MetaFilter posts tagged with egalitarianism

Le gauche caviar

acb — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 07:36:13 -0800

So, what's the problem with champagne socialism? Are well-off advocates of left-wing positions hypocrites? How does one square egalitarian convictions with personal affluence?

Innere Glut.

kipmanley — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 10:30:34 -0800

“The prevailing attitude seems to be that issues of politics and morality—the sort of issues that most people can perceive clearly in connection with, say, corporate glass ceilings or the patronage of lunch counters—are suddenly off limits where music is concerned.” The Wiener Philharmoniker, a democratically self-administered orchestra regularly considered one of the finest in the world, has 112 members. Four of them are women. One of the men is half-Asian. “From the beginning,” said Dieter Flury, a solo-flutist, in 1996, “we have spoken of the special Viennese qualities, of the way music is made here. The way we make music here is not only a technical ability, but also something that has a lot to do with the soul. The soul does not let itself be separated from the cultural roots that we have here in central Europe. And it also doesn't allow itself to be separated from gender. So if one thinks that the world should function by quota regulations,then it is naturally irritating that we are a group of white skinned male musicians, that perform exclusively the music of white skinned male composers. It is a racist and sexist irritation. I believe one must put it that way. If one establishes superficial egalitarianism, one will lose something very significant. Therefore, I am convinced that it is worthwhile to accept this racist and sexist irritation, because something produced by a superficial understanding of human rights would not have the same standards.”

They call him the "Rabbah Rouser"

zarq — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 21:09:26 -0800

“There’s a tremendous amount of anxiety among religious traditionalists that when you take one step toward egalitarianism, the floodgates are open and everything that seemed self-evident will no longer be. Men go to work, and women raise children. If you undermine that, you have lost your whole universe.”

The Reform, Conservative and Reconstructionist movements of Judaism have been ordaining women as rabbis for decades, but the religion's most traditional sect, the Orthodox, remains a lone, minority holdout against egalitarianism. Last year, Orthodox Rabbi Avraham "Avi" Weiss (political activist and founder of the controversial, liberal, "Open Orthodox" Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Yeshiva in New York) tried to shake things up by ordaining the first female American Orthodox rabbi. Weiss ordination of 'Rabbah' Sara Hurwitz has led to a statement from the Orthodox Rabbinical Council of America accepting an expansion of leadership roles for women in their synagogues. Related: This week, Rabbi Weiss was one of about 100 moderate Orthodox rabbis and teachers from North America and Israel who signed a “statement of principles” outlining a tolerant, open, accepting approach to gay men and women who want to maintain ties with their Orthodox community, family and friends. The statement says that "although [Orthodox] Judaism 'cannot give its blessing and imprimatur to Jewish religious same-sex commitment ceremonies and weddings,' communities must still accept 'practicing' gay couples and their children into synagogues, schools." Homophobia is not uncommon in Orthodox communities.

Rich get richer, poor get poorer...

AlexReynolds — Sun, 15 May 2005 07:13:04 -0800

Class Mobility within America - The mythology surrounding Horatio Alger is a powerful force within American culture: the idea that anyone can pull oneself up by the bootstraps to become financially successful. Surprising research by statistician Miles Corak shows that Americans have no more income mobility than Europeans — contradicting cultural presumptions of egalitarianism — and even less than Scandinavian countries, despite their heavy taxation. Marketing slowly meets reality in the American Dream...

'The Dark Side of Egalitarianism'

misteraitch — Wed, 27 Oct 2004 03:59:58 -0800

The Law of Jante (Janteloven) was codified by the Danish-born novelist Aksel Sandemose while he was living in Norway. The Law comprises ten 'commandments', and describes an unspoken code of conformity that Sandemose felt as a stifling inhibitive influence in the town where he grew up. Later commentators have used the term more generally to refer to the anti-individualist tendencies that have traditionally pervaded Scandinavian culture, and to denote 'the dark side of egalitarianism'. Of course, the Law needn't be interpreted in such a negative light, and egalitarianism has its good side too, the difficult question being: do the benefits of equality make it worthwhile suffering the strictures of Janteloven?