[Skivvywaver]

Originally Posted by Shamou

Yup... a bright bunch...

.

What a bigoted comment. You have really outdone Archie on this one. Congratulations. I would much rather be a redneck than prejudiced.

http://www.dba-oracle.com/redneck.htm

[Stoner]

Ray....That't Carol O'Conor.....a leftist Liberal....like you........

[Shamou]

Originally Posted by Stoner

Ray....That't Carol O'Conor.....a leftist Liberal....like you........

No... Archie Bunker... like you...

.

[Skivvywaver]

Originally Posted by Stoner

Ray....That't Carol O'Conor.....a leftist Liberal....like you........

Ignorance is bliss. If Ray wants to think of the redneck as a bigoted "Archie Bunker" type so be it but.............Archie is the furthest thing from a "true redneck". I believe Archie was born and raised, and lived his entire life in the Bronx. Not exactly a redneck haven IMO.

Visit West Virginia Ray, bring your misconceptions with you. You will leave a different human being.

[Stoner]

Originally Posted by Shamou

No... Archie Bunker... like you...

.

No Ray...I've seen a photo of you.....it's like seeing twins


edit....short and thick around the waist ....

[Skivvywaver]

Originally Posted by Stoner

No Ray...I've seen a photo of you.....it's like seeing twins


edit....short and thick around the waist ....

And very thin between the ears.

[Skivvywaver]

And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more
People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening
People writing songs that voices never share
And no one dared
Disturb the sound of silence

(Simon and Garfunkel)

[izme]

Originally Posted by jonasdatum

".... Cultural construct...." A man after my own hart, lol after my own hart! I try not to restrict myself to social constructs. When I go to work and eat my mixed vegetable for breakfast, with yogurt and fruit - doesn't bother me. People often respond "dinner for breakfast?" Cultural construct, one of the weaknesses human societies as a whole; as I stated on another thread recently "... humans often do what they want to do not what they should..."

However for the sake of the discussion where would you place yourself in society? I NEVER SAID THAT IT MAKES YOU BETTER; it does make you better off and that is part of the discussion. Those who have more education and/or training make more money. That is as old as humans and money. A soldier, a doctor, a carpenter, etc skill and knowledge equal more money and more opportunity.

Give you a small example I had a medical appointment the other day. I plan on getting a number of update vaccinations, among them are Hepatitis A and Hepatitis B. Left, the doctor said, and “we don’t carry it you aren't going outside the country, so you really need them." LOL, I am scheduled to start the Hepatitis A vaccination in a few months. As for the Hepatitis B, I'll be checking out other locations. If I had a private doctor, this wouldn't be a big deal.

At my job I meet people from all over the world; but don't get medical insurance and I can't afford it. Since I am of a lower social-economic I am expected expose myself needlessly. Not the first time I've met this doctor, and believe that he would have suggested this to any other person. Poverty equals weakness; I barely qualify as a working class man, but what resources I have will be utilized to improve my standing on all fronts.

Good points..Cultural Construction is part of the fabric. But how far we use it in our own lives is the reality. Internally and materialistically...two different things for sure. I don't feel that anyone is on some curve higher or lower than me in the sense of worth... Does this warrant compensation for your job titles and social class? Yes. And as this is a reality...you could say that I am middle class..means little to me, except a good paycheck.. Now..how I use the class concept is rating the comparison or gap between the classes. It's very useful as well. I was just trying to speak from the heart about how I feel about cultural construct/social economic classes. How this effects our system is a whole other story.

[jonasdatum]

Out society is one of a handful on earth where you can come into it with nothing, and become a Millionair. Last time I checked in the majority of the world that is next to impossible. This is because in many societies you have class systems, limited access to educational institutions, and my personal distain denying women equal rights as men.

In many places on earth women are expected to stay as stupid and dependant as possible. This isn't objective, all are required to participate in the development of society. On the larger scale you have this in general amongst both sexes. The simple reasoning for this is that those in power tend to stay in power until removed or they screw up and lose it all.

In america you still have African Americans and Blacks performing many lower paying jobs. Among them are bus drivers, mechanics, truck drivetrs, etc. Don't get me wrong, these jobs can pay very well. However, if you go into a hospital, science lab, or computer science - IT development facility, I seriously doubt that even a third of them will be black or hispanic. They'd probably be white, asian, middle eastern, and immigrant blacks. Don't even get me started about the disparities in income and education between black men and women. In my personal experience black women tend to be paid more and/or have more education then thair male counterparts.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Americans
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blacks
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_education
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_class
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Committ..._against_Women
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women#E...and_employment

[jonasdatum]

www.c-span.org

Gray Shilling, Economist
Economist Gray Shilling discusses his recent analysis on the number of Americans who receive a significant amount of their income from the federal government. Mr. Shilling looks at federal employees and their dependents, those who receive pensions, food stamp and welfare recipients.
4/23/2007: WASHINGTON, DC: 52 min.

You better get rich, better do it fast, better do it now!

Comments, suggestions, etc...

