Bourgeoisie and Proletariat

First, Blogger was down Thursday night and so, I could not post! Drat! Moving along...

Bourgeoisie and Proletariat: Following a discussion involving the horrors of standardized testing... )I did only average on my SATs while Kate had her near 1300 score... hot shot. :D), anyway Kate mentioned the word "proletariat" which I aptly referred to as her SAT knowledge revealing itself.

The proletariat (from Latin proles, offspring) is a term used to identify a lower social class; a member of such a class is proletarian. Originally it was identified as those people who had no wealth other than their sons; the term was initially used in a derogatory sense ("those people only good for breeding"), until Karl Marx used it as a sociological term to refer to the working class.

This brought upon the reference to the quality of our history education, thus "Bourgeoisie and Proletariat" While well informed on the meanings of these words Kate was a bit foggy on the origin (understandably so, as high school was several years ago). So I of course had to google it... Kate mentioned Russian, and I believed the origins of the words were French because of their diction. However this wasn't a dispute, because neither of us knew for certain.

It becomes understandable why Kate thought the words described Russian classes specifically. The Soviets adopted Marxism as a foundation to Communism, and as it turns out Mr. Marx relied heavily upon using these terms in his discussions.

Bourgeoisie is a French word. The early Anglicization "burgess" is derived from the old French burgeis (Cf. Also middle English: burgeis, burges, borges and old Dutch: burgher = the inhabitant of a borough or burgh). In the French feudal order, "bourgeois" was formally a legal category in society, defined by conditions such as length of residence and source of income.
The French term in turn seems to have derived from the Italian borghesia (from borgo = village), which in turn derives from the Greek pyrgos. A borghese was a freeman dwelling in a burgh or township. The word evolved to mean merchants and traders, and until the 19th century was mostly synonymous with the middle class (persons in the broad socioeconomic spectrum between nobility and serfs or proletarians). Then, as the power and wealth of the nobility faded in the second half of the 19th century, the bourgeoisie emerged as the new ruling class.

Points for me on my recognition of something derivative of French. In retrospect I should have thought a bit harder. I read George Orwell's "Down and Out in Paris and London" last year which deals a lot with the social and monetary barriers in the Western World. Orwell was a known champion of the Proletariat class. The book is quasi fiction, while the character is separated from Orwell, it has been said to be a memoir of Orwell's "starved artist" period, where he made a point of living amongst the destitute, not simply because he was unable to compete in a bourgeoisie controlled world, but rather that he desired material to feed his creative juices. It was a good book. While it was a bit removed from 1984 and Animal Farm, it can be said that social consciousness was definitely Orwell's primary field of interest.

Anyway, Kate and I had a great Friday and Saturday. Friday night I cooked steak tips, corn on the cob, salad, and had Italian bread, which was very nice. Saturday was rainy, and we lounged around till afternoon, before getting up to walk aimlessly at the Burlington Mall. We had lunch at UNO's and desert at HÃagen-Dazs. It was a fiesta for my taste buds and gave me my sugar high for the weekend.

IN POLITICS: The Dixie Chicks... That's right DIXIE CHICKS

I believe these gals are nothing more than a huge indicator for which way the wind is blowing in the coming election. Let me tell you what... It ain't lookin promising if you are a fan of the underdogs.

My "vote everyone out who is in office" idea likely won't fly, but alas, I never thought it would :(

Anyway, as described in the article: Dixie Chicks tour struggling, the Dixie Chicks appear to have a tour, that get this, its struggling.

Now it appears that if those 29% approval rating polls held much weight, the prophecy that has maligned the Dixie Chicks (Bush sucks ASS), would have ultimately redeemed them because, its true, and according to the polls, the country supposedly agrees.

But are the polls trulyaccuratee outside of major metropolitan areas? I'm guessing not. Here's why, you have three gorgeous women, who were once beloved by country fans, but now they are hated, why? Because Maines, the spunky cute lead of the Dixie Chicks said she was ashamed that Bush was from Texas while touring in Europe. At the time Bush was still doing around 50% in approval ratings. Red blooded Christians and loyalists got wind, and soon country music stations every where would not play the Chick's tunes.

Now here me out, the Dixie Chicks may be country, but they still draw upon an audience that is primarily young people. 2nd premise, young people tend to lean more to the left then the generations that reared them. 3rd premise, Red states continue to reject the Chicks (See article). 4th premise: This equates to the most liberal citizens of the red states (the younglings) basically are still bitter over comments about our president, who, if he isn't a crook, surrounds himself, and is controlled by crooks. Conclusion: Republicans will continue to control at least the House, if not the Senate at well. If people can't listen to meaningless country music because of a little W dissing, do you really expect them to vote against the GOP in elections this November? I know, I'm stretching, and it still is 3 months away.