Its rough for all of us who experience the first tidal wave of the recession. We’ve all been experiencing this before much of this country was.

But the USA today article is wrong. Check this out…

http://www.lansesentinel.com/news_archives.htm

“The unemployment rate in the Upper Peninsula rose sharply in December to 11.4 percent, a full 2.0 percentage points above November’s 9.4 percent. Mackinac County recorded the highest UP unemployment at 24.2 percent. Baraga County reflected manufacturing layoffs with the second highest unemployment rate in the UP,–20.6 percent. Those are also the highest unemployment rates in Michigan.”

My of my relatives live in the Upper Peninsuala and specifically on the reservation (Ojibway/Anishinaabe territory) there were the unemployment in that county is 20.6%.

Also everyone is experiencing hard times, but again, what about the tough times the people have been experiencing on reservations? Not trying to one up oppression or anything. Native news never makes the mainstream news. Just want to shine light to a place where normally there is never any light shinned. For instance, on the Pine Ridge reservation in SD the unemployment rate hovers near 80%.

Again, no one is paying any attention to Michigan and this makes me so annoyed. Michigan has fallen and its like a domino effect in this country but no one wants to pay attention in this country. Oh yes, I know why, the blue collar folk don’t matter?! Right?

Anti-intellectualism is very fashionable, and I think that is worrying.

Butterflywings, here’s the problem I have with that statement—where are those professionals coming from? Who is anointing them professionals? Name me a movement with long-term success that gained its strength from the professionals. Especially, professionals that got their professional status from individuals or entities outside of, and in some cases oppositional to, the movement itself.

Without the grassroots, there is nothing. Nothing. Without the grassroots, those professionals can and will be co-opted. Movement comes from below.

Now, the reason I gave the civil rights movement as a model to be followed isn’t just because of its successes (and mind you, many of feminism’s successes rode coat-tail), but because of the emphasis on the grass roots, the many levels of organizing, and the recognition and development of talent no matter the source. Those are all serious weaknesses, both now and historically, within the feminist movement.

There is a “face” of feminism that is being promoted, and it isn’t being promoted from the grass roots. That “face” of feminism doesn’t resemble me or many other women by a long shot, and that isn’t a matter of “jealousy”. It’s a matter of power. I can’t and don’t trust anyone, including women within the feminist movement, to represent my concerns when their lives have fuck-all to do with mine. Feminism is being rebranded as niche marketing, dammit, and as someone who marched in Chicago for the Equal Rights Amendment—was part of that huge crowd of people from all walks of life and has seen what our movement could be if we would just get our shit together—–it pisses me off to no end.

And you know what? As a woman in the trades, I expected the first feminist reaction to the economic stimulus package to be, “Woot! Infrastructure! What a great opportunity to get more women into the trades!” Didn’t work out that way, did it? There is no reason why our numbers shouldn’t have risen in the trades the same way our numbers have risen in college, in law, in medicine, in finance, in entrepreneurship, etc. over the course of my lifetime.

I’m not anti-intellectual. I am angry that any grassroots critique of feminist spokeswomen, especially critique that is more-or-less “yoo-hoo! over here! don’t forget about us!!” is inevitably reduced to “anti-intellectualism” or “jealousy”.

And what is this meme that only priveleged people can be well-read, or write in an articulate way?
You can learn those things.

Oh, I agree with you. I’m just tired or having people look at me like the dog spoke when I use words of more than three syllables. Online, nobody “knows I’m a dog” (wolf?); in-person, it’s a different story. And it’s draining.

Anti-intellectualism is very fashionable, and I think that is worrying.

Right. I don’t see a whole lot of anti-intellectualism here at all.

My parents were both the first person in their family to go to college. In many ways, it was a lot easier back then for clever working class people to succeed. Because we iddn’t have the ‘wah it’s elitist to study’ trope.

And despite having a good job, I’ve struggled. I’ve had to go around the supermarket finding food close to the sell-by date. I have walked to work because I didn’t have the bus fare. I am in huge debt, because I took out a loan to do a Masters.

I realise I am still priveleged to be educated, but there you go. Of course feminism should be inclusive, and should provide platforms for talented working class feminists. I’m not saying otherwise.

What has bugged me (not personally directed at anyone) is the plain anti-intellectualism in some of the comments, here and elsewhere. Also, yes, it’s unfair to assume that someone is a spolit brat and has a perfect life because of their class/ occupation.