Jun
22
Occupation and Money
June 22, 2010 | Leave a Comment
I wanted to explore a comment on an earlier post, written by my friend Storme Jaynes. Storme posits that status is about money and the more you have the more status you have. First, I want to say that there appears to be a good deal of individual and cultural relativity in what constitutes status. [...]
Jun
4
Upper-class Sports
June 4, 2010 | Leave a Comment
When I think about “upper-class” in terms of western culture I think of certain sports. Indeed, forget money because class is a matter of activity, right? I do not believe there is anything innate about these sports that make them upper-class other than association and history. An important aspect of these sports is that many [...]
May
27
Power through degradation
May 27, 2010 | Leave a Comment
Can status be elevated by degrading another? Bitch, Cunt, Fag, Gringo, Hillbilly, Idiot, Moron, Nigger, and Redneck are all words designed for that purpose. Of course, degradation can be a lot more subtle and nearly any label can be handed out in derogatory fashion. Degradation is an interesting phenomena because it fits into taboo and [...]
May
26
Possibilities
May 26, 2010 | Leave a Comment
In 1962, Piero Manzoni canned his own feces—90 cans, each with 30 grams of contents. At that time, Manzoni priced his work per the price of gold according to weight (about $33 per can). In 2007, one of those cans set new auction records, fetching over $150,000 Does status derive from the absurdity, branding, scarcity, [...]