A thread to ask about cultural stuff you should know

[OneFrenchEgg]

Ok so there's loads of stuff other people know and stuff I know.
Where do I start with Noam Chomsky and why? Is he left wing? Why is he so relevant?

Keynes - John Maynard Keynes - economist. Milton Keynes named after him.

Lightbulb moment. Never put 2 and 2 together before.

Someone pointed out up thread that this isn't true - so as you were!

I had the CD of Harry Enfield's guide to Opera back in the 80's (showing my age). There were some good tunes, and I was surprised that I knew many of them from TV adverts.
But I prefer 1970's pop genres (disco, metal, reggae, country, easy listening, new wave, punk - all with their own history and body of knowledge).

The thing is, it is a cultural quirk that elevates opera to 'high culture' - probably because it costs money so was always the preserve of the rich.
Contrast that to American blues, or folk - each with immense history and rich depth, but not 'rich people's music'.

One of the great things about today is how some much cultural knowledge and experience is so freely available. I could really learn all about art, or opera, if I was so inclined, and even attend performances / galleries.
But there are only so many hours in the day.

Who can tell me about wine?
I drink a glass occasionally at a restaurant, but always ask for the "house" wine as I have no idea what to ask for.

@AnnaMagnani I met a chap the other day who said he was about to make his (IIRC) 1,500th visit to Covent Garden. Now that’s series opera buffery.

Thank you for answering my question.

@FortunataTagnips wow! DH can only dream (plus budget would be standing only)

Most of our attendances now are either student productions or when we are on holiday.

DH thinks he's seen over 150 different operas. Which is impressive given that you have to hunt out alternatives to Carmen, Tosca, The Magic Flute etc.

On the other hand I had to explain to him who Rob and Rylan are.

Thank you! Why 'neoliberal'? It seems like modern capitalism?

The underlying idea is each individual is fundamentally a piece of capital ...

I can take this a step further... we are also a great for maintaining that capital & income by tapping into our future earnings. It allows things to be more expensive thus making more money. It also keeps the majority working, paying taxes & spending ... credit card or a loan anyone?

Neoliberal is an extreme form of free-market capitalism.

Capitalism is about having private wealth to invest in companies, as opposed to the state owning all or most companies.

There is a half-way house of state ownership, or heavy state regulation, of some essentials, and the recognition that markets are not always the best way to distribute wealth in society.
Such as the absolute bollocks of having an "internal market" in the NHS.

Neoliberalism worships markets and abhors any state intervention.

Capitalism is basically a bunch of practices aiming to accumulate capital.

Neoliberalism is a political philosophy and beliefs, which claim that their understanding of human nature and economics gives the knowledge to maximize human thriving.
One of those beliefs is maximizing human thriving is tied to maximizing the profits of capitalists.

One of the foundational texts of neoliberalism is The Road to Serfdom by Hayek. Churchill thought this showed exactly why you shouldn't vote socialism, had abridged copies delivered across the UK in 1945 and lost by a landslide.

He goes on and on about how markets will solve everything apart from one footnote in which he admits they'll need to sort something out for the poor/old/disabled. But other than that small issue markets can do everything.

The other author is Ayn Rand who writes about how you should be entirely self centred, get rid of bureaucracy which holds back geniuses and government should be v small and not do things like social services.

She ends up living off social services but claims thats fine as she's still carrying on her principles of just looking out for herself.

This is v interesting.
And I find that political philosophy quite scary. I do believe in society. Probably because I work in education and see the knock on effects.

DH (who is feeding me all this info, I'm not the politics person in this relationship!) points out that Hayek etc is v appealing to teen boys.

It also fits with the silicon valley mentally of thinking that you are geniuses just being held back by that pesky government regulation.

However most teen boys grow up and realise this has a lot of problems. Some of them don't and they end up as politicians.

So if you work in education I am guessing you might come across kids who think this is all brilliant a lot.

Yes that is true. And I still find it astounding how self centred they sound.

Then the other extreme (those that have adverse childhood experiences or family health issues) just want to give back and want to go into careers like health, social work and teaching.

I have an interest in many things, but wouldn't want to immerse myself in them.

I think our bookshelves probably look quite similar!

Did you see there’s a third Pat Barker in the series coming out this summer?

As before, no, it isn’t. It’s named after a Norman settlement there since the 11th century.

It didn’t stop my Maths teacher telling me it was after Keynes, though.

Pronounced differently too.

I think it depends on what you consider 'cultural stuff or knowledge' to be and if you think different types of knowledge are specialist or not. In our family we have what I’d call ‘LW/WC cultural capital’, which is our ‘cultural knowledge’ or 'stuff' that aligns us with others like us, but we’ve now expanded into other areas of knowledge that allows us to also align with other groups of ‘others like us’ of all kinds.

The LEA (and some of MN) considered things like mechanics, 2&3 phase electrics, welding, soldering, tool making, wood butchering, glass, glazing, driving, and basic animal handling, to be unsuitable subjects for my children.
But, art, sewing, pattern making, French curves, scale rulers, music, crafts, and food preparation were considered acceptable as having a place in their education.
When you look at it it's mainly the elevation of what was considered 'cultivated' by the landed gentry then copied by the MC's.

But culturally any child in this family would be effectively an outsider without all of the above as basic knowledge and skills, and any LDs aside, you'd be seen as a bit of a numpty if you didn't have them.

I don't think it's just about showing of a 'good' education, and 'in depth abstract conversations', because everything we learn about is likely to get used or applied practically somewhere in some way.
I'm totally self educated from a poor start and developing 'cultural knowledge' and references, make it harder for those in power to communicate over my head, which has allowed us to challenge the status quo.

The internet has been an absolute game changer, and concepts of 'high culture' and 'low culture' are evolving too. Knowledge is power.
I believe in society, sharing knowledge and ideas, and that education of all forms should be freely available to all.

The teachers should have taught art history instead!

Ooh, no! Thank you!

About the Romans respecting local religion and culture, the Romans attacked and supressed the British Druids, made up fanciful lies about them and worse. Because Druids did not have a written culture and because the Roman historians disparaged the Druids, their legacy is artificially tainted. Druids were harmless.

Nim Chimpsky was a chimp with a very interesting story (worth looking up - both a sad and inspiring experience).

The sign language that a group of chimps in one of the early experiments used gives fairly clear indications that they were representing abstract thoughts and emotions, and able to refer to past time where things were different from the circumstances at the time of the conversation.

I suspect that was political, not cultural or religious - the Druids were an organised power-structure who did not acquiesce to Roman rule.

I think I'd like our royal family better if they all took part in a dance number.

Henry VIII was a heck of a dancer. Dancing was very important in court. Also playing musical instruments and composing.

The current lot aren’t nearly as entertaining.

@SheilaFentiman - I’ve already added the Barker to my Christmas wish list 😂