Ubuntu and The Self-Made Myth

Thursday, March 15th, 2012

We’ve all heard rags-to-riches stories about successful individuals who “pulled themselves up by the bootstraps.”  Certainly, many successful business people owe their good fortune to hard work and innovative thinking. But, to describe those people as “self-made” would be to dismiss a big piece of reality—the role of the commons.

Overlooking luck

Monday, January 23rd, 2012

Can someone please explain to Newt Gingrich that people not wanting a job typically doesn’t cause poverty; being unable to get a job causes poverty.  I would strongly assert that very few people want to be unable to provide for themselves and their families.  People who have only experienced privilege often do not recognize the parts of their lives that others are not lucky enough to have.

Condescending Baby-Feeding Advice

Thursday, February 17th, 2011

I read this article about negative breast-feeding myths among African Americans in The Root and sat upright when I saw this bit of social class cluelessness: