Archive for the ‘Ideology’ Category
I actually wrote this about a week ago, but this is the first time I’ve been able to upload it. So here it is, my take on classes and stuff. Enjoy.
In an article in the norwegian paper Dagbladet, it comes forward that 2 out of every 3 norwegian believes that there is a class divide in the norwegian society.
Now, that is much higher than I thought from my experience of the norwegian
It's true. We don't
society, where everyone seems to believe that inequalities are a thing of the past. However the article also shows another thing: pretty much everyone believes they are the “middleclass”. Not a worker, but not rich. Workers chose to definethemselves as middleclass to hide the fact that they are workers, dependant on their bosses and struggle to make ends meet. The rich define themselves as middleclass to hide the fact that they are rich. “It makes me cry that there is still poverty in Norway, but I would rather cry in my white jaguar”.
First of all, the entire idea of a middleclass is a fallacy. It comes from the idea that your class is defined purely by your standard of living. As in how you live, what you can afford etc. It is a trick and a lie, created by the ruling class to divide the rebellious worker class, and to make them at ease with society. Your class is not defined by what you earn, but your position in the hierarchy of the working place. A way of alienating the people from their position in society, so that they do not see the inequalities and suppression that they are being subjected to. Lenin defined classes as “a flock of people at the same place in the production process”. I disagree with a lot of Lenins work, but this is right on the money!
In truth, there are 2 classes. The capitalist class, and the working class. The capitalist class is the class which owns stuff. The people who own factories, and employ workers. Those who own peoples work, and can with the stroke of a pen ruin peoples lives by, for instance, outsourcing their factory to china, so that hundreds of people lose their only income.
This is you!
The vast majority of the people, are a part of the working class. The defining characteristic of the working class, is the lack of anything to sell. We do not own anything, and so we can not sell it. Thus we sell ourselves, we sell our workforce to a capitalist. It doesn’t matter if you earn a lot of money in your job, if you have 2 cars or a big house. If you have a boss, someone who oversees your work and in the end takes out profit on it, you are a part of the working class.
The problem, is the alienation I mentioned earlier. Todays consumer culture has left people willing to accept the state of the realm, to accept the bullshit that goes on in the world, because “after all, we’re doing alright”. Everyone, please accept this for truth: A heightened standard of living does not equal a heightened status in the class hierarchy, as long as you maintain the same place in the production!
Vegard
Hi again. Long entry today, sorry about that.
Society is all about money. The accumulation of wealth has become the driving force of the capitalist society, and everything else comes second. This is really not debatable, so I’m not going to spend much time on this specifically. What I want to talk about, is work.
First, I’m going to postulate that there are 2 kinds of people (in this context). People who need to work in order to survive, and people who survive on others work. The 
people who survive on the work of other people, are the owners. Those lucky few who own factories or stocks in companies, who get to sit on their asses and watch as their factories make money for them. Most people, however, need a job to survive. A job where you produce something, be it raw materials, finished goods or services. We get hired by a company of some sort, we get told what to do with the materials at hand, and we make stuff. We don’t have anything to sell but ourselves, so we sell our work to our bosses. This is where it gets interesting. Because no matter how hard you work, you get paid the same. Allow me to demonstrate.
Meet Bob. Bob works in a factory. In one week, Bob produces 100 items, which is sold by other branches of the company. These 100 items earn the company 1000 dollars. For his one week of work, Bob gets 500 dollars paid. The next week, Bob decides to give everything he’s got, and he manages to double his productivity! Wow, amazing! Well done, Bob, you just earned the company 2000 dollars instead. For this feat, you still get 500 dollars. The week after, Bob is demoralized, and only produces 50 items. The company only earns 500 dollars, and Bob still gets his 500 dollars pay.
My point here is that no matter how productive us workers are under capitalism, we get the same amount of money. As long as we produce enough to make the company survive, there really is no motivation for us to work as hard as we can. If Bob doubles his productivity, the only person who gains from it is his boss. So why should he?
My place of work recently won a cash prize because of an index. I work in a pizzashop which is part of a chain, which measures how much each branch earns in relation to what the workers earn. Basically, its an index of which branch pays the smallest part of their profit to their workers.
Marx talked about the exploitation of the workers. Capitalism can’t survive without profit, and the bosses, the owners of companies, won’t run their companies unless they earn a healthy profit. The exploitation of workers is a problem, because in the end the work we do doesn’t benefit society, it benefits our boss.
