Quote

October 5, 2012 | 121 notes

I came to the conclusion that most people in America would really like to be able to get a job where they think they’re doing something noble and nice and good and it isn’t just for the money. But the reason they hate what they call the cultural elite is that they see it as a class that’s grabbed all the jobs where you can get paid to do something that isn’t just for the money—if it’s art, if it’s charity, if it’s intellectual, if it’s political, whatever it might be. Because those are all the things where, if you want to get a job in that area, they won’t pay you for the first year or two, because there are all those unpaid internships. They see these people who grab all the jobs where you get to be good and noble. And we don’t get to do that. If your father is an air-conditioner repairman from Nebraska, its conceivable that you might become a CEO, but you can’t imagine being the drama critic for the New York Times. So if you come from a background like that and you want to actually have a career which involves doing something noble in the world, what can you do? You can join the army. That’s about it. Or you can work for the church. That explains a lot of the focus of right-wing populism. The right wing figured that out, that people want enough to survive and to do good.

David Graeber, “Beholden”, Guernica (via varanine)

I think teaching is one way to do this without having to go the unpaid intern route. Maybe teaching is too unforgiving, though. Or perhaps it doesn’t allow for enough upward mobility?

(via snagamat)

I dunno, I wouldn’t see being a drama critic for the New York Times as something ‘noble and nice and good’, I’d see it as something pretentious and pointless. On the other hand, teaching, medical careers (including nursing), social workers, even law enforcement - all seem (potentially) very noble. But I think they’re not mentioned because, with the exception of some medical professionals, they won’t gain you lots of money and they all involve a lot of work. I feel like the fact that this guy can only imagine having a well paid and prestigious job as ‘doing something that isn’t just for the money’ somehow illustrates how out of touch Occupy ‘intellectuals’ are with people who are not pretentious / middle class well off ‘intellectuals’ - which is (I think) one of the main reasons why the whole ‘movement’ failed miserably.  

(via andyispoesizing)

(via poesizing)