Group 5 Blog: Get Rich Slowly

The blog we chose is titled Get Rich Slowly. It is a blog created by J.D. Roth, an “accidental finance expert” who studied his way out of his own debt, but features blog posts from other contributors. Get Rich Slowly was created in 2006 to inform people in debt on how to successfully escape it, from Roth’s own personal experiences. The blog was intended to give people tips to accomplish goals that can take decades to achieve. The mascot of the website is a turtle, signifying the slow growth and time something’s like saving for retirement or college, buying a home, or creating a rainy day fund can take. Most recent posts to the blog range in topics from Halloween spending to international debt. The targeted audience of the blog is middle and working class America, specifically trying to find liberation in these tough economic times.
We chose this blog because it addresses the lingering class issues in America. It clarifies myths of the middle and working class and addresses issues they face. The title of the blog was also a deciding factor in why we chose it. The middle and working classes typically accumulate their wealth slowly, as the blog’s title insists. The title also references how the middle and working classes are always trying to climb the social ladder through wealth, but this is not an overnight process. The blog provides inspiration to a group of people who need it, seeing that in these tough times they seem to be suffering most.

• Do you believe that people can “get rich quick” or do you think that wealth is accumulated over periods of time?
• Do you believe that one person’s way of escaping debt can work for everyone?
• Is the turtle mascot a good representation of the middle and working class?
• Are saving for home buying, retirement, or college goals that people in the middle class can actually achieve?

Group 4 Blog Post

The blog I chose is called Working Class Perspectives. It is a blog about the working class, and how current world events may affect them or be seen from their perspective. This blog is run out of Youngstown State University, at their center for working class studies. I did not know there was such a thing as a center dedicated to working class studies, yet it seems to work very well for our purposes. Anyway, the reason I picked this blog was because of how well it relates to what we are talking about in class. It has posts about the view of the working class in relation to the occupy Wall Street movement; it discusses violence in the working class, and even has a post about women in the workforce.  I am sure it may have even more posts that relate directly to our class theme. I thought this was pretty cool to see, and was the main reason I chose this blog.

This blog obviously connects to the class theme, as we are talking about class warfare, and this blog gives a look into the perspectives of the working class. This made me realize that I was taking for granted the way people react to news. I didn’t really consider that a CEO on Wall Street may see things completely differently than an average Joe in the working class. Obviously they may have political differences, but I didn’t realize how much their interpretation of the news may change. For example, it gives different reasons working class people support the occupy Wall Street movement. I thought it was very interesting to see the working class perspective of world events, rather than just hearing about the events that happened in the news, without any personal opinions added. 

Discussion Questions

1.  In what ways do you think the working class views events differently than the middle class or working class? What are they more concerned about in comparison to other classes?

2. Do you think the working class is given enough recognition? They compose a lot of the population, yet some may believe their opinions aren’t valued as much as the upper or middle class. Thoughts?

3.   Follow-up to question 2, do you believe politicians do enough to appease the working class? It seems like some politicians are more concerned about the middle class. Some politicians also seem worried about big businesses, offering tax breaks and other incentives to try and get votes. Do you think the working class is “taken care of” enough in the world of politics?

4.  What are your thoughts about YSU having a center to study the working class? Do you believe the issue of class warfare deserves more centers like this one, dedicated solely to the study of different classes and their interactions?

The Social Use of Social Media - A Blogpost by Group 3

The blog site soshable.com has it right. Everything we know about communication and advertising has changed, thanks to social networking giants like Facebook and Twitter. Even television has been revolutionized, thanks to video technologies such as YouTube, Hulu, and Netflix. Now you can hear of - or even witness - current events before they have a chance at making it to the cable news channels. So, we have finally removed the shackles of the corporate media conglomerates, right? Wrong. Businesses have just found a new way to control their audiences: convince people that they want to promote a brand image (ever seen a viral product video?).

As described throughout Soshable, we now have online communities which segment into their own particular demographics, and this, in turn, gives businesses easy-to-target audiences. More than ever before, social networking has become a means rather than an ends, and that means is called capitalism. However, J.D. Rucker - the primary, strategic voice behind Soshable - explains to businesses that social networking is not just about the numbers, it’s also about the people. And, he goes on to describe the importance of looking at how people are using social media. If it wasn’t for the fact that Rucker has a vested interest in social media, his thoughts might almost seem to be trying to benefit the online community (altruistic, even).

