Group 6 Blog: Krazy Coupon Lady

The blog we have chosen to discuss is “The Krazy Coupon Lady” ( http://thekrazycouponlady.com/ ) . The blog was created by two stay-at-home moms who met each other in college, and now work together on the blog website that focuses on “extreme couponing”. “The Krazy Coupon Lady” focuses on giving its readers insights as to how to save money on groceries and many other commonly purchased goods by helping teach consumers how to locate coupons (and provides coupons on the website itself), how to organize coupons, and how to use coupons effectively. More specifically, the goal of “The Krazy Coupon Lady” is to help its readers save over $10,000 a year.

“The Krazy Coupon Lady” is related to the class theme because it brings attention to the means by which people of a variety of social classes and employment backgrounds save money (and, in some cases, obtain it). Furthermore, it brings broad attention to the phenomenon of extreme couponing and the fact that it is grabbing attention in pop culture (for example, one of the bloggers was featured on the pilot of the TLC show “Extreme Couponing”). It likely has the intended audience of people in the working and middle classes, but could appeal to anyone who is looking to save money. But, although the blog could have wide appeal, it seems to be primarily directed at stay-at-home moms because it was created by stay-at-home moms, and because extreme couponing seems to be most effective and most useful for people who have the time to search out and organize coupons.


Questions for Discussion:
1. Do you believe that extreme couponing is worthwhile or do you waste too much time preparing the coupons to really make this effective?

2. What class of people do you think this blog appeals to and why?

3. There is a retail therapy section of this blog, do you believe retail therapy is a real thing or is just a marketing strategy created by businesses?

4. How do you think extreme couponing represents class struggle in our country?

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?

Primary Source Gallery

In this post, I want to show you guys some sample primary sources that engage with our course theme, the rhetoric of work. First among these is this advertisement by Levi's Jeans.

This image (source) is part of the "Go Forth" campaign, which has a number of very interesting components, including many many of these such advertisements and a short film set in an economically depressed community.

Images and advertisements, while ripe for analysis, are not the only form of primary source that our class can examine. One of my favorite work-related sources is music.

I recently discovered this song by Chatham County Line while listening to the Avett Brothers station on Pandora.

Country music and folk are some of the most fertile sources for work-related songs. But everybody works (or works to avoid work), so no matter your flavor, you can find songs about work, labor, the economy, hitting it big, or any number of related topics.

I probably don't have to include TV examples, since they are everywhere. NBC's Office and 30 Rock are among my favorites for work and class related topics.

So for class this week, be thinking about primary sources that deal with your favorite work-related topics. Below are a few more examples that I think could yield eight pages.

An ad I've seen watching the Daily Show on Hulu:

Two parodies from the defunct series Better Off Ted (hilarious and streaming on netflix):

and this one (funnier, probably a better source, but embedding was disabled).

If you are keen on political cartoons, NPR's "Double Take" feature juxtaposes two opposing viewpoints on politics, and with the recent union busting hoopla in Wisconsin, here in Ohio, and elsewhere in the nation, unions have been a hot political topic. Here are two pairs of cartoons posted on NPR's website: March 13 and March 25.

Work and Class in Popular Culture

American culture has a complicated relationship with class. According to the President, the United States became the envy of the world through the hard work of “the great middle class.” Are these great American workers the same people who clock in at Dunder Mifflin Paper Company in the TV series The Office? How are they related to the people singing along with Johnny Paycheck when he croons, “Take this job and shove it”?

In this course, we will examine how depictions of work, labor, and class operate rhetorically, as messages that convey particular ideas. We will analyze primary sources in music, literature, politics, TV and media. Most of us are here at OSU on our way to a dream job, and many of the people in our class may already have experience in the workforce. This class aims to develop your skills as academic writers, but our goals extend beyond the classroom to public writing and to ways of thinking. Rather than jumping to judgment or focusing on making arguments, in this class we will build on your skills as analytical thinkers, an asset in any field. We will do so by asking questions such as… How do images of work in popular culture assign value to different kinds of labor? How are some jobs marked as women’s or men’s work? Why is work such a persuasive theme in advertising and television?