The rise of the far right

[newfhouse]

Iain Duncan Smith just used the phrase 'person of colour'. Will @shep be able to bear casting a vote for these exemplars of the Tofu-eating Wokerati?

He said he might give Labour a chance next time round. Speaks volumes, mostly not about Shep.

 

[theclaud]

Impressive use of OTT stereotypes there.

I am almost in that first group...except for the 50p,10 years of comfortable retirement, working class, dismissal of young people.

Bit touchy. I'm just pointing out that rhetorical constructions of the (white) working class (and its antithesis, the 'woke metropolitan elite', serve political ends. By any objective measure, the actual working class (comprising those who must sell their labour to live) is diverse, relatively young, relatively well-educated, and likely to live in cities.

 

[BoldonLad]

To be fair, Aurora did say 'the idea of...' As it happens, I think the idea has persisted while the material basis of class has shifted. Which is why affluent elderly homeowners who bought their houses for about 50p and have been enjoying 20 years of comfortable retirement often continue to describe themselves as 'working class' whilst simultaneously dismissing young people who are doomed to a life of insecure low-paid employment and paying out two-thirds of their wages to rent and heat a garden shed until they die without being able to afford healthcare as 'middle-class' just because they went to university or have blue hair.

50p?, if only

Interested to hear YOUR interprtaion of the words "working class"

Edit. After seeing your response to @Rusty Nails.

Being retired now, I, in common with all retirees, I suppose, no longer survive by "selling our labour". So, perhaps, we are no longer "working class"?. However, before the inevitable ageing process, I was, by your interpretation, very much "working class". I was a zero hours contract worker, before the term 'zero hours" had come into common usage. Since I have children, and grandchildren, and, no doubt, shortly great grandchildren, I tend to very much care about the plight of the young.

I haven't managed the twenty years of retirement yet, but, I am "working" on it.

It is refreshing to see that envy and division still flourish.

 

[Rusty Nails]

Bit touchy. I'm just pointing out that rhetorical constructions of the (white) working class (and its antithesis, the 'woke metropolitan elite', serve political ends. By any objective measure, the actual working class (comprising those who must sell their labour to live) is diverse, relatively young, relatively well-educated, and likely to live in cities.

Just about everything can be used to serve political ends, especially stereotypes.

I am fully aware of the demographic changes in the working class in my lifetime, and of the current hardships faced by far too many of them.

 

[theclaud]

50p?, if only

Interested to hear YOUR interprtaion of the words "working class"

Edit. After seeing your response to @Rusty Nails.

Being retired now, I, in common with all retirees, I suppose, no longer survive by "selling our labour". So, perhaps, we are no longer "working class"?. However, before the inevitable ageing process, I was, by your interpretation, very much "working class". I was a zero hours contract worker, before the term 'zero hours" had come into common usage. Since I have children, and grandchildren, and, no doubt, shortly great grandchildren, I tend to very much care about the plight of the young.

I haven't managed the twenty years of retirement yet, but, I am "working" on it.

It is refreshing to see that envy and division still flourish.

You seem to be taking my post somewhat personally. I didn't mention you at all.

 

[BoldonLad]

You seem to be taking my post somewhat personally. I didn't mention you at all.

Ahh sorry, I clearly completely mis-understand the reason for quoting a post on here.

 

[Rusty Nails]

I was a zero hours contract worker

So was I, sort of. But as a self-employed management consultant did not have a lot in common with the conditions of workers at Amazon, Sports Direct or Deliveroo.

 

[BoldonLad]

So was I, sort of. But as a self-employed management consultant did not have a lot in common with the conditions of workers at Amazon, Sports Direct or Deliveroo.

Depends on your definition of "a lot". But, no holiday pay, no sick pay, no redundancy pay, no notice period.... came a close second, I would agree, I could probably command a superior hourly rate to the average Sports Direct Worker, or, any of the others you mention (this is supposition on my part, I never worked at any of those places). I did work, during one particularly sparse period, loading cars from Nissan onto car transporter ships at Tyne Dock. Honed your driving skills did that.

 

[Rusty Nails]

Depends on your definition of "a lot". But, no holiday pay, no sick pay, no redundancy pay, no notice period.... came a close second, I would agree, I could probably command a superior hourly rate to the average Sports Direct Worker, or, any of the others you mention (this is supposition on my part, I never worked at any of those places). I did work, during one particularly sparse period, loading cars from Nissan onto car transporter ships at Tyne Dock. Honed your driving skills did that.

I suspect our choice of zero hours contracts was actually our career choice.

 

[newfhouse]

Depends on your definition of ”a lot”.

Is everyone on NACA pretending to be Jordan Peterson for 15 minutes?

 

[theclaud]

Ahh sorry, I clearly completely mis-understand the reason for quoting a post on here.

I'm not really interested in pronouncing, one way or the other, upon your working-class credentials. What I'm saying is that when certain politicians invoke a mythical working-class voter (or an idea such as the 'Red Wall') they are not describing an objective reality but appealing to a sense of identity, and specifically to a sense of identity that is threatened, in one way or another, by economic or demographic change.

 

[BoldonLad]

Is everyone on NACA pretending to be Jordan Peterson for 15 minutes?

Who is Jordan Peterson?

 

[winjim]

Who is Jordan Peterson?

Gwyneth Paltrow but for incels.

 

[BoldonLad]

I'm not really interested in pronouncing, one way or the other, upon your working-class credentials. What I'm saying is that when certain politicians invoke a mythical working-class voter (or an idea such as the 'Red Wall') they are not describing an objective reality but appealing to a sense of identity, and specifically to a sense of identity that is threatened, in one way or another, by economic or demographic change.

Ok. Feel free. I was just questioning, with another poster, if a such a stereotypical working class ever existed.

 

[BoldonLad]

Gwyneth Paltrow but for incels.

If you say so