But, this does not mean that social media is entirely superficial. From bridging generational gaps to assisting human rights protests, social media enables a broader spectrum of content to reach a growing number of people. And, as such, social networking, is just like any other powerful entity - it can be used for freedom or for control.

Q & A

Questions:

1. Overall, do you find social media helpful or harmful to society?
• Does Shoshable seem to support or negate your position?
2. Do you think there are “wrong ways” to use social networking?
• Why?
• What are some ways J.D. Rucker might consider as “wrong” for social networking?
3. Do you think online media creates new social classes, or do online social classes merely reflect “real life”?
• Which social classes does Soshable discuss?
• Which social classes does Soshable create?

Answers:
Your answers are the answers.

Occupy Wall Street (Group 2)

Occupy Wall Street

The blog occupywallst.org was created in response to the recent protests going on around America. The people involved are using the peaceful protest method of general assembly (basically occupying) on Wall Street and in other major cities around the U.S. These citizens want to bring attention to the great financial disparity between the top 1% and the other 99% of wage earners. Their unofficial slogan “We are the 99 percent” helps to shows the solidarity of the protestors. This movement started with Adbusters calling people to occupy Wall St. on July 13, 2011. The inspiration for this sort of protest was derived from similar movements in Egypt and Spain. Since the start, however, the movement has grown. Now there are occupiers in multiple cities around the U.S. including Columbus, Chicago, and San Francisco. Some of the protestors have been out there for over 2 months now and it the movement only seems to gaining momentum. At the onset, there was no clear message or objective for the movement but now there a proposed list of demands has been released. While some of these demands are somewhat lofty and possibly unattainable, it still helps to bring attention to what the vast majority (99%) of Americans want. It is uncertain how long this movement will last, or even what it will accomplish, but it reaffirms some of our democratic values including free speech, assembly, and the pursuit of happiness.

Discussion Question:
1. Would you be willing to camp outside, on Wall St., for weeks or even months to promote a change you believe in, even if you’re risking arrest?
2. Do you think the 1% and 99% are two classes having conflict of interest?
3. What do you think, will that blog be successful? Is a blog the right medium to achieve the aim of changing the system of the Wall Street?
4. What is the purpose of expanding to 1000 cities?  Will spreading across the country make the message any more powerful?

Group 1 Blog Post

The Everywhereist Blog

              Our blog that we chose to do was called the Everywherist. The author of the blog is a woman whose husband travels the world. Up until she started posting this blog, she had a job behind a desk, and had to stay at home while her husband got to travel. Then, she was fired from her job, which turned out to be, as she puts it, “the best thing that could’ve happened to me”. She has since been traveling the world with her husband, and keeping this blog. She says it is partly to keep tabs on where they have been, but also as a long letter to her husband. The reason we picked this blog is because we were trying to find something that was different, and might peak the interest of the best variety of people. Some people are interested in the more common topics, such as sports or politics, but we know not everyone is, so we thought this might be something different that might be interesting.

                So the struggle with this blog was connecting it to our discussions about class warfare. But, when we sat down and really thought about it, it wasn’t really difficult at all! This blog unintentionally plays on the stereotype of women staying at home while men work. Women can be defined as a “class”, and even though they are at the same place as men now, there still is that stereotype that women should stay at home, etc. This blog, while unintentionally showing that, also shows that just because they are not out working, it does not mean they are not being productive. Another way you could make the connection is to say that it shows the life of the traveling businessman, and makes it seem all luxurious, with the traveling to many different places. One more way that this relates to the discussion is that a lot of times, in today’s society, it is made out that if you are not working, you are not doing anything useful, but it shows that this woman is now unemployed, and she is the happiest she has ever been.

1.       Does this mean the generalization that if you are not employed you are lazy/unhappy may not be true?

2.       Do women still have stereotypes working against them in society?

3.       Do women classify as a “class”, in the sense that we discuss in class?

4.       Does employment equal success, or does happiness equal success?

5.       Why are we so quick to judge the unemployed?