Why the 99% Should Demand More

Absolute must-read editorial from my favorite Paul Krugman.

For who are the 0.1 percent? Very few of them are Steve Jobs-type innovators; most of them are corporate bigwigs and financial wheeler-dealers. One recent analysis found that 43 percent of the super-elite are executives at nonfinancial companies, 18 percent are in finance and another 12 percent are lawyers or in real estate. And these are not, to put it mildly, professions in which there is a clear relationship between someone’s income and his economic contribution.

Why The Mayoress Supports the 99%

Three words: changing the dialogue.

Hey, remember the Tea Party?  Though a fringe group and certainly not the majority, they swung the overall American debate on all issues extremely far right.  Candidates on the right and some on the left had to start answering the questions they were asking.  Some even ran on their platform.

The #Occupy movement stands to do the same for the left, bringing a balance back to the discussion in this all important year before a major election.  Their theatrics invite media attention, which means that pundits and candidates have to respond in order to be newsworthy.  Perfect.

Yes, it would be nice if there were clear leaders and a well-outlined platform.  But you know what?  It would probably be less effective at this point.  Because now, you and I and most everyone we know are the 99%, and we can see a glimmer of our dissatisfaction with The Way Things Are, the way things are working - and more importantly - not working, in their frustration.  And that sympathy makes the movement more widely accessible, and gives it more possibility, at least for now.

So, cheers to everyone who believes in America enough to try to fix it.  As always, I admire those who get up and say or do something, even when I don't fully agree, over those who sit on their couches and talk about it.

Ode to Lisa Bloom

I cannot recommend Lisa Bloom's book Think highly enough.  It's one of the most personally influential books I have read this year.  Every woman must read it, and men should pick it up too.

The jist of Lisa's book in two words is: read more.  The point is that women are still unequal because we give up our power in so many ways, ie caring more about celebrities than current events, giving away our time by allowing spouses/live-in partners to do less of the housework and child rearing, reality TV, errands and chores that just aren't worth our time.

"Women's accomplishments are rarely celebrated in our media unless the 'accomplishment' is in one of these five areas: appearance, romance, marriage, pregnancy, or babies."

This book allowed me to exhale.  As a single woman with Patti Stanger yelling in my ear that looking hot is all that matters, it was such a breath of fresh air to remember how wonderful it is to embrace being smart.  As you can see from the book cover, Lisa gets that this culture won't allow us to completely dial out of exterior-consciousness, but she candidly shares her own experiences being subject to attractiveness standards (and maintenance!) as a TV personality, and has struck an admirable balance.

I actually got rid of cable after reading Think.  I still watch TV online - but it's more likely that I'll also watch a documentary on Netflix than collapse into a Housewives marathon.  The amount and quality and frequency of my reading has vastly improved in the past couple months.  Not to mention doing more writing - and look! - blogging.  And just like when you eat more vegetables and less candy, I just feel better.

My only issue with the book is that it's definitely for people from the middle class or above -- hiring a housekeeper to create more time or buying pre-cut vegetables just isn't going to happen for a single mom struggling at minimum wage.  But for the women I know, both peers and those younger who are creating their paths, I truly hope they'll take the time to explore the issues Lisa so smartly explores and brings to light.

You go, girls.

--

Update!  The inspiration to finally write this post was that @LisaBloom tweeted she was on a local radio show - I called in and got on!  Thanked her for all she's doing and asked about her recommendations for female mentorship.  Too awesome.  Never would have happened if I was watching Bravo.  Just sayin'. ;)

The Herman Cain Thing.

I don't really care about Herman Cain; from where I stand today, Romney's taking it anyway (more on that later).

I'm really upset - in a throw up my hands and walk away way - that the American public and media is automatically suspicious instead of compassionate when a woman has the courage to come forward about alleged harassment.  Who the hell would want to go through all the mess of accusing a famous person of harassment or rape or anything in between, even for a big payday?

We have got to change this culture of victim blaming.  We need to take these accusations seriously.  We should run any man who treats women poorly out of town, much less elect him to office. We need to create a culture where women are respected - then these things won't happen in the first place.

Truth of the Day

"Among the echelons of the upper middle class, there is a smug pride often taken in the edgy address, as if poor people existed to lend the better off a veneer of adventurous chic."
- Ginia Bellafante

Full article.

This is a true state of emergency.

There is a horrific famine happening right now in the horn of Africa. If you have time to read this post, you have time to do something tangible about it: write your rep and/or skip a meal out this week and make even a modest donation - every single one of us can afford it. 

mercycorps.org
unicef.org,
writerep.house.gov 

Thanks to Nicholas D. Kristof for alerting me to the severity.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/18/opinion/sunday/kristof-glimpses-of-the-next-great-famine.htm

Ten Years Later

I'm still processing.  I don't have a lot to say right now.  I'm having a hard time getting through this article.  My Facebook status is about all the thought I can form:

Try as I did, I never could donate the skirt I wore ten years ago today. On the downtown R, to work on Broadway & Spring, in the silent procession uptown, on the L back to Brooklyn, to drink red wine with Tina at Milo's (now, The Metropolitan). I'm glad I kept it. Often, my sentiment is commemorated in the sartorial.

Kind of avoiding the TV documentaries, although I'll probably give in in a bit.

Here's my 9/11 story.

In the past few years I've hoped all the ceremony would die down after so many years, but today, I'm glad that there's something in our society that lends gravitas.  I'm so over everything frivolous right now.

