Class and EDUCATION.

[L_F_Miranda]

We were having a lively discussion on education several weeks ago but since then we've turned to other areas.

I'm opening this up again because I just came across a woman who, although appearing as "una Blanca mas tratando de enriquecerse de los pobres", she nevertheless says things that, we as Puero Ricans who are at the bottom of the educational pyramid, should understand.

A word of caution, This woman is not a heavy theoretician, she just describes, we can take it or leave it. I'm just the Messenger, therefore no personal attacks.

I've put down several excerpts from the NY Times magazine article of June 10,2007. Only food for thought.

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First of all, Ms, Ruby Payne, I could just see Suki "meandose de la risa", acknowledges that the poor aren't educated in the U.S because of Class differences. Duhhhhhhhhh. So whats new?

BUT WAIT! Payne might be getting to the crux of the matter, CLASS!

Class is a dirty word in America because Gringos truely believe they live in a class less society. Gringos believe, as an article of faith, that everyone in the U.S. of A is MIDDLE CLASS, either lower middle, mid-middle, upper middle, NEVER lower class! Payne also acknowleges that the only ones who see class as an obstacle are the Marxists, but nobody pays them any attention.

However Ruby also says that the trick, short of a massive Suki style revolution, is to understand how the poor function and thus, until the revolution comes, try to educate them.

She goes through the motion of "anecdotically" describing how to distinguish some Class differences to give us a gist of what she means.

For example,

"Rich people don’t eat casseroles, poor people hang their pictures high up on the wall, middle-class people pretend to like people they can’t stand.

Then she says, "there is generational poverty and situational poverty"

I believe Puerto Ricans are stuck in the first, that is why "statistically" we are at the bottom of the heap in the U.S.

She also says, which I think is VERY TRUE, that there is a difference between new money and old money, both of these groups dislike each other.

Middle-class people are so self-satisfied that they think everyone wants to be middle class, "por eso se pasan metiendo la pata."

In a few words, Payne "anecdotically" explains how each class sees certain things.

1-Humor in poverty is about people and sex.

MMMMMM Is this why Chris Rock is so popular among the poor?

2- In the middle class humor is about situations.

Is this why many of us say, ¿Y de que se rien esos blancos? For example Barbara Walter's program,"The View."

3-In wealth humor is about social faux pas.

Is this why we say, "Esa vieja Brooke Astor, que come mierda, no le huelen ni las azucenas, pero quizas si se tira un peo se rie."

1-In poverty, the present is most important.

That we ALL SHOULD KNOW!

2-In the middle class, it’s the future.

MMMMMMM Is this why the middle class postpones?

3-In wealth, it’s the past.

MMMM is this why in Puerto Rico we say, "La familia tal y tal" is so Come mierda? Solo viven de su apellido, or "ese niño viene de una "familia buena." We've all heard that one before, haven't we?

Food:

The key question about food in poverty is, IS THERE ENOUGH?

Is this why the poor in Puerto Rico love cheap Buffets at Ponderosa? A lot of Food!

In the middle class its, "Did you like it?"

Is this why the Middle class tends to pay more for better food?

In wealth the concern is, was it presented well?

Is this why the rich go to French restaurants where they get two carrots, three peas, decorating a fork full of meat, and love it?

Schools

In schools, particularly, where poor students often find themselves assigned to middle-class teachers, class cluelessness is rampant. If teachers and other professionals don't look below the surface of class, if they don't make an effort to understand the habits styles and traditions that persist in many poor families, they will never be able to recognize the deep obstacles that poor people, and specially poor children face.

Class mobility.

Your class, Payne says, determines everything: your eating habits, your speech patterns, your family relations. It is possible to move out of the class you were born into, either up or down, she says, but the transition almost always means a great disruption to your sense of self. And you can ascend the class ladder only if you are willing to sacrifice many of your relationships and most of your values — and only if you first devote yourself to careful study of the hidden rules of the class you hope to enter.

