The Brilliance in “Blue-Collar Brilliance” free essay sample

As a whole, society sometimes makes many preconceived notions about people, groups and their actions or life choices. These accusations are wrong. Author Mike Rose reiterates this point in his article â€Å"Blue-Collar Brilliance† saying, â€Å"If we think that whole categories of people-identified by class or occupation-are not that bright, then we reinforce social separations and cripple our ability to talk across cultural divides. †(Pg254), he’s essentially saying if we as a society think that making social divides is acceptable then we only separate the classes more. Mike Rose begins his article with two short stories to give a base to his argument that he will soon present. The first is about his mother Rosie who used cognitive problem solving and many other skills on the job as a waitress at a local diner. In the second, he tells us about his uncle Joe who moves up in the ranks of the General Motors Company from working the assembly line to being a supervisor. We will write a custom essay sample on The Brilliance in â€Å"Blue-Collar Brilliance† or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page In both accounts Mike Rose tells about how; even though working in the blue-collar profession, his family members used their past experience and current problems to provide themselves with a â€Å"kind of rhetorical education†(Pg249). Rose then gets back on track with his thesis idea, and takes a stab at society. His following argument leaves us with many questions. Why do we create the social biases that we do? Many people state that â€Å"we don’t know a man until we’ve walked a mile in his shoes†, but do we practice what we preach? Mike Rose tries to answer this by saying, â€Å"Our Culture†¦separates the body from the mind, so that, for example, we assume that the use of a tool does not involve abstraction. †(Pg250). So is it because an occupation incorporates hard labor do we pass it off as being a lesser of mental challenge? Working in a blue-collar profession requires so much more mental concentration then anyone gives it credit for. Mike Rose gives many examples as to how this idea is true. We as society think that you go into work, punch a time card, do a simple; sometimes repetitive, task for hours, punch a time card out and carry on with a boring meek life. There is so much that lies at the core of hard labor that we overlook. Whether it is a monotonous action that is involved, many people find ways to make it easier, do it faster, or create a safer product. Mike tells us how his mother Rosie working in the diner, would make psychological distinctions between each of her customers to better improve the efficiency of her work, thus, sometimes resulting in a greater tip. Mike Rose gives us these stories’, which present us with questions that gives us our own argument, which he then tries to compete with his own argument. Rosie and Uncle Joe, are both somewhat an image of the true core of blue-collar work. Mike says it himself â€Å"To acknowledge a broader range of intellectual capacity is to take seriously the concept of cognitive variability, to appreciate in all the Rosies and Joes†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (Pg254) If it wasn’t for the true brilliance shown in the many blue-collar professions or the ideas from that of a blue-collar professional, would we be where we are today? Because much of society would agree, that today is a cleaner, safer, much more efficient world than that of even 20 years ago, largely due to the contributions and actions of the blue-collar workforce. Lastly, if we continue to â€Å"reinforce social separations†(Pg254), do our actions make us more mentally competent than the thought we have of blue-collar professionals’? Or are we simply doing as Mike Rose said we would, and â€Å"reinforcing social separations†? That is the true question here. Gerald Graff, Cathy Birkenstein, Russel Durst, Mike Rose. â€Å"Blue-Collar Brilliance† They say I say 2E (2012) 243-255 Print. â€Å"Blue-Collar Brilliance: Questions Assumptions about Intelligence, Work and Social Class† Reprinted from The American Scholar, Volume 78, No. 3, summer 2009. Copyright 2009 Mike Rose.