carfax might owe you $20

punkfloyd — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 06:58:27 -0800

"If you purchased a Carfax Vehicle History Report directly from Carfax at any time before October 27, 2006, you're a Class Member for purposes of this settlement." Seems Carfax reports only include damage reports from 30 U.S state. Something Carfax nover bothered to mention.