MMMMMMMM is this why Black professional women can't find a Black man? Possibly they won't marry one who is uneducated or went to prison.

In “Crossing the Tracks for Love,” Payne takes on romance, offering advice for those who enter into a relationship with a person from another class. It’s not easy, Payne cautions: everything from disciplining children to interior decoration is a potential flashpoint for a class-based quarrel. So she provides tips:

“If you’re from middle class and marry or otherwise move into poverty, understand the need of your spouse/partner to protect you,” she writes. “You are his/her possession. Try to see the positives in this.”

And later: “If you come from a middle-class background and marry into wealth . . . learn about extended silverware and silver settings and the different pieces of crystal used to drink different beverages — and take cooking classes. Never, but never, make fun of yourself as a deficient cook. Be extremely knowledgeable about wine.”

In “Crossing the Tracks,” as in all of her work, Payne emphasizes that she is not making value judgments about the relative merits of the different classes; she’s just explaining how they work. “I’m not interested in changing your behavior or the behavior of your spouse or significant other,” she writes. “My only goal is to provide you with options — and awareness. When you know the hidden rules, you have more choices. You can choose whether or not you want to alter your behavior or embrace a different way of doing things. But unless you’re informed, you won’t get the opportunity to decide.”


And Finally, Payne believes that teachers can’t help their poor students unless they first understand them, and that means understanding the hidden rules of poverty.

The second step, Payne says, is to teach poor students explicitly about the hidden rules of the middle class. She emphasizes that the goal should not be to change students’ behavior outside of school: you don’t teach your students never to fight if fighting is an important survival skill in the housing project where they live. But you do tell them that in order to succeed at school or later on in a white-collar job, they need to master certain skills: how to speak in “formal register,” how to restrain themselves from physical retaliation, how to keep a schedule, how to exist in what Payne calls the “abstract world of paper.”

[Suki]

Miranda, a very intelligent sociologist/anthropologist did a study about the 'obstacles' to class mobility in Boston. His name is Jay McLeod. He covers many of the things you mention. But also, he covers what is called 'markers'. And he uses a term called 'cultural capital'. This cultural capital is what lets people know that you have all the correct 'upbringing', and understand all the cultural markers and cues, that helps those from a certain socioeconomic class to recognize each other. When you recognize that in others you feel socially comfortable around them, and see them as your socioeconomic 'equal'. For example, Stanley says he has a lot in common with fellow doctors from other nations. How many doctors are not middle class and conservative with parents with absolutely no formal education? They have been filtered through the class system already, and controlled, on who got the medical education, either being able to afford it through their family clout, or through adopting similar value systems and thought processes. The few doctors who don't usually come from a third world nation ,and want to become doctors and whom are totally uninterested in their own personal gain are much less common, than the doctors with all the correct background and class markers. I explain this more in depth with a child I used to tutor who's mother cleaned homes and came to the USA illegally from Mexico...had five children out of wedlock with different male partners, and who's eldest daughter was very hard working and wanted to become a doctor more than anything in the world. She battled her mother's lack of understanding of her goals, envy of her daughter's achievements, and so much more. She came to me for educational guidance, and we dealt with the obstacles together. In the process, she and I learned a lot about what the system does so subtly to filter out the smart, hard-working, working class minorities, who aspire to be doctors, lawyers etc. It is interesting how it is done. We can speak about it here. It will be very useful information for those who read and want to know what they should do to avoid the class filtering mechanisms.