[jonasdatum]

www.c-span.org

Gray Shilling, Economist
Economist Gray Shilling discusses his recent analysis on the number of Americans who receive a significant amount of their income from the federal government. Mr. Shilling looks at federal employees and their dependents, those who receive pensions, food stamp and welfare recipients.
4/23/2007: WASHINGTON, DC: 52 min.

Morning Panel at American Bankruptcy Institute's 25th Annual Spring Meeting
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), chairman of the Sen. Appropriations Financial Services Subcmte., discusses the New Congress and Bankuptcy issues. He joins other panelists representing the financial industry and consumer groups during this event at the American Bankruptcy Institute's 25th Annual Spring Meeting.
4/13/2007: WASHINGTON, DC:

[jonasdatum]

Anybody have anything else worth contributing? You all know I am looking for news articles, c-span.org segments, etc.

[jonasdatum]

Originally Posted by lotuseclat79

If you want to get paid highly, aim for starting your own business and/or becoming an expert consultant at something that is highly in demand. Choose wisely.

Determine your life's goals in three boxes: education, career or work, and retirement. Education should be lifelong, and neverending - be curious and enjoy learning new things. Career and work can drag you down if it is not something you love doing. Find what you love to do, and make it your life's work Retirement is for when you may think you have given up - never retire - enjoy life to the fullest, but don't over do it. Do long range planning because that will allow you to retire. Never give up! Retire as early as you can to enjoy life, but don't wait to retire to enjoy life.

Learn to generate multiple streams of income.

Design your life - because no one else will be motivated to do it for you - only you can do it for yourself.

Know yourself and those with whom you surround yourself. Find a life mate - it will keep you going for the long run and stablize you. Love, be happy, prosper and have a family - leave a better world behind when you leave it.

-- Tom

P.S. Many people are successful financially, but alas are also unhappy in life, so, in reality - your social class is just another variable which can go up or down or stay the same. It doesn't change the person you are inside - so, do work on that during your journey in life - you'll be glad you did, and so will the people around you (pssst, remember the golden rule).

Multiple Streams of Income: Right now I am seriously looking into reselling purchased items on Ebay.com. However, given my current financial resources, I need to start small. So I figured televisions and computer systems. Been looking for another part time job (or better fulltime), but hasn't been going well. Between the pay I make now, my school schedule, and the part time market... Any suggestions?

Social Networking: This is a difficult one; I've established friendly relationship with many people, but don't have much opportunity to expand them. However, there isn't complete stagnation. This is where part of what I refer to as my social-economic experiment comes in. My plan is simplicity itself. One day this week while at work, I was listening to two of my coworkers talk about how they needed laptops. "So I asked one of them if I was able to procure a laptop would they be interested in purchasing it?" They replied in the affirmative (man I watch too much c-span).

Today I'll be requesting the specs she wants. Thus if I sell them a decent product, they in turn trust me as a person, thus are willing to expand my "social credit aka social credibility." Not to mention the small to moderate profit I make !!! Should also mention that she has two sons about my age.

What do you guys think?

[jonasdatum]

www.c-span.org

The following are issues that can be posted on a many of my recent threads. however this could be considered some sort of spammage. So I had to chose the best thread to put them on. These are issues that can greatly determine "social-economic" class.

Morning Panel at American Bankruptcy Institute's 25th Annual Spring Meeting
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), chairman of the Sen. Appropriations Financial Services Subcmte., discusses the New Congress and Bankuptcy issues. He joins other panelists representing the financial industry and consumer groups during this event at the American Bankruptcy Institute's 25th Annual Spring Meeting.
4/13/2007: WASHINGTON, DC: 1:32:25
rtsp://video.c-span.org/60days/e041307_bankruptcy.rm

House Hearing on Gasoline Prices
Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI) chairs an Energy & Commerce, Oversight and Investigations Subcmte. on gasoline prices, oil company profits, and the American consumer.
5/22/2007: WASHINGTON, DC: 2 hr. 47 min.

NPC Address by John Robbins, Mortgage Bankers Association
The National Press Club Luncheon Speakers hosts Mortgage Bankers Association Chairman John Robbins as he speaks on the topic, "Subprime Mortgages and Accessible Credit."
5/22/2007: WASHINGTON, DC: 1 hr. 1 min.
rtsp://video.c-span.org/15days/e052207_robbins.rm

Any comments or suggestions on these articles or related articles?

[poochee]

Making less than dad did Interesting study
Report reveals that American men in their 30s earn less than their fathers did, as family income growth decelerates.
By David Ellis, CNNMoney.com staff writer
May 25 2007: 6:52 PM EDT

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- American men in their 30s are earning less than their father's generation did, challenging a long-held belief that each generation will be better off than the one that preceded it, according to a new study published Friday.

The report, the first in an ongoing 18-month study on economic mobility in the United States, also revealed that the income growth of the median American household is declining.

The study was produced by a handful of politically diverse think tanks including the Pew Charitable Trusts, the American Enterprise Institute, the Brookings Institute, the Heritage Foundation and the Urban Institute. It looked at income levels of American men in their 30s, which can be a good indicator of lifetime income.

Excerpt from: http://money.cnn.com/2007/05/25/pf/m...tudy/index.htm