“White privilege” is such a commonly accepted pillar of American society that it’s become material for comics. As Chris Rock tells his audience in the following clip, “There ain’t a white man in this room who would change places with me. And I’m rich!”
Welcome to the Third World, Part 21: State Schools Scale Waaayyy Back
Readers of a certain age will remember when state universities were a bit spartan but extremely cheap. Middle class families could send their kids to Ohio State or UCLA without taking out a second mortgage, and the kids could focus on classes and fun instead of juggling multiple part-time jobs to cover room and board. […]
Welcome to the Third World, Part 12: Your Pension is an “Unsecured Obligation”
The main difference between well-run and badly-run countries is certainty. In well-run countries, money is worth pretty much the same from one year to the next, the police come when called and protect rather than prey on the caller, and contracts, including pensions and other retirement plans, behave as advertised. In badly-run countries, not so […]
Welcome to the Third World, Part 10: Students Become Strippers
Poverty – or its prospect – sometimes leads one to make surprising choices. Here’s a truly disturbing example, from London’s Independent: Students and the sex industry: Empowering or the last resort of the debt-ridden? With unemployment levels soaring across Britain, job prospects for graduates have never looked so bleak. But one sector proving resilient, and […]