What Matters: Class Trumps Race
Walter Benn Michaels, 27 August 2009
Once you start redefining the problem of class difference as the problem of class prejudice you no longer have to worry about the redistribution of wealth. You can just fight over whether poor people should be treated with contempt or respect. And while, in human terms, respect seems the right way to go, politically it’s just as empty as contempt.