Also, one must realize that poor people live with who? The middle class? The wealthy? No, they don't. Most poor people allover the world live with other poor people who are in the exact same situation as they are. People in the United States of America might think all people mix freely and the poor are not isolated by their income, but that is absolutely FALSE. Class, and which neighborhood you move into and live in, is a great determinant of your class. That is why so many working people, save so hard so they can move to a more acceptable little middle class suburb at least, and be able to mix with people with more opportunities for class advancement, or at least different values. There are those like my husband and myself, that are called 'aberrations' or 'non-predictable'. Those are people who consciously choose not to adopt certain values associated with the middle class or the wealthy, and who come from working class parents, but had access to education and knowledge and found great freedom in education, and adopted all that implies, but decided not to use it for specific economic gain. Those are rare people as well. Because usually education and class advancement desires are linked in this society. If one does not follow the mainstream value system in this system, one has to pay a price for it. Mainly, you are out of sync with what the main value system expects and promotes, and you shall find a certain level of rejection, and isolation, from many people who are following the mainstream values. Human beings are social creatures, and social pressure is a very effective control mechanism, in most societies.

Ruby Payne taps into something that is true, but it is funny, because she refuses to realize that people live to a certain extent an 'illusion'. A lie. I wonder if you can see it Miranda? Do you see people lying to themselves? I do. It is out of pride, or still having unresolved attachments to desires or wishes, or 'illusions' about how they perceive their own selves, and their place in society in reality, and not in some dream state. Capitalism USA-styled sells the idea that you too can have the huge home, and the beautiful new cars, and the manicured lawn, and the complicated silverware, and the Country Club membership you always dreamed of. It just takes the effort and the knowhow only, and you are on your way. McLeod does an excellent analysis of why human beings being social learners and socially adaptable, find that dream so very hard to fulfill. If you are interested in the whys of it, please read the book. It is called "Aint No Makin' It" by Jay MacLeod.

Thanks for bringing this subject up again Miranda. It is something that needs to be discussed in depth in the USA. Too many people live unaware of the growing gap between the haves and the have nots in this nation. Currently, the ranks of the underclass and working class (that used to be lower middle class in the past), is growing. The middle classes are being taxed heavily, and their skills are being devalued and undercut, and are being pushed more to the bottom and they are going into heavier debt to compensate for their loss of real net income. The upper middle class are battling to retain their comfortable professional salaries without having to give up some basic ethics----and the wealthy are living in gated communities patrolled by cops, or security firms, and are deathly afraid of the 'ralea' that is the vast majority. That ultimately is not a healthy society. There is FEAR in many sectors. WHY? We should analyze that fear Miranda. It is an excellent subject to explore.

[Suki]

Oscar Lewis was quite controversial. Many don't know it, but Oscar Lewis stated that Lumpen characteristics such as, failure to join organizations, not having class solidarity, and many other class 'lumpen' characteristics tended to change or be eradicated when capitalism is diminished in influence in many societies. That is what Oscar Lewis stated. I liked Oscar Lewis analysis and his contrasting how the Mexican lower classes dealt with their issues vs. the Puerto Rican lower classes. It made the argument for independence stronger in the long run. If one is interested in such an analysis one can read his "The Children of Sanchez" (Mexican lower class), and "La Vida" (Puerto Rican lower class).

Oscar Lewis is not a conservative folks. Don't mistake him for one.

When one is taking into consideration what experiences in life a human being has, and is shaped by those experiences, then one has to be able to understand the nature of human experience when dealing with socioeconomic class differences. To divorce a human being from his or her,'experiences' is tantamount to living and analyzing things with complete inaccuracy. And unfortunately that is what many 'experts' do. Why? Because, they would have to acknowledge that the human being being analyzed life experiences are totally different than their own---and think on the reason why it is so different than their own----if they do that, it requires a series of abilities. Empathy, awareness, realization, and action. And that is the real difficult factor when talking about societal and profound change that is life transforming in the world. There is resistance to that. For as long as we are coasting on the unaware stage and or deliberate ignoring stage (as many do in the Bush government about Global climate changes and what that means---one is not obligated to act). Once you have complete empathy, awareness and realization, if one has any glimmer of human conscience one has to act on it.

