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-ation vs. -ation

By Owen Paine on Thursday May 8, 2008 06:51 PM

Is it really white trash that cottons to St Hill?

That phrase -- "white trash" -- I just read on the internet somewhere is a "classist slur".

"Classism" -- now that's an odious jumble of a notion. It seems to notice how an elite might not just exploit, but also also "oppress" another class. "Classism" -- a squishy term -- far more so than 'racist' or even 'sexist'. And 'oppression' -- squishier than 'exploitation', which has a pretty crisp, quantitative meaning.

The St Hill mob is trying to pin the "classist" label on Obie. And of course that's a delight, since between Ob and la Scorpion, calling one or the other 'classist' is straight pot-vs-kettle, isn't it?

In demotic, the better word is 'elitist' either way

I like this old GOP rag. Beyond the obvious delight it gives me to see the dueling identity pols smearing each other with it, the notion seeks to isolate all the obviously embarrassing bits out of our class based society -- but leave the nuggets in place.

The nuggets? Why, exploitation, of course. "Classists" don't exploit the helotry -- they sneer at 'em, they condescend to 'em. They -- escape 'em. And best of all, classists try to -- reform 'em.

So we have a clear choice, as white trash or as blue-collars. We got one party -- the GOP -- of hard exploitation; and another party -- the Jackasses -- who like to deplore "oppression", and leave exploitation out of the picture, unmentioned, unmentionable, perhaps nonexistent.

Comments (5)

op:

i might add the dembotry
deplores a hard opression
whilst practicing
a soft one

Al Schumann:

The happy pair! I pray they have the opportunity to spend the rest of their nights in Procrustes's neoliberal bed, together, where they can chew on the day's recriminations before smashing the lamp with a baseball bat. Dreams! Sweet dreams of fines and garnished paychecks.

Rustication just isn't enough for people like them, Owen. They need to spend a few decades choosing between going into debt for medical bills and going into debt to replace the car that will take them to the job that got them injured enough to need long term medical attention. They need a galling six page "means test" double bind questionnaire administered every time they humble themselves enough to ask for a little relief. They need to dread, every day as they head out for their daily dose of the dignity of labor, someone noticing how easy it would be to kick in the cardboard door hanging from a kindling wood frame. They need to be lectured for smoking without asking permission from their supervisor. Most of all, they need to go to work after spending a weekend in jail for contempt of cop. Then, they may offer their disquisitions on elitism and the ways of "white trash".

angryman@24:10:
That phrase -- "white trash" -- I just read on the internet somewhere is a "classist slur".

Well then it must be true!

Is there such a thing as White Trashonomics?

Speaking of treating class as a mere ideology, check out what Ralphie just emailed me. Its elisions, self-excuses, and failures-to-learn-better are as huge as any in the DP and/or The Nation mag:

"Yesterday, we held a protest at the National Highway Traffic Safety Agency (NHTSA).

"NHTSA is the federal agency Ralph Nader brought into being more than forty years ago.

"It was set up to make cars safer.

"NHTSA has morphed into a consulting firm for the auto industry."

"Morphed?" What did Ralphie imagine he was doing on Day One?

UAAS is almost as over-rated as Bill Clinton.

David D:

"Is there such a thing as White Trashonomics?"


As a matter of fact Yes! EconomicDictionary.com between White Paper and Wholesale banking sits White trashonomics-the eekonomike sistm' based on pri'vite properdy n' pri'vite enterprise....

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