Lumpenproletariat- noun. A German word meaning "raggedy proletariat." Basically, it means the immoral "have-nots" of society, as coined by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.
Toodles,
Jen Jacques, Jessica Wu, and Melinda Ngo
Your Future Students :]
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
The "immoral" part stops me from agreeing with you. The Wikipedia entry that I believe you took this from doesn't place a value judgment on the lumpenproletariat, does it? Did Marx and Engels? If they are critics of the bourgeoisie, would they not be champions of the underdog? If the swindlers and tricksters are undermining the power base of the bourgeoisie, would they be "immoral"? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lumpenproletariat
ReplyDeleteAnd would the speaker, talking about those left OUT of digital culture, think that these people are immoral? Does poverty or access to resources (intellectual resources as well as capital) have anything to do with moral standing?
But why wouldn't brothel-owners fit into the immoral class? They also help to make up the lumpenproletariat, while still peddling human beings and treating sex as a commodity. Maybe not everyone who is considered part of the lumpenproletariat is immoral, but swindlers (also known as tricksters) and brothel-owners sure don't sound like people I would want my nephew hanging out with.
ReplyDeleteOkay so now I feel stupid. I just read the article in the Blogosphere and I understand your point of view now.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I do not accept age or lack of access to resources as an excuse or a reason to not at least learn the basics of computers and the internet. In this day and age, inability to use a computer is tantamount to not being able to read. Even in school, the necessity of using some form of a computer is present. Teachers won't accept hand-written papers, no matter how neat they are. And if there is a chart involved? You better google it to figure out how to put your chart on your lab report or you will be docked points.
Computers are everywhere and one has to truly try to not learn or come into contact with computers and the Internet. Like Andrew Keen says, "There are now many libraries, schools, cafés, community centres and even churches with online computers." Internet usage isn't going away and pretty soon it may become the only way to take care of responsibilities such as paying bills, making doctor's appointments and finding someone's phone number. Someday, there may not be a physical Yellow Pages to use.
The speaker in the article diminishes the moral standing of the people who lack the necessity of using modern technology. He writes that these people need to "beg, steal or borrow to get wired in the 21st century." With the use of these words, Andrew Keen has just described a lumpenproletariat, and a person who has to use immoral actions to become part of the internet-crazed society we are today. So yes, I think, that in a way, Andrew Keen is illustrating somewhat of an immoral person to the technological savvy society.
ReplyDeleteBeing literate and fluent demands that we use computer technology, but I don't know...if you don't have the skills, in-home access to digitial resources, two jobs and three kids -- I don't know. There is an outsider class, people who are not comfortable with print of any kind...every year, a student will boast to me that they haven't really read a book in high school, ever. And much online activity involves entertainment -- using digital media for intellectual purposes rests in the hands of a very small percentage of the computer-using population.
ReplyDeleteAnd Hollie, Andrew Keen says "beg, borrow, and steal" the way my mother used it -- it's a little figurative phrase, not to be taken literally, that means "doing what we can, what we must." And we ARE the techno-savvy. And we're not crazy or immoral! Heck no! We're hard-working, kind-hearted, funny people with dogs, hobbies, and completely friendly and benign demeanors.
Jen, please keep your nephew AWAY from the brothel-owners, and also the tricksters. :)
ReplyDeleteI CANNOT WAIT for you kids to read Postman.
ReplyDeleteAnd guess what? Postman was on the AP exam this year, on the Form B Synthesis question.
ReplyDeleteHaha I'm definitely hiding him from them. He's cute; they might kidnap him ;]
ReplyDeleteAnd my 74 year old grandma learned how to use a computer last year. I wonder if the person who works too jobs has a computer at either one? A lot of fast foot registers are much more like a computer than a real register now.
Sorry, two jobs, not too. My iPod autocorrects, and sometimes it autowrongs.
ReplyDelete