I had one lady once who is middle class say to me, "I don't know why all those people in the ghetto go to the supermarket and buy a four pack roll of toilet paper. Don't they realize it is cheaper to buy larger quantities in bulk?....I would think they of all people would be interested in knowing how to save a dollar?"----she was a bit thoughtful when I told her, "The poor are aware of the savings to be had. But, consider this, how much does a lot of toilet paper cost? About 11$ to $15 dollars for what? 24 rolls or more? While a four pack might cost $2? They only have $2 currently until their other measly check comes in....and they don't have the liquid income to spend like that initially to save in the long run. It is the same with a quart of milk instead of a gallon. The quart comparatively is more expensive. Rent to Own furniture (a staple of the Puerto Ricans without enough saved up to buy any furniture outright) is all about lack of income sufficient for delaying the purchase. If one is in need of furniture TODAY---yet has some piddly job and can pay on some long drawn out installment plan and are willing to take the hit in interest and fees just to satisfy the basic need for some tube and living room set or bedroom set----which many of the lower income people are desperate for such things...the rent to own is the solution.

For someone middle class that is unconceivable. So are those Ace Cash express and PayDay Loan places. They will lend you money when no one else will when you are of the lower income bracket----but trying to get out of debt to those loan sharks is very difficult.

In Calcutta, India, they sell salt by the teaspoonful. Why? I hope you can understand why they do. It is the beginning to understanding the conditions lived by so many people. Conditions that the people in other socioeconomic classes can't seem to bring themselves to understand.

Suki.

[Suki]

You can find MacLeod's Table of Contents in this link. I did an in-depth study on this precise subject for an entire semester. I did a lot of research on this subject. If you Miranda or anyone else is interested in debating the points brought up by MacLeod please let me know. I remember getting excellent reactions to my research paper on this class mobility issue. In ethnography one has to also live and do fieldwork in neighborhoods with the conditions lived and be part of the community. If you can't do that you weren't going to make it in advanced ethnography.

Take a look at this Luis Francisco:

Ain't No Makin' It: Aspirations and Attainment in a Low-Income Neighborhood by Jay MacLeod at Questia Online Library

I have also noticed Miranda, that MacLeod's books and other Harvard sociologists doing modern sociological studies with excellent research skills and using scientific methods of analyzing class differences are getting restricted on circulation. Try to read the inside content of his books Miranda. You will see in the USA they won't allow you to read some of his stuff online for free. It is one of the rare places you can't have access to his stuff. In Mexico and in Central America I would get online and can read his stuff. But not here. Interesting how that happens doesn't it?

[L_F_Miranda]

Suki said:

There is FEAR in many sectors. WHY? We should analyze that fear Miranda. It is an excellent subject to explore.

The other day the NY Times had an article of how conservative sectors in American society were able to influence the out come of the immigration Bill.

But these conservative people weren't the Pat Buchanan's or the affluent snots who go to country clubs and fly around in their private jets. These conservatives were Trailer Park folks, some of which were shown without teeth. All were flying the American flag from their porches. No they weren't from Mississippi or Alabama either, but from the rust belt states, Wisconsin and Michigan.

Strangely these people got together and targeted their representatives via the internet. Yes, the internet! One would imagine these folks were watching Jerry Springer or Judge Judy with a beer can, and didn't give a hoot, but no. They were very active in expressing their fear of the unknown, in this case Hispanic immigrants! Yes there is also racism involved here but one can also see this in Puerto Rico, where the targets are the Dominicans.

Indirectly Puerto Ricans fear Dominicans because of their push and arrogance to stand up to Puerto Ricans and tell them that the gringos and not they are the real masters in their land. They fear them because of their color, their attitudes and entrepreneurship.

In America, poor gringos fear others for similar reasons. They look at their failures and see immigrants with the push that they lack. They immediately attack them because they can't speak English and thus are not worthy of entering the club, American citizenship. They also fear "those others" because they are preferred over them to work in unskilled jobs for cheaper wages. Above all they fear their immigrant humbleness and "agradecido" attitudes, which the owners of capital prefer, exploit and most of all, love for their own $$$$$$$$$$ benefit.

