Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Class Conflict (3 day event)

London riots, Israeli demonstrations, The Arabian Winter of Discontent, even the quiet frustrations Americans are harboring ...they all have one central issue: A want for opportunity, fairness, and equality.


What, you thought times have changed?  Don't kid yourself.  Since the beginning of modern civilization (I would start with the Romans, mostly because I do not have sufficient knowledge of the lives of previous peoples to make an accurate argument) the economic and social classes of the people have given way to conflict.  Plebes had to seek patronage from their rich counterparts in order to obtain loans, get legal counsel, and settle disputes, among other things.  How did the patrons get to be so rich?  It could be any number of reasons: inheritance, rising through the military ranks and conquering other lands, appointment to public office (Quaestor, Praetor, Aedile, Censor, or Governor) by the Senate or Emperor, or cunning business skill that very few possess, yet everyone wants.  Three out of these four deal with your status when you are born.  Your parents die and leave you their inheritance.  For the most part, the only officers in the Roman legions were those from noble families.  To run for public office, the man needed a lot of money to sustain the costs associated with it and unless you had rich parents to begin with, it is impossible to obtain the coin needed to make such a run.  The patrons would want votes for public office in return for supporting the plebes.  Who would say no to a rich man that helped you out, only a fool.

But I digress...      

Opportunity:
Everyone wants to get into a great school, find a good job, and live in a nice neighborhood...right?  It's the classic American Dream we've heard so much about.  And yet, it is still a dream for many Americans.  School tuition has increased so much that those without rich parents may not even get the chance to go a university.  If he or she does get accepted and decides to go, the student loans he or she will have to pay-off will haunt him or her for the next 20-30 years.  And since student loans are not subject to default, collection agencies that will be given your loan will start nibbling it from your wages until it is all collected with interest of course.  Then again, higher education has become a joke.

Finding a good job is very difficult if you don't have a good education (paradox anyone?)  What you are paying for in education is really just contacts and connections in order to find a job you want.

Good luck finding a nice place to live without the great job you so desired.

It all comes down to if your parents had the money to send you to a good university or you were somehow lucky enough to get in and pay for it then you would have access to good employment opportunities.  Sound familiar?

Tomorrow I'll continue with the word of the day: Fairness


2 comments:

  1. I totally agree, but a want for opportunity, fairness, and equality requires much more sacrifice than money.

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  2. At the moment, I am looking at culinary schools. Well, I had the luck to be born in a rich family. Not overly, but not poor either, and well, my entire college education (5 years plus a monthly allowance) has been paid out of pocket, but a fund my grandmother started so that I COULD go to any college I so desired without problem. Both she and my dad would shovel money in there. Well, now, I've used up a lot of that money. (And no, I have no idea how much is in the account. Actually, I have 3 or 4 bank accounts, and 2 of them, despite being the primary person in control, I don't look at--my dad runs MY finances. He doesn't want me thinking I have that money. It's like secret money. He wants me to learn on the small bit I get every month and learn the value of it. To learn I can't purchase a new wardrobe every week or buy extravagant ingredients or 50 books a month. And of course, I've let him. I mean, in a sense, I know it's a good idea.

    However, now there's this issue of $33,000 for 6 months worth of great culinary education (I'm hoping for FCI, French Culinary Institue), but that's bleedin $33,000. I looked at CIA, and it's $33,000 a year (it's actually the same information between the 6 months and year, but FCI condenses their curriculum).

    Now what do I do? Now I've spent all this money for a college degree that I won't really use, but desire to go to a great culinary school with textbooks I adore and the deans are people like Jacques Torres and Pepin. Dan Barber and Wylie Dufresne and even Bobby Flay went there. (I love Dan Barber, btw.) I adore their pastry textbook. It's comprehenisive, functional, beautiful--everything I desire in personality. (I disliked Le Cordon Bleu's, old design styles, almost from the 80s, and it's just not... Entirely appealing, sadly, actually. CIA's is ok, but confusing. Beautiful, sometimes informative, yet riddled with using more modern ingredients that I like to stay away from, even if it's, I guess, easier. I love to keep my food basic, as few ingredients as possible with the greatest of flavours.)

    I feel like I'm digressing a lot, but my issue is, do I go after my dream school or do I decide to go to a cheaper and (possibly) one I'd enjoy less.

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