Useless jobs still being recruited for in the civil service

westv

Has this thread become a perfect example of Godwin's law?

carolt

On about page 1, yes.

StevieJ

marklv wrote: »

Bendix,

I never knew you came from a council estate, in any case does it matter? Whatever your background you are now a fully paid up member of the 'chattering classes'. It doesn't matter that your grandfather may have been a miner or whatever. The fact is that you have left all that behind, and indeed, one may argue, repudiated that background. Possibly this is one reason why you are so keen to attack socialism in any form; you are keen to show how far you have gone since your early days.

That reminds me of something

Good nutrition's given you some length of bone, but you're not more than one generation from poor white trash, are you, Agent Starling? And that accent you've tried so desperately to shed: pure West Virginia. What is your father, dear? Is he a coal miner?

marklv

bendix wrote: »

LOL. I can't win, can I?

And to address marklv's point, far from repudiating my background, I embrace it. To me it is the single most formative influence on my political views today.

Curiously, of course, the essense of working class thinking is intrinsically conservative. Self-advancement, working for rewards etc. There is nothing working class about socialism; on the contrary, it is a philosophical creed founded by essentially middle class thinkers who then 'used' the working classes to further their own ends.

Marx - a bourgeoise intellectual. Engels - a factory owner. Lenin - another upper middle class intellectual. Mao - university educated. Pol Pot - sent to Paris to finish his education.

Need I go on?

You forget that without the working class there would have been no Bolshevik revolution in Russia in the autumn of 1917. The leaders may have been well educated of middle class background, but the 'muscle' certainly wasn't. And the British Labour party was founded by working class people - Keir Hardie was no middle class intellectual. I believe that what you say is partially true in the sense that only one half of the working class in Britain believes in egalitarianism - and these folk mainly hail from north of the Watford Gap. The typical southern working class Sun-reader is a Tory, that's certainly true. In most other countries it's the same - half of the working class is innately conservative - and fascist leaders in the 20th century used that to build up political movements that were both conservative and vaguely socialistic in outlook, thus appealing to as many of the masses as possible.

PasturesNew

I came from a council estate ... wish I could get back there - it's cheap living and all the knock off gear you need

neverdespairgirl

I have never lived on a council estate.

My parents owned their own home, and I had a new bike as a child.

Clearly, I'm scum.

ninky_2

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

I have never lived on a council estate.

My parents owned their own home, and I had a new bike as a child.

Clearly, I'm scum.

ooh no you are posh. i bet you even had riding lessons.

bendix

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

I have never lived on a council estate.

My parents owned their own home, and I had a new bike as a child.

Clearly, I'm scum.

On the contrary. You sound like quite a catch . . .

Dinner and intelligent conversation sometime, perhaps?

I won't tell mrs bendix, if you don't.

bendix

ninky wrote: »

ooh no you are posh. i bet you even had riding lessons.

I always had you down as a bit posh, ninky. Am I right?

Waitrose or Morrisons?

(why do I expect you to come back with Co-op?)

LydiaJ

I have also never lived on a council estate.
My parents owned their own home.
They spent most of their money on school fees so there was not a lot left for anything else.
Bikes were second hand. So were clothes and anything else that could be got second hand.
Holidays were staying with friends/family.
As much food as possible was half price because out of date, and there were boiled potatoes and boiled cabbage with every meal as the only affordable way of filling up the teenage boys.
Am I posh or scum or something else?