Sunday, January 15, 2012

Economic (In)Justice

"I am not interested in power for power's sake, but I'm interested in power that is moral, that is right and that is good." -Martin Luther King Jr.
The problems that feminists face every day are simliar to those who struggle to pay their bills every month. They do not have the same social standing as others in their community. It's true that class warfare still exists. You just can't see it. It's become an unsaid issue that America seemingly has gotten used to. All you have to do is turn on the television and see the endless ads for 'help with credit card debt', Montel Williams appealing to your wallet and even opera singers asking if you NEED CASH NOW. It's everywhere.
Behind all of the dollar signs hides the real problem: money=power. This unsaid power is understood by the flaunting of riches. The fancy cars, the expensive clothes, Rolex watches, etc.
Feminists deal with a similar understood power. It's the power of the privileged. As we covered earlier this week, author Allan Johnson defined that the privileged are powered by the fact that they have something that others are denied. In the battle of the wealthy versus the less fortunate, it's a privilege of money. In the sense of men versus women or even African American Vs. White it's a privilege of rights. In both cases a particular group is deprived and whenever someone is denied equal rights, it's always a feminist issue.
I included a famous scene from the film "Wall Street" that contains a motto that many people and companies still live by. A motto that is part of the problem: "Greed is good."
My discussion point for the class would have to be does anyone get the sense of unbalanced power that I mentioned. Is it easier to see today or does one have to look into the past?

14 comments:

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  2. So glad you brought up the fact that wealth = power and that this is once again an issue of privilege vs. oppression, just like gender inequality!

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  3. Those TV commercials are a perfect example. I think that political correctness has done alot for keeping many things unsaid for fear of being seen as distasteful, immoral or unethical. But the relationship between wealth and power are still crystal clear as far as I'm concerned. It doesn't have to be blatant or obvious anymore, it's already engrained in our culture.

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  4. Love commercial connection! That is something we witness almost everyday. Great connection to the movie & Johnson reading too. I must admit, I've never heard of the saying "Greed is Good".

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  5. Capitalism Rant:
    The quote "greed is good" is said by Michael Douglas right before he is about to screw over the newspaper company and whoever hes merging it with(if I remember correctly), BUT I don't think that take's away from the validity of the statement. "Greed" is what our country is founded on. Capitalism's foundation is based on "greed"... now that I write it out "Greed" may be the wrong word to use, simply due to semantics and its negative connotation. But the drive to succeed and prosper over you're neighbor is what defines the United States. The availability of upward mobility is something that should be cherished. We are in a constant battle to gain power, respect, love, money, friendship, etc. in life as Gekko states... and is that bad? I wouldn't want a society where everything is equal and I have no chance to become something better.

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  6. ...I liked the post though and I agree that the social class system is a constant in our lives. I was just saying in my "Capitalism Rant" that I don't see the social class system changing in a Capitalist society (or any society, really, even monarchies and communist states have class systems), but I think that there are ways to make the divide between the classes less stark. Good post!

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  7. I think this what the Occupy movement is about. The disparity in income and power that the higher class have. It's hard not to blame the wealthy because if you had all the power and money to get anything you wanted, would you give that power away?

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  8. I really enjoyed your post it was very to the point on what social class has to do with feminism. You are right, we are always surrounded by the idea of getting more money and the ideology that money = power. The people in power are those who have money. I also saw the movie Wall Street in my American Lit. class this past semester and I think it really encompasses the idea of the class system.

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  9. I like how you mentioned the stuff about seeing "need cash now everywhere". Its sad that a lot of people actually call those numbers, and find out later that they end up paying double in the end because of such high interest, its too bad that the gap between the very wealthy and poor only seems to be getting bigger.

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  10. Along with Jean, I liked how you said the wealth is power thing. We need to make changes in society and its so hard when the people who dont want change have all the power. The wealthy dont understand fully how bad the economic situation is because they are feeling the struggles of other less wealthy people. Awesome job!

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  11. i really like how you started your blog with "I am not interested in power for power's sake, but I'm interested in power that is moral, that is right and that is good." -Martin Luther King Jr. It was a great way to set up your post and really explain what Martin Luther King Jr. has gone through this too although he isnt a female others who are men feel it too.

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  12. "Behind all of the dollar signs hides the real problem: money=power. This unsaid power is understood by the flaunting of riches. The fancy cars, the expensive clothes, Rolex watches, etc.
    Feminists deal with a similar understood power. It's the power of the privileged" I really liked your post. For someone like me who likes to look at many different view points, I really loved how you related you blog back to Johnson's work. I also loved the Money=Power bit. This is so true, thus why people are too proud to take assistance, and are trying so hard to move up the social ladder. Adding in some Martin Luther King was a great idea in loo of todays Holday. His struggles resemble the struggles we are still fighting today in 2012 for equality. Great Post! Thanks for posting.

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  13. I think its easier to to see money-power now because there is a larger gap between the wealthy, middle class and poor.

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  14. Its much easier to see the gap now, clearly the middle class is disappearing to mesh with the lower class, and the gap is getting higher with the higher class.

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