British Work Ethic Condemned

Conrad

ninky wrote: »

mixed in with a heavy dose of sterotype

In turn did you ever see that documentary on how 97% of small convienience stores were taken over by ethnic Asians and Ugandan Asians?
Not a stereotype.

It's all very well pulling out the 1970's stereotype red card, but personaly I prefer honest and non positioned exploration of reality.

Lets see if stereotypes exist in your pure mind. If I say to you 'second hand car sales dealer' I'd bet you would picture a white non middle class male.

Anway, the point is ethnic Asians in my own experience are harder working. They are over represented proportionally in areas such as medicine and you'd have to be completly blind not to have recognised this. I suspect this stems from the parents work ethic, and certainly my own life experience is of ultra hard working ethnicaly Asian parents pushing thier kids considerably harder than the average.

Oh well, I guess I and Tata imagined it all. We're all EXACTLY the same Ninky - no cultural differneces at all, there.

bendix

ninky wrote: »

yeah yeah and if the government proposed a cut to GP salaries those professionals at the bma wouldn't have a thing to say about it.

semantics and snobbery.

GPs are civil servants. I can't speak for them.

Private practice lawyers work in private companies, and so set their own salaries based on - horror of horrors - market forces.

Of course, you knew that anyway, and you're just being a naughty leftie, aren't you.

The Law Society is no more an trade union than it is a book club.

ninky_2

Conrad wrote: »

Lets see if stereotypes exist in your pure mind. If I say to you 'second hand car sales dealer' I'd bet you would picture a white non middle class male.

funnily enough not. the second hand car dealers i know are male but not white or english. one is an exiled iranian marxist intellectual and the other is a lebanese hezbollah supporter. i probably move in quite different circles to you however.

ninky_2

bendix wrote: »

GPs are civil servants. I can't speak for them.

Private practice lawyers work in private companies, and so set their own salaries based on - horror of horrors - market forces.

Of course, you knew that anyway, and you're just being a naughty leftie, aren't you.

The Law Society is no more an trade union than it is a book club.

trade unions do a lot other than set salaries. i've never had my fee set other than by private arrangement either but i'm still a member of a union. if the law society is doing nothing more work related than the average book club i wonder why so many people in the legal profession are members.

Thrugelmir

ninky wrote: »

trade unions do a lot other than set salaries. i've never had my fee set other than by private arrangement either but i'm still a member of a union. if the law society is doing nothing more work related than the average book club i wonder why so many people in the legal profession are members.

Employment law, along with health safety and working conditions have improved immeasurably over the past few decades. So the role of Unions in many facets of daily working life has diminished.

The major issue has always been the political allegiance. Which means that many people are disinclined to join. Some ago I was Union Representative myself. I recall that a local level there was disquiet between those that viewed Union representation more akin to a staff association, and those with outright political views. Most often on the extreme left of political views.

shays_mum

Conrad wrote: »

We've been discussing 2 local ethnically Asian shop keepers here, both of whom we know very well. Neither has ever had a holiday. In one thier daughter spent all her holidays being in the shop. They work incredibly long hours and are even open Xmas day. Both say to me they just love work, period. All the white shop keepers do go on holliday and dont work as long hours.
They are humble and modest yet as they are cleints of mine I know both are very comfortable, with a string of let properties. Both urge thier children to go into medicine.

The zeal to amass money (at the expense of family fun) is apparnatly ok'd by the Koran?

Who says they are muslims??, all asians are not by definition Muslim and hence dictated to by the Koran. Maybe family fun is being together in a familiar environment then away in an a place populated by all sorts.

I see this as a microchosym of the East / West global business debate in fact.

However, I do see this relentless work ethic to have a downside as for example India has huge wealth disparity and despite all the religious virtue, this relentless lust for money at all costs (never taking kids on holiday) does not seem to bring about a healthy rounded society, but I could well be talking nonsense as I have never been to India myself.

Alot of the ethic/lust behind accumulating money is when alot of Asian's were expelled from Uganda/Kenya. I think the fear is always there that they maybe thrown out of the UK as well, hence educating kids as a priority. Why was it ok for Britain to accumulate wealth when they raided India?, but your happy to jeer when somebody 'doesn't take their kids on holidays' as they are 'lusting' after wealth. I am sure your clients would be really happy to know how small minded you are when you judge their work/family ethics - i would not hire you to look after my business interests esp as you need to employ your spellchecker more often

CrazyIndianZA

In the city, it doesn't really matter what your ethnic background is, all the income generating people work extremely hard. A certain 30something Investment Banker I know works pretty much 6.5 days a week, Ditto for his Swedish line manager.

kabayiri

Sometimes you have to look back to the past to get a sense of perspective on where you are heading. I don't think this is any different.

It's hard to disagree with the statement that in days gone by people worked longer hours, and arguably had much more strenuous lives. I remember visiting Pilkingtons museum and seeing just how hard the people worked only a couple of generations ago.

There was also a greater polarisation of wealth in those days.

Is this what we want? Would those on here who extol the benefits of 70 hour weeks want to see the return of a 5 1/2 or 6 day week?

If this happened wouldn't this increase the gap between the haves and the have nots?

Like it or not , automation is going to continue, and there simply will not be the quantity of work around in years to come.

So how do we create a balance ?

ILW

I do remember when sundays were a bit special with no shops open. Sort of think it would be nice to try again for a while.

ninky_2

ILW wrote: »

I do remember when sundays were a bit special with no shops open. Sort of think it would be nice to try again for a while.

is this the grumpy old man nostalgia corner? bring back the birch, bob a job and sunday school.