When explaining why his cabinet is filled with billionaires, President Donald Trump uttered what might just earn him Class Action’s 2017 Most Classist Comment of the Year Award. Mr. Trump said, “Somebody said why did you appoint a rich person to be in charge of the economy? No, it’s true. And … I said: ‘Because […]
Classism in the Economy
Trump’s Presidency: What We Deserve
Type “Trump voters deserve” into your search bar, and the two suggestions that pop up are “Trump voters deserve what they get” and “Trump voters deserve to lose healthcare.” To me, and I’d guess probably to you, this logic is completely unsurprising. In the Northeastern city where I live, we hear it every day – […]
The Poverty Catch-22
The High Costs of Destitution Cause a Vicious Cycle Nothing is more infuriating than the ill-informed critique that “the haves” like to lob at “the have-nots.” Here’s a classic: “If you’re so poor and can’t afford to eat, then why are you overweight?” If you have ever been poor, you know the answer to that question […]
Class in Crisis
Usually when I sit down to write out my thoughts on a political event, I write because I want to express an idea to resolve an issue. In fact, I would venture to say that most political writing is a reaction to some current event, with an idea of how this event can/will/should be handled. Today that is […]
The Gig Economy and The Creative
A Perfect Match, Right? People with power tend to view gigs as hobbies, or sometimes lucrative endeavors in the “sharing economy.” Everybody knows Uber drivers, indies and consultants make a killing while controlling their own destinies, right? Yeah, as if. For 26 years I’ve depended on project work, “gigs,” for my employment and income source. I didn’t […]
The Demise of Neoliberalism
And What It Means to U.S. Communities The election of Donald Trump and the Bernie Sanders campaign made it clear that people are rejecting “business as usual.” There are many reasons why Hillary Clinton lost the election, but her strong association with “the status quo” (business as usual) was a major factor. Collectively, I agree that […]
Beyond Trump: Creating Class-Race Alliances
Part of the White, Working Class, and Worried about Trump (#WhiteWorkingClassVsTrump) Campaign*: I grew up in economically depressed, though beautiful, northeastern Vermont. My family was on and off welfare throughout my childhood, and we were always poor. As a child, I was acutely aware of the ways poverty set me apart from other people. As I […]
Beyond Trump: Building a Coalition for Change
Part of the White, Working Class, and Worried about Trump (#WhiteWorkingClassVsTrump) Campaign*: I grew up in South St. Louis City in a multi-racial, working-class neighborhood. My dad was a union carpenter, and my mom worked part-time at various jobs while maintaining the home. I’m the oldest of seven children. I remember the constant anxiety in our […]
Risk Telling the Truth
I thought I was going to be a career teacher. But after a decade, I hit bottom. Teaching in inner-city schools, I saw the barriers my students faced and confronted my own limits caused by my vastly different experience growing up. I had some positive, uplifting experiences, but I wasn’t very resilient, and I kept […]
My Summers on the Cape
Working, Not “Summering,” on Martha’s Vineyard Summer rolling around means vacations for many. But for others it means seasonal migration to restaurant and hospitality work. When on the Cape recently, I stopped by a Black Dog store, to check to see if the clothing was still made on the island of Martha’s Vineyard. A considerable […]
Brexit: Race and Class
I had very mixed emotions about the Brexit vote. Having watched the manner in which the European Union strangled Greece, I have not been very sanguine about the EU as a project. The guiding vision of the EU is neo-liberal globalization. And it is determined to impose this on the continent. At the same time, […]
Brexit – A Class Issue
Two weeks on, a lot of progressive people in Britain are still in deep shock or fury or despair – or alternating rapidly between all three emotional states. A full 51.9% of British people voted to Leave the European Union (Brexit), and 48.1% voted to Remain in the EU. It was 17.4 million votes to 16.1 million. […]
Choosing Not to Go Into Debt for College
Nicole Brown wrote the following after reading, and being so affected by, last month’s (May 2016) Classism Exposed blog post on the possibility that students are deciding not to attend college due to the fear of loan debt. After reading that low-income and working-class students may be choosing not to go to college for fear of taking on debt, […]
Avoiding Loans at Any Cost
Recently, community college students in a class taught by Classism Exposed contributor L.A. Kurth (see her note at the bottom of the post) responded to an essay in Yes!* magazine about the student loan debt and the feasibility of a debt strike. Their responses illustrate the loss of opportunity and potential we ensure by offering loans […]
Forgoing College to Forgo Debt
In education, we are headed toward a perfect storm. Increasingly large numbers of capable students are so afraid of incurring debt that they are deciding not to go to college. I’m not talking about marginal students but successful students. These are not the students that lawmakers are likely to hear about. They and their families are too […]
Crowdfunding as Community
Crowdfunding, a type of online fundraising where many people come together to contribute small amounts of money to fund a larger project, is happening now more than ever. In 2014, a man named Zack Danger Brown started a fundraiser with an initial goal of $10 so he could make potato salad. People were so amused […]
Too Afraid of Debt to Go to College
Recently, students in a class taught by Classism Exposed contributor L.A. Kurth responded to an essay in Yes! magazine about the student loan debt and the feasibility of a debt strike.1 Their responses illustrate the loss of opportunity and potential we ensure by offering loans with interest as high as 20% instead of grants or […]
Respect the Laboring Class
I’m British, I’m white and from a poor working-class background in a Northern English city. I am lucky enough to have a university education. I passionately believe in social justice and that everybody should have the same chances for health care, educational opportunities, career advancement, and the right to work hard and prosper. Now, like […]
The New Caste Class
As the top 1% grabs most of the new wealth created in the United States, a conversation about inequality has risen to the top of national discourse. This will likely lead to a new focus on class that is always the central issue in capitalist societies. What is remarkable is not that the capitalist class […]
Class Consciousness and College Education: 529 Plan Strikes Nerve
President Obama released his budget proposal this week outlining a number of commonsense ideas to reduce inequality and create an even playing field. One provision contained in his budget that certainly won’t become law anytime soon is a proposed levy on college savings accounts known as 529 plans, which the White House has publicly rescinded. […]
