“Class is defin…

by thewedewer

“Class is defined by men as they live their own history, and, in the end, this is the only definition.” – E.P. Thompson

We should never allow the dogma of dead theorists to obfuscate the omnipresent and potent agency of the oppressed. All too often I find myself lamenting the powerlessness of many individuals in American society. This is because I view them as disaggregated data points rather than human beings with their own free will. Every day, both through mundane actions and bombastic statements, they resist the ingrained hierarchies they operate in. They wage battles through the radical musical expression of hip-hop and punk rock. They transform vile, disgusting slurs into terms of affection. They live colorful lives full of hope, optimism, love and sometimes when we attempt to quantify them in order to produce potent conjecture, we forget this. Henceforth, I will try to eschew this tendency and constantly remind myself that I am involved in the social sciences because I care about humans as ends rather than means to an abstract utopia. Rest in power, E.P. Thompson. Your insights certainly won’t be forgotten.