13 Matching Annotations
  1. Mar 2024
    1. The hallowed American dream is thegold standard by which politicians and voters alike are meant to measurequality of life as each generation pursues its own definition of happinessunfettered by the restraints of birth (who your parents are) or station (theposition you start out from in the class system).

      Did it help that America was broadly formed during the start of the Industrial Revolution and at a time in which social mobility was dramatically different than the period of history which proceeded it?

      And how much of this difference is split with the idea of the rise of (toxic) capitalism and the switch to "keeping up with the Jonses" which also tends to drive class distinctions?

  2. Nov 2021
  3. Jun 2021
    1. "I am also concerned that despite the best of intentions many of us have not considered adequately what social justice means and entails. I worry that social justice may become simply a “topic du jour” in music education, a phrase easily cited and repeated without careful examination of the assumptions and actions it implicates. That can lead to serious misunderstandings."

  4. Nov 2020
    1. it had been dark, silent, beautiful very often—oh yes—but mournful somehow

      This gives a hint of how life must have been for Leila living in a country. "Dark" and "silent" allude to her being alone, given that she is an only child, which also accounts that her life must have been quite dull and lonely. Yet, she also mentions that most of her nights are "beautiful," which elucidates that she has been living a good life. Perhaps she lives in a lovely house, and her family owns a nice and vast farm, given that she also comes from the same class of family as the Sheridans.

  5. Jul 2020
  6. May 2020
  7. May 2019
    1. inferiority of your connexions? — to congratulate myself on the hope of relations, whose condition in life is so decidedly beneath my own?”

      Connexions - "Relationship by family ties, as marriage or distant consanguinity. Often with a and plural" (OED).

      Technically, Mr. Darcy and the Bennet family are from the same class, the gentry, but he has better connections. Mr. Darcy is related to Lady Catherine De Bourgh who holds the highest title a woman can have within the Gentry class. Comparatively, the Bennet's are related to the Gardiners, who are in a class below the gentry, the professional class.

  8. Sep 2018
    1. Oh no I’m sure any delta is brighter than an epsilon like those. That’s one of the wonderful things about being a gamma. We’re not too stupid and we’re not too bright to be a gamma is to be just right

      this part of the dialogue creates a great sense of social and class inequality in the world created by this movie. Deltas are considered wise and have greater responsibilities whereas gammas are considered somewhere in between and are in charge of more mundane matters.

  9. Apr 2018
    1. Mr. Collins was only a clergyman

      Being a clergymen as a living meant a guaranteed income and home for the lifetime of the clergyman lucky enough to be appointed to one. Since the incumbent did not receive a wage or sully his hands with works per se, it was considered a gentlemanly profession and many younger sons of gentlemen pursued the church as their career."

      (Grace, Maria. Vicars, Curates, and Church Livings. Random Bits of Fascination. Web.)

  10. Sep 2017
    1. – Two days ago, one of our rocket buses was denied permission for an emergency landing.

      I have never seen this movie, so the start of this scene is a bit confusing. Why are these people secluded from what seems like the rest of society? I also notice that there are no people of color aboard on this "rocket bus;" it seems like only the upper class are included so far.

  11. Jul 2017
    1. Social Change

      caused by conflict between the oweners of material productions and the producers which results in a change in the economic bases. This then leads to a transformation of the superstructure.

  12. Mar 2016
    1. Credentalism is economic discrimination disguised as opportunity. Over the past 40 years, professions that never required a college degree began demanding it. "The United States has become the most rigidly credentialised society in the world," write James Engell and Anthony Dangerfield in their 2005 book Saving Higher Education in the Age of Money. "A BA is required for jobs that by no stretch of imagination need two years of full-time training, let alone four."
  13. Dec 2015
    1. If you've ever felt bad about working a very low-status job, or looked down on someone else for it, this might change your attitude.

      • It's ironic that many low-wage jobs are jobs that many people couldn't tolerate.
      • These days, one should be embarrassed to admit working for Wall Street, the NSA, or Congress.
      • Our government is full of people who should be mopping floors and wiping tables instead.
      • The military shouldn't be the only obvious opportunity for working-class kids.