I see these fears getting worse, and more so I think they have intensified since 9-11. Just wait until Puerto Rico is discussed in Congress and word gets out that the majority would vote for statehood if its an option in a plebiscite, then hell will break loose! LOL

[Suki]

Who are the trailer park conservatives Miranda? They love their land, God, and their traditional values. Yes, they feel threatened by change. The circumstances are changing. There is a reason why so many USA citizens don't accept the $8.00 an hour housekeeping jobs at Hotel chains, and the 2am in the morning fast food jobs, and the janitor jobs for $6.50 an hour at the airport and etc. etc.

Again, the CEO of Nike was asked why he did not open a shoe factory in some small economically depressed town in Michigan and Wisconsin (rustbelt area of the USA)? His answer was that "Americans are not interested in making Nike shoes." That is untrue. According to labor statistics those high unemployment towns in Michigan who fly the flag high and have the USA trailer dwellers in abundance would appreciate a job. That is not the issue. The issue is that the job is going to pay crap for wages and the USA working class white blue collar worker is not loyal to corporations that don't even pay survival wages anymore. The truth is Nike knows that the white blue collar American USA citizen who lives in a trailer park won't hang around for seventeen hours a day for $7.00 an hour and no benefits without causing in the long haul labor confrontations. They want to live like they used to live with the big Three....and get the manufacturing wages of the past. Livable wages. They know the company makes a lot of profit and will confront if pushed too hard.

Nike knows fourteen year old girls in Malaysia, won't complain and will live under really tough conditions because the infrastructure of Malaysia is not conducive to rebellion from the workers. And they can pay a lot less because the costs of living in Malaysia is not as high as Michigan. The USA worker feels there is exploitation on some level. But they believe in the current system. They try to find an escape valve for it. They must blame who they feel are a threat to 'their way of life'. The newly arrived Hispanic immigrants are a good target. For many reasons. For the politicians, for the working class trailer dwellers who are white blue collar----because they don't have the same immigration status and can't vote yet. And even if they could they came from a separate set of life circumstances and are focused on survival and trying to be mobile in any way they can, in terms of class aspirations.

Many working people internalize the 'oppression' and they too, avoid class confrontations with the powerful and the owners of the means of production. Yet, they feel the problem deep on some psychological and practical level. They have simmering resentments but know that if they confront those in positions of power they will likely lose the few 'priveleges' they might be able to exercise. They cling to that which they know in crisis. Faith communities, their roots to the land they occupy and to their traditional working class values. They feel lost in the wave of changes and betrayed by a system that is into world globalization---they just are completely myopic about where the vast majority of the real blame lies. Instead, they follow the hollow rhetoric put out by those who don't wish to address the issues with reason. "Attack on Reason" is interesting. Because, many traditional conservatives who are reason based, like Clyde Prestowitz and Ron Paul a Republican politician are finally questioning this neo-con agenda that is totally in opposition to what the trailer park dwellers have believed in for generations.

It is interesting.

[Suki]

It is interesting who the politicians in DC listen to. Is it the trailer park dwellers as you imply Miranda? Two thirds of all USA American citizens statistically in polls think universal health care should be implemented as soon as possible. Why haven't the politicians responded? It is quite simple. They (the politicians and the constituents) don't determine policy anymore. The big corporations with lobbyists do. The law as practiced and enforced does. Not what the popular voters may want. It has been that way for a long time.

