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I teach young men who must amass a certain number of credits before they can become police officers or state troopers, lower-echelon health-care workers who nee
by danielweber 12y ago
I teach young men who must amass a certain number of credits before they can become police officers or state troopers, lower-echelon health-care workers who need credits to qualify for raises, and municipal employees who require college-level certification to advance at work.
Credentialism to the core.
Some of them come to me at the conclusion of a course and matter-of-factly ask that I change a failing grade because they need to graduate this semester or because they worked really hard in the class or because they need to pass in order to receive tuition reimbursement from their employer.
This breaks my heart. Why are we doing this to people?
- rayiner 12y agoIt's a combination of classism and cargo culting. Instead of embracing the lower middle class, and acknowledging that everyone performs a role and has value in society, we embrace our contempt for them and their work but convince ourselves that if they go through the same motions as Harvard or Yale grads they'll be able to rise above their circumstances.
- intopieces 12y agoBoy did you say it. The contempt for working people in this society is palpable: "You don't want to end up flipping burgers, do you?" Morever, if you choose to forgo that option and aim for a higher paying job, you get: "Why don't you get a job? You too good to flip burgers?" The working class can't win.
- cafard 12y agoTo qualify as middle class one requires more or less steady employment, or money behind one to provide the cushion that this employment would. If the embrace of that lower middle class does not include a wage that covers living expenses and some left to save, then it is practically indistinguishable from contempt. I imagine that I am agreeing with you on this.