May 2, 2007--Class Warfare
Why when anyone brings up the issue of economic inequality—John Edward’s Two Americas for example--or the disparity in the distribution of wealth—the fact that the top 1% in the US control 38% of the wealth--that person is accused of engaging in Class Warfare?
This is a residue of the Cold War during which Capitalism contended for world domination with Communism, a system that obviously focused on class issues. Thus, at that time, to talk about class in America was considered subversive. If you did so, you were in danger of being called a Commie. And that had real consequences.
But the Cold War is long over and since class-based issues are important, even if there is a lingering reluctance to talk about them, it’s time to move on so we can speak openly about the not-so-hidden injuries of class.
In case you are still a little nervous about entering into anything resembling Class Warfare, we should reluctantly accept that that war too is over. And we should also acknowledge that we lost—inequalities in income and wealth have continued to widen—the rich are much, much richer and thus by comparison the rest of us are poorer—and even so-called progressive Democrats do not have much of an appetite, or the political will, to make things more equal. For example, do you really think that even if they recapture the White House and retain control of both houses of Congress that they will roll back much of the Bush tax cuts that dramatically favor the ultra-rich?
But let’s still talk a little about class before signing the Articles of Surrender to see if we can sneak in a few codicils that might make things a bit more equal—or at least help level the playing field on which individuals contend for the opportunities that can lead to improvements in their lot in life. If they can talk about class in the NY Times (see link below) that should provide some sanction for the rest of us to join in.
First we need to look at those opportunities that capitalism has traditionally offered to foster a version of a Meritocracy. First among these has been a robust and effective public education system that welcomes all, including new Americans. Our great American narrative proclaims that it is mainly through our brains and hard work that we advance. This narrative eschews the intergenerational transmission of wealth and privilege. That doesn’t feel American. All right, a good deal of this got lost along the way; but if you look at the bios of the Fortune 500 CEOs, as just one segment of those who are among our most successful, almost all come from modest beginnings and benefited greatly by public education, all the way through college. A surprising few come from wealthy parents and just as few attended elite colleges and universities.
So we need to fix our pubic schools if there is any chance, in the 21st Century especially, to reduce inequality through the medium of education. There are ways to do that; and it’s not just about investing more money in our schools—though that too is critical. For example, we do know how to teach kids to be literate and to do math—we just need to implement those methods that have been proven to work. And in higher education, as another illustration, we need to move further along from race-based to class-based admissions and scholarships and other forms of financial aid. That would make a huge, short-term difference.
And if we fixed our schools we would quickly see that we also need to fix our health care system for kids. Good pre- and post-natal care, healthy food and health bodies are essential to doing well in school—so schools and health are inexorable connected.
Then, so is housing. Among other things, students can’t study in over-crowded environments. For decades, studies have shown that to do well in school requires private, quiet study space at home. So we need to fix housing too. It is as much linked to doing well in school as good health.
So, if we worked on just these three things—all of which are class-based variables—we could make a huge differences in the unfair disparities that continue to infect our society.
Since we know this to be true, since we have the ideas we need to accomplish this, and, and since we also have the resources to do so, what’s the problem?
* * *
Saturday Stories return this Saturday.
This is a residue of the Cold War during which Capitalism contended for world domination with Communism, a system that obviously focused on class issues. Thus, at that time, to talk about class in America was considered subversive. If you did so, you were in danger of being called a Commie. And that had real consequences.
But the Cold War is long over and since class-based issues are important, even if there is a lingering reluctance to talk about them, it’s time to move on so we can speak openly about the not-so-hidden injuries of class.
In case you are still a little nervous about entering into anything resembling Class Warfare, we should reluctantly accept that that war too is over. And we should also acknowledge that we lost—inequalities in income and wealth have continued to widen—the rich are much, much richer and thus by comparison the rest of us are poorer—and even so-called progressive Democrats do not have much of an appetite, or the political will, to make things more equal. For example, do you really think that even if they recapture the White House and retain control of both houses of Congress that they will roll back much of the Bush tax cuts that dramatically favor the ultra-rich?
But let’s still talk a little about class before signing the Articles of Surrender to see if we can sneak in a few codicils that might make things a bit more equal—or at least help level the playing field on which individuals contend for the opportunities that can lead to improvements in their lot in life. If they can talk about class in the NY Times (see link below) that should provide some sanction for the rest of us to join in.
First we need to look at those opportunities that capitalism has traditionally offered to foster a version of a Meritocracy. First among these has been a robust and effective public education system that welcomes all, including new Americans. Our great American narrative proclaims that it is mainly through our brains and hard work that we advance. This narrative eschews the intergenerational transmission of wealth and privilege. That doesn’t feel American. All right, a good deal of this got lost along the way; but if you look at the bios of the Fortune 500 CEOs, as just one segment of those who are among our most successful, almost all come from modest beginnings and benefited greatly by public education, all the way through college. A surprising few come from wealthy parents and just as few attended elite colleges and universities.
So we need to fix our pubic schools if there is any chance, in the 21st Century especially, to reduce inequality through the medium of education. There are ways to do that; and it’s not just about investing more money in our schools—though that too is critical. For example, we do know how to teach kids to be literate and to do math—we just need to implement those methods that have been proven to work. And in higher education, as another illustration, we need to move further along from race-based to class-based admissions and scholarships and other forms of financial aid. That would make a huge, short-term difference.
And if we fixed our schools we would quickly see that we also need to fix our health care system for kids. Good pre- and post-natal care, healthy food and health bodies are essential to doing well in school—so schools and health are inexorable connected.
Then, so is housing. Among other things, students can’t study in over-crowded environments. For decades, studies have shown that to do well in school requires private, quiet study space at home. So we need to fix housing too. It is as much linked to doing well in school as good health.
So, if we worked on just these three things—all of which are class-based variables—we could make a huge differences in the unfair disparities that continue to infect our society.
Since we know this to be true, since we have the ideas we need to accomplish this, and, and since we also have the resources to do so, what’s the problem?
* * *
Saturday Stories return this Saturday.
posted by Steven Zwerling at
11:57 AM
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