Sonic Youth Gossip - View Single Post - ATTN 29-39 Year Olds: Career & Education Options in the 2010's

!@#$%! · 02.20.2015, 02:33 PM

before anyone gets unnecessarily offended i thought i should clarify: "proletarian" is not an insult.

it's just the word for wage earners without property. mortgaged homes don't really count as they can be taken away by the bank-- you don't own it until it's all paid off.

the middle class used to be this sort of elevated wage earner that would run the proletarians on behalf of the rich, due to their education. at some point due to their earning power the proletarians earned like the middle class. but those days are over and their numbers are shrinking fast.

the problem in america is that everyone thinks they are middle class. e.g. joe the plumber.

but what everyone fails to see (well not everyone, but people cling to their status of birth) is that the middle class has been proletarized. their knowledge and skill and education are easily replaced or outsourced just like the replaceable farmhand or coal miner of old. anybody and their dog have a degree now.

that's the reality and we have to get used to it. there's the property owners and there's everyone else. and there is no workers paradise.

this is not a cure-all that will fix society, but the safest way for a wage-earner to break free of their proletarian trap is to save like a motherfucker and buy property-- i.e., shares in the very corporations that rule their lives. then they can do whatever the fuck they want. see: early retirement.

i hope it's clear enough that by buying property i don't mean hock yourself to a 30-year loan in the hope that one day you'll own your own mini-castle that you can then borrow against to finance your lifestyle upgrades. that's just renting from the bank. or buying a new car every other year from the car dealer and losing tons in interest and depreciation. by buying property i mean buying the means of production.

of course the aspirationals have their comforts and are unwilling to part with them-- they think if they just keep making their monthly payments all will be well in the end.

this some 4 years after OWS and people still haven't realized that technology and globalization have shredded the old ways of life. they keep clamoring for their return--thinking they can chant babylon down.

so yes, what the information economy brought was not the lifting of the proletariat into the middle class, but rather the proletarization of knowledge. you don't wanna punch your keys? we'll find someone in india. not just data entry people-- lawyers, radiologists, etc.

i actually know diesel mechanics that make a much better living than many people with post-graduate degrees. supply/demand.

in a way the one doing things right here is rastafriends-- because he didn't have any middle class pretentions in the first place and because his record won't let him get sucked into death--i mean debt-- the other slavery. so he picked a job he liked, started at the bottom, and he pays as he goes.

go forth & thrash suckas.

02.20.2015, 02:33 PM	#14
!@#$%! invito al cielo Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: mars attacks Posts: 42,468	before anyone gets unnecessarily offended i thought i should clarify: "proletarian" is not an insult. it's just the word for wage earners without property. mortgaged homes don't really count as they can be taken away by the bank-- you don't own it until it's all paid off. the middle class used to be this sort of elevated wage earner that would run the proletarians on behalf of the rich, due to their education. at some point due to their earning power the proletarians earned like the middle class. but those days are over and their numbers are shrinking fast. the problem in america is that everyone thinks they are middle class. e.g. joe the plumber. but what everyone fails to see (well not everyone, but people cling to their status of birth) is that the middle class has been proletarized. their knowledge and skill and education are easily replaced or outsourced just like the replaceable farmhand or coal miner of old. anybody and their dog have a degree now. that's the reality and we have to get used to it. there's the property owners and there's everyone else. and there is no workers paradise. this is not a cure-all that will fix society, but the safest way for a wage-earner to break free of their proletarian trap is to save like a motherfucker and buy property-- i.e., shares in the very corporations that rule their lives. then they can do whatever the fuck they want. see: early retirement. i hope it's clear enough that by buying property i don't mean hock yourself to a 30-year loan in the hope that one day you'll own your own mini-castle that you can then borrow against to finance your lifestyle upgrades. that's just renting from the bank. or buying a new car every other year from the car dealer and losing tons in interest and depreciation. by buying property i mean buying the means of production. of course the aspirationals have their comforts and are unwilling to part with them-- they think if they just keep making their monthly payments all will be well in the end. this some 4 years after OWS and people still haven't realized that technology and globalization have shredded the old ways of life. they keep clamoring for their return--thinking they can chant babylon down. so yes, what the information economy brought was not the lifting of the proletariat into the middle class, but rather the proletarization of knowledge. you don't wanna punch your keys? we'll find someone in india. not just data entry people-- lawyers, radiologists, etc. i actually know diesel mechanics that make a much better living than many people with post-graduate degrees. supply/demand. in a way the one doing things right here is rastafriends-- because he didn't have any middle class pretentions in the first place and because his record won't let him get sucked into death--i mean debt-- the other slavery. so he picked a job he liked, started at the bottom, and he pays as he goes. go forth & thrash suckas.
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