Let us analyze an economically powerful gov't agency. The FDA. The Food and Drug Administration. This excerpt is taken from Kevin Trudeau's book entitled "Natural Cures they Don't Want you to Know about" page 24:

Lobbyists. This is the hidden, secret group of people in Washington that most of you have no idea even exists. These people on average make between $300,000 to $400,000 a year, plus hundreds of thousands more in perks. Their job is to simply walk up to a congressman or senator and try to persuade them to a certain line of thinking, or to pass a certain piece of legislation, or vote a certain way. Now how do they do that? Well, a lobbyist can't walk up to a member of congress and say, "Please vote a certain way on this bill and I will give you $200,000." That would be called a bribe. But, what the lobbyist can do is say, "Do you have a son or a daughter Mr. Congressman? You do? Fantastic! You know, I know your son or daughter has no experience whatsoever, but we would like to give your son or daughter a job for $200,000 a year. And the best part is that they don't even have to show up for work. Oh, by the way Mr. Congressman, can you please vote a certain way on this particular legislation which helps who I represent?" Lobbyists also bribe other members of Congress, although Congress has passed laws that make them legally not a bribe, by doing other things. Lobbyists may make huge donations to a congressman's favorite charity or school or hire companies that the congressman is affiliated with in some way.

So, what does this mean people? It means that sure the Michigan and Wisconsin immigration bill killers from the white blue collar rustbelt trailer parks are upset. The truth is that bill was seriously flawed. No one liked it. The liberals hated it. The ultra conservatives hated it. The immigrants hated it. The moderates hated it. They tried to be tough on the immigrants but also be an oxymoron. Compassionate conservatives. And what they winded up doing was alienating everyone with their lack of principles. LOL. It was a dud bill from the beginning.

The conservative elements wanted to have 'illegal' or 'undocumented' workers pay the USA federal gov't at least $8,500 bucks for the privelege of being guest workers and getting crap wages. Separate families, but allow the young and the 'loyal' among them to stay in the USA and get a shot at some part of the USA nightmare. Lol. Instead they wound up alienating a large conservative base with the mentality of 'If they came here breaking the law they should be sent to prison or deported not REWARDED with a JOB and a temp visa of some kind!!" and the liberals were horrified, "How can they do this to these poor workers??!! They hardly have enough food on the table and they want them to pay and separate families." Meanwhile the REAL POLITIKS say that the Hotel chains, restaurants, and etc. industries that can't retain GRINGO blue collar workers to work the hours, the low pay, and the bad conditions, without some kind of confrontation down the road, wind up with the ability to pay some lobbyist to look out for their interests on the Hill, and make sure some politician's back is scratched. Who really wins people? After all it is all about CULTURAL CAPITAL combined with some REAL capital. The kind that motivates those with some dough. The laws say that HMO's and so on MUST make a profit. They can't lose the profit motive. The law is set up to support the basic structure of it. And profit and sick people don't mix. They never did. Some Dr. Linda Pino person testified before congress that she was a CEO of some HMO and got promoted turning down a sick patient that needed an operation and died because he was denied. 18,000 people a year die in the USA due to either lack of coverage or denial of existing coverage. Because, the HMO's have to turn a profit. No matter what.

The blue collar types can scream and rant Miranda....but those are the same ones who want to save the soldiers, have small government, and who go to church on Sundays and who want to have some kind of health coverage for Aunt Martha who worked for Goodyear in Ohio for thirty years and now is all messed up with asthma and doesn't have the cash flow to pay for treatment. Yet the politicians aren't listening to them in the basic conservative mainstream working class value world. They (the neo-cons) aren't about the rust belt anymore. They are about the people with the ability to determine who is surviving politically in Washington and who is not. And it is all about the MONEY. It has been for a very long time. It is quite pitiful to see the blue collar white Gringo trailer dwellers try to come to grips with the reality of their lack of control and representation. But, even they will have to see the writing on the wall some day soon. Because, they will have to live the reality---that Nike and company is not about the hometown loyalties and values they think Capitalism and democracy is all about. It is about a totally different set of goals and values. And it aint about the way things used to be. In that....they fail to see the changing paradigms and what it means for the working class blue collar conservative traditional Gringo in Michigan and Wisconsin. Estan super perdidos.