Just found this in my journal from September 14, 2001:

My priorities have changed a lot... There's nothing I feel like doing with my time, except to occasionally have a glass of wine and be around a lot of people. I certainly don't want to travel. I don't want to laugh. I want to mourn. But I don't want to feel like this forever. I want to always remember this... this vulnerability, this patriotism, this need for God, this care for people I've never met, this pride in my city and elected officials. But thing can never feel normal again, can they? This is just so strange....

Jobs Part 2: Perseverance, Hope, Second Chances

Now this is the kind of story that provokes sympathy from me.  Frederick Deare was laid off from his factory job and it took months of searching to secure a new - lower-paying - job.  Deare experiences the entire jobless range of emotions from fear to hope, and though he definitely had his down days, he seems to have been extremely proactive in his search.  He eventually finds a job, but still:

There was only one downside: The work paid $10 an hour, 40 percent less than he had made at Old London. After taxes, his paycheck was even less than the unemployment benefits he had been collecting. But he tried not to dwell on this. “I don’t let it bother me that I’m getting less, because of the simple fact I have something, and a lot of people have nothing,” he said. “You have to crawl before you can walk.” Four and a half months later, he is still on the job.

Some letters in today's Times criticize him, saying that he doesn't deserve a job as an ex-con, or how dare he have a smartphone with bills so tight (I didn't gather from his phone's description that it was a smartphone, but I see the point).  As much as I like to get all hard-hearted about job searches and especially sense of entitlement (see previous post), I did not get that from this article at all.  And I really, really can't see how a reformed, now hard-working man is a problem in our society.

Jobs Part 1: Apparently Ms. Morales Missed the Memo

You know, the one about how everyone in the arts waits tables at the beginning of their career?

“We did everything we were supposed to,” said Stephanie Morales, 23, who graduated from Dartmouth College in 2009 with hopes of working in the arts. Instead she ended up waiting tables at a Chart House restaurant in Weehawken, N.J., earning $2.17 an hour plus tips, to pay off her student loans. “What was the point of working so hard for 22 years if there was nothing out there?” said Ms. Morales, who is now a paralegal and plans on attending law school.

It's really not about Morales* specifically - (I suspect she'll be getting plenty of criticism in the comments & other blogs - keep your head up my dear!) - this whole article reeks of entitlement.  Kind of like the whole Millennial generation - I count myself on the cusp, so this is self-critical as well.

Bubble Disclaimer**, but these days, isn't having a job at 22/23 a win in itself?  Forget four years, what about those out of grad school or with work experience that don't have prospects?  And if the job applications I've reviewed this year are any indication, most four-year degrees don't even include basics on how to write a cover letter or construct a resume, so it's difficult to be enthusiastic about getting these people into the workforce.

Suck it up.  Usually, on the path to your perfect career, you take many detours.  And what you envision yourself doing at 22 is likely not what you'll be doing - or want to be doing - 10 years later.  If you have to take an unpaid internship to learn your industry's skill set and build a network, or bartend/barista to make cash while you land an entry-level job, this is not the Universe shitting on you or even a sign that you did the wrong thing.  Building a career, like all noble pursuits in life, requires patience, realism, perseverance, and a sense of humor.  And above all, awesome friends for the in-between time.

*Side note to Morales and others considering similar options: law school is not a panacea.  There is a major problem lately with a glut of talent in law, lack of jobs, etc... sound like any other industry?  Be sure you're going for the right reasons and that the price tag is worth it - and not just the financial one.

**My environment is not indicative of mainstream America - like Irene, NYC avoided a lot of the economic turmoil of the last few years, and my circle in particular has been overwhelmingly gainfully employed, and even moving up in their careers.  Luck of the draw?  Right place right time?  We shall see...

Is Howard Schultz Gearing Up for a Run?

Dear Starbucks Friend and Fellow Citizen:


I love our country. And I am a beneficiary of the promise of America. But today, I am very concerned that at times I do not recognize the America that I love.


Like so many of you, I am deeply disappointed by the pervasive failure of leadership in Washington. And also like you, I am frustrated by our political leaders' steadfast refusal to recognize that, for every day they perpetuate partisan conflict and put ideology over country, America and Americans suffer from the combined effects of paralysis and uncertainty. Americans can't find jobs. Small businesses can't get credit. And the fracturing of consumer confidence continues.


We are better than this.

Battery Stroll

Pacific Northwest Whitewash

"Trying to describe white privilege to white people is like trying to explain water to a fish."


Bonita Appleblog crafted an excellent, thoughtful response to an article in Seattle's alt-weekly, The Stranger, on racism, Seattle-style.


Fact!  I used to live in Seattle.  I went to college there, and I cannot recall interacting with a single black person outside of the Supersonics, Monday night Seahawks hangout at the jazz club, the 3 guys on our school's basketball team, and the neighborhoods where I volunteered.  OUCH.


These days, the first reason I give when asked if I would ever move back to Portland and I say no and they ask why, is that it's not diverse enough.  People like to debate this, or act like this is an unreasonable dealbreaker, but when you grow up as a mixed-race kid in a superwhite area, you're not in a big hurry to return to a place where you didn't stand a chance of blending in, being beautiful, encountering others like you.


This explanation is inevitably met with a blank stare, which brings us back to the quote at the top of this post. Rinse, repeat.


"Your life story produces a racial filter," [explains Tali Hairston.] "It might be a lens so thick that everything gets drawn into looking like it's about race, or so thin that when someone says something is racial, you go, oh hell no, it's not. As a white person, you have to own the development of your own racial lens. Because whether you're aware of it or not, you have one."