simvastatin Posted April 16, 2019 Share Posted April 16, 2019 I seem to sense so much middle class anger, so many angry people around, it seems more the middle class rather than the working class. How is it in your neck of the woods? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hurlerontheditch Posted April 16, 2019 Share Posted April 16, 2019 what is the middle class these days? its either working class or rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Si1 Posted April 16, 2019 Share Posted April 16, 2019 (edited) Because their house prices are falling and they're not getting a govt bailout,? Edited April 16, 2019 by Si1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Errol Posted April 16, 2019 Share Posted April 16, 2019 Because the policies followed by Central banks and Governments over the past 40-50 years have had the effect of systematically hollowing out the middle class and giving the top 5% nearly all the money. Remember - it's the middle classes who start and lead the revolutions. Trouble is brewing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
“Nasty Piece of work” Posted April 16, 2019 Share Posted April 16, 2019 I’m middle class, and am furious. People work chuffing hard just to exist. I want to see blood flowing in the streets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Si1 Posted April 16, 2019 Share Posted April 16, 2019 Just now, Freezer? Best place for it said: I’m middle class, and am furious. People work chuffing hard just to exist. I want to see blood flowing in the streets. Pretty much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crouch Posted April 16, 2019 Share Posted April 16, 2019 19 minutes ago, prozac said: I seem to sense so much middle class anger, so many angry people around, it seems more the middle class rather than the working class. How is it in your neck of the woods? I think it's because the economy is squeezing them; it's becoming more polarized. There are the spivs at the top who believe it's all down to hard work and their ability whereas in fact many fail to take account of luck; and there are the vast majority at the bottom with low wages and very little in a pathway out of that situation. That leaves a diminishing slice in the middle whose privileged postion was based on education and a restricted jobs market who are increasingly under threat from AI/automation whatever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Si1 Posted April 16, 2019 Share Posted April 16, 2019 1 minute ago, crouch said: I think it's because the economy is squeezing them; it's becoming more polarized. There are the spivs at the top who believe it's all down to hard work and their ability whereas in fact many fail to take account of luck; and there are the vast majority at the bottom with low wages and very little in a pathway out of that situation. That leaves a diminishing slice in the middle whose privileged postion was based on education and a restricted jobs market who are increasingly under threat from AI/automation whatever. I disagree. We are governed by and for the advantage of lazy privilege. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crouch Posted April 16, 2019 Share Posted April 16, 2019 1 minute ago, Si1 said: I disagree. We are governed by and for the advantage of lazy privilege. Well, you could argue that's always been the case whereas the post is about what's changed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougless Posted April 16, 2019 Share Posted April 16, 2019 14 minutes ago, Errol said: Because the policies followed by Central banks and Governments over the past 40-50 years have had the effect of systematically hollowing out the middle class and giving the top 5% nearly all the money. Remember - it's the middle classes who start and lead the revolutions. Trouble is brewing. This sums up how I see the situation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Si1 Posted April 16, 2019 Share Posted April 16, 2019 1 minute ago, crouch said: Well, you could argue that's always been the case whereas the post is about what's changed. I'd argue it hasn't always been the case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeanutButter Posted April 16, 2019 Share Posted April 16, 2019 50 minutes ago, prozac said: I seem to sense so much middle class anger, so many angry people around, it seems more the middle class rather than the working class. How is it in your neck of the woods? Can you give some examples? Do you mean tailgating Range Rovers or men in red trousers kicking Labradors? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chronyx Posted April 16, 2019 Share Posted April 16, 2019 When did you last see the driver of a big German leasemobile smiling? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simvastatin Posted April 16, 2019 Author Share Posted April 16, 2019 9 minutes ago, PeanutButter said: Can you give some examples? Do you mean tailgating Range Rovers or men in red trousers kicking Labradors? Well I just got shouted at in the bank for going in front of somebody at the bank, but I was waiting for a particular cashier. and I have two routes to work, a middle class way and a working class way, one way is trendy hipsters and the other way the people smell, guess which way the people are happier and smile more Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winkie Posted April 16, 2019 Share Posted April 16, 2019 1 hour ago, prozac said: I seem to sense so much middle class anger, so many angry people around, it seems more the middle class rather than the working class. How is it in your neck of the woods? Always been that way.....why, they work for all the things others get for nothing.....tell them to do nothing then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crouch Posted April 16, 2019 Share Posted April 16, 2019 31 minutes ago, Si1 said: I'd argue it hasn't always been the case. What is lazy privilege? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeanutButter Posted April 16, 2019 Share Posted April 16, 2019 5 minutes ago, prozac said: Well I just got shouted at in the bank for going in front of somebody at the bank, but I was waiting for a particular cashier. and I have two routes to work, a middle class way and a working class way, one way is trendy hipsters and the other way the people smell, guess which way the people are happier and smile more My experience is that at all levels common courtesy is taking a back seat to instant reactions. Did you know people who drive posher vehicles are less likely to stop for people to cross the road? I saw a 'homeless' man today (he isn't homeless, he's definitely in a gang that I've seen around) and a woman stopped to give him some food. He nodded to her but as she walked away I heard him cursing and looking pissed off, tossing the food into a corner. Social media and online interactions groom us to react to information in extremely positive or extremely negative ways. Those extremes are more rewarding in our brains than the finer ranger of emotions in between. Perhaps people less addicted to their screens would be less reactive, even friendlier. But hipsters have never been known for friendliness. They are defined by excluding others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottbeard Posted April 16, 2019 Share Posted April 16, 2019 14 minutes ago, PeanutButter said: Social media and online interactions groom us to react to information in extremely positive or extremely negative ways. Those extremes are more rewarding in our brains than the finer ranger of emotions in between. Perhaps people less addicted to their screens would be less reactive, even friendlier. Isn't it more that - Online you don't get the non-verbal signals, just the raw text, so you tend to perceive things as more extreme than you would do if it were spoken to you, but in a neutral tone of voice?, and - Interacting online is de-humanizing: you don't see and feel the emotions of the person, so you tend to be nastier than you would in person. - If you spout a lot of sexist, racist nonsense in a pub there's a good chance you'd be asked to leave and/or punched in the face. Online, hidden behind avatars and usernames, people become braver in (frankly) saying what really think. It's not the internet making us nasty, it's usual societal norms that keep the nastiness in check in day-to-day real life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gribble Posted April 16, 2019 Share Posted April 16, 2019 Yes many I know are angry. Destruction of democracy, no free speech, unabated immigration and the middle classes propping up the bankster and governing elite, as well as the feckless fast breeders Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
“Nasty Piece of work” Posted April 16, 2019 Share Posted April 16, 2019 (edited) 39 minutes ago, PeanutButter said: people less addicted to their screens would be less reactive, even friendlier. ****** off! Edited April 16, 2019 by Freezer? Best place for it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Si1 Posted April 16, 2019 Share Posted April 16, 2019 48 minutes ago, crouch said: What is lazy privilege? Fair question. Mostly blue rinse brigade in the home counties and their descendants waiting on fat and very unearned inheritances. https://m.huffingtonpost.co.uk/amp/entry/conservatives-risks-being-seen-as-party-of-lazy-privilege-tory-mp-warns-theresa-may_uk_5a0ec5f8e4b045cf4370ccd5/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riedquat Posted April 16, 2019 Share Posted April 16, 2019 1 hour ago, Si1 said: I'd argue it hasn't always been the case. It's been mostly the case, with a bit of an aberration away from it in the 20th century. I suppose it's changed compared with history when before it was about protecting the privileged and now it's about screwing over everything for the wealthy - clearly there's a great deal of overlap between the two but also I think a subtle difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crouch Posted April 16, 2019 Share Posted April 16, 2019 34 minutes ago, Si1 said: Fair question. Mostly blue rinse brigade in the home counties and their descendants waiting on fat and very unearned inheritances. https://m.huffingtonpost.co.uk/amp/entry/conservatives-risks-being-seen-as-party-of-lazy-privilege-tory-mp-warns-theresa-may_uk_5a0ec5f8e4b045cf4370ccd5/ In all honesty that portrait certainly does apply to some but I would think to a diminishing number. When I think middle class I don't think of those living off inheritance I think local solicitor, accountant, doctor vet, company manager, the working middle class. These are the people being squeezed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottbeard Posted April 16, 2019 Share Posted April 16, 2019 12 minutes ago, crouch said: In all honesty that portrait certainly does apply to some but I would think to a diminishing number. When I think middle class I don't think of those living off inheritance I think local solicitor, accountant, doctor vet, company manager, the working middle class. These are the people being squeezed. Absolutely. Traditionally the middle class is a group of people who: - unlike the upper class, have to work for a living. - unlike the working class, generally work in professional (rather than manual) jobs and enjoy a comfortable (rather than close to subsistence) lifestyle. You can argue the toss about upper middle class versus lower middle class, but for me that's the key - you still have to work, but you get a nice life in return for it, instead of still worrying how to pay the next unexpected bill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
btd1981 Posted April 16, 2019 Share Posted April 16, 2019 1 hour ago, scottbeard said: - If you spout a lot of sexist, racist nonsense in a pub there's a good chance you'd be asked to leave and/or punched in the face. You should come and live where I do, in my local that would have people buying you a pint! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.