So why not turn it around? If all the factories, companies etc. that are today privately owned, are owned by the people in stead, the profit would benefit everyone. Thats the kind of world I would like to live in.
Vegard
What causes depression?
I don’t know anymore.
Everyone has good days and bad days. Days where everything is bright and blooming, where the sun shines and you can’t help but smile at people as you walk past them, no matter how weird that makes them look at you. And the other kind, the days where nothing really matters, everything sucks, everyone you meet are boring and annoying, and you would rather just go home, turn off the lights and listen to depressing music.
Lately, I’ve been having more and more of the latter. At some point in my past, there was a resembelence of logic as to my mood, it would be relevant to things that had happened. Lately, theres nothing to it. I just feel at the bottom of the barrel no matter what I do. It seems like what is keeping me from being this down, is simply the energy it takes me to pretend to be fine. Days like this, where I have barely gotten any sleep and am really tired, I simply do not have it in me to smile and pretend.
I am clinging to the idea that moving to Stavanger will fix everything. Somehow make me happier, make things better. I just don’t know any more.
And how pathetic is that? I live in Norway, one of the best countries in the world. I have had everything handed to me on a silver platter, a nice balanced childhood, a rich life in every way. Maybe human beings thrive under the perssure of failure, and living in the socialdemocratic lullabyland of Norway is damaging.
Vegard
Hi.
Allow me to start with what is on everybodys mind. The Freedom flotilla, an international convoy of ships bearing several hundred peace activists, medicine, food, paper, building materials etc. heading towards Gaza, was boarded by Israeli navy elites. At least 9 activists were killed, they claim to have been attacked first. A few things strike me as interesting about this.
First of all, if you are the navy elite forces of one of the worlds largest military forces, you ought to be able to disarm someone with a bat without shooting them. Secondly, if you are at all familiar with war and stuff (even I know this), you don’t drop one lone soldier in the middle of the mob of people. Thats fucking retarded! Also, Israel, if you expect people to believe your side of the story, DROP THE FUCKING MEDIA BLANKET. Only sending out video tapes filmed and edited by you “proving your innocence” only broadens suspicions. But obviously if they allowed everyone to investigate and report freely, the suspicions would be confirmed quite rapidly. Part one of the blog entry is completed by this: Boycott the hell out of Israel. Free Palestine!
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Android I
So i have a Nokia N900 phone. And I love it. It is awesome, and sexy and easy to use, and i really have no complaints about it. It is everything i want in a phone and moar. Unfortunately, I am a phone junkie. The thing I hate the most about phones, is that in order to afford them I have to sign an agreement to pay a smaller sum every month for a year.. 🙁
Currently I am paying for both an iphone and my dearest N900, and still i urge for another phone, more specifically an Android phone. I was supposed to buy an Android phone when i got the N900, but ended up with my N900 due to physical keyboard. Damn.
Suppose I’ll have to wait until the internet perfects an android clone for my phone. And please don’t comment on the lovely irony of most phones having Intel Atom processors. I am aware.
Sincerely,
Vegard
Many people in this country (users or non-users) are looking to legalize marijuana.
I’ve taken some time and consideration on the issue, and I have come to a decision. Unfortunately, being a great realist (or perhaps pessimist would be more fitting), I do not understand why people would want to legalize marijuana. It doesn’t make sense.
They say that legalization of marijuana would fix the economy. There would be taxes on marijuana and the government would make wonderful money off of it. They say that legalizing pot would keep many, many people out of jail. No longer would we waste government spending on criminals that did not do anything very wrong.
Unfortunately, if they aren’t in it for drug use, they’re in it for tax evasion. Six one, half a dozen another. Nothing changes. Legalizing marijuana wont fix anything–it wont save the world. It is a fact that most drug users in jail are in it because of violence. Most non-violent drug users get treatment, not jail-time. Only 5% of criminals in jail are in it because of simple possession.
We are fed the propaganda that drugs are terrible, that they are monstrous, that doing them one time will kill us. That isn’t the case. However, they aren’t particularly good either. I don’t mind drug users (different strokes for different folks), but legalizing it will not FIX ANYTHING. Because we get to high school or college, and we discover that we in fact will not die from smoking pot or drinking alcohol, that doesn’t mean that we should go overboard. Because we learn that what teachers have told us since first grade isn’t accurate doesn’t mean that we should go after the heroin.
That’s my tangent for the day. In laments terms… don’t bitch to me about wanting to legalize pot.
Have a wonderful day!
Love,
Elizabeth <3
P.S. Don’t judge me. I’m willing to compromise, convince me if you can!