Quoted for truth #3
John Harris in the Guardian today:
“[six years ago] to be living on an estate, and in receipt of benefits, and possibly out of work, was to not just to be fair game for Oxford undergraduates, the future king and a certain kind of TV comedian, but the butt of a huge national joke. Some of us wondered where exactly what was briefly known as ‘The New Snobbery’ was headed.
We now know. Its cultural aspects were merely the tip of the iceberg – as the Labour party engaged in the rebranding of social security as ‘welfare’ and its ministers raged against ‘benefit cheats’, something poisonous was being embedded at the core of our national life.
While the Conservative party grimaced through a fleeting modernisation, it sat there, ready to be picked up by a Tory-led administration and taken to its logical conclusion.”
And, of course, by Scottish Labour.
https://www.frostedflakes.us/tony-the-tiger
Yes, this hatred being stoked is extremely scary. Imagine having an uncertain job at the moment. The fear of losing your job and being the focus of so much antagonism would be horrendous.
As this gets worse, we’ll be running to that voting station!
Anyone remember the Tories bring the “underclass” to our attention, with ample assistance from Labour?
Total cod science intended to divide society.
Some horrifying evidence of the power of propaganda:
link to channel4.com?
The demonisation of the poor is a necessary weapon in the Neoliberal politics accepted as the norm in the UK; they want you to compare your wealth with that of the underclass and not the elite.
Thatcher told us that in giving the rich tax cuts the poor would benefit as wealth ‘trickled down’. The poor are now poorer and as Cameron gives tax cuts to the rich all the poor can expect is a golden shower.
Independence gives us the opportunity to expand on the social changes brought about by the SNP. A fairer Scotland is worth fighting for.
@ Cuphook
“Neoliberal”
Why not call it what it is mate? Neo-facsism.
Sucks to Godwin.
@Cameron
I’ll call it that when they all shop for shirts at the same designer outlet.
As England moves to the Right you do have to wonder where the Left alternative is. There’s a proud history of radicalism in England but it seems to have lost its voice. It’s certainly not to be found in the Labour Party.
The absence of any Left activism to preserve the Union would also suggest that they’ve given up on the UK. The only alternative is independence.
Yes, this hatred being stoked is extremely scary. Imagine having an uncertain job at the moment. The fear of losing your job and being the focus of so much antagonism would be horrendous.
As this gets worse, we’ll be running to that voting station!
I‘ve been saying this for a while now. Just wait for Osborne’s cuts to Welfare reallllllly kick in. As you say, Unionist or not Unionist, they’ll be at that Polling station at 7am on Referendum Day!!!
Dan says:
7 January, 2013 at 1:43 pm
Some horrifying evidence of the power of propaganda:
link to channel4.com?
That story should be the headline story on every newspaper and every TV news bulletin, for as long as it takes to get public perception back in line with reality. How can we have a meaningful public debate when the public don’t have a clue what they are talking about? This is not democracy.
@ Cuphook
“I’ll call it that when they all shop for shirts at the same designer outlet”
Despite my fear of being portrayed as a swivel-eyed crank by those who do not agree with me, I would like to suggest why the left has proven to be so inadequate.
Firstly, to consider fascism an new phantom (specifically evident during the mid-20th century), conjurers images of right-wing politics, black shirts and funny walks. Sartorial predilection has absolutely nothing to do with fascism, though it does provide an unambiguous message to the onlooker (I associate with this particular party). Fascism is not a set of particular right-wing policies, as many fascist parties throughout Europe have represented a wide range of political positions. Fascism is more accurately considered as a word view, evident in the west as far back as the teachings of Aristotle (check his definition of “natural slaves” and his views on universal sufferage), an outlook which has shaped European society ever since.
Secondly, there appears to be considerable evidence that Karl Marx was an agent of the British empire, be that witting or otherwise. Regardless of the extent to which he was in collusion, his theories have proven to be highly contentious, including his identification of the Lumpenproletariat (probably the first modern description of an underclass). This was a class Marx felt incapable of achieving class consciousness, so could not aid the revolution and were of no value to society. The left is aware of this, but do not want us to be.
This is my opinion, of course, but just take a look around you and at figures on wealth distribution. Then ask yourself that question I have asked two or three times on this blog, what is fascism? Eric Blair a.k.a. George Orwell, provided a usefull fictional description of an unambiguously fascist society in his book 1984’s. Can I suggest you check out Emmanuel Goldstein’s The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism.
Here also we see the implications and tragedy of failure of any Leveson implementations. For now(!), ‘Celebrity X is cocaine addict’ headlines and ‘stories’ are being replaced in the MSM with trashing a whole sector of society disgracefully termed as the ‘underclass’ with no chance of being taken to task.
What we are getting as policy from the present London government is a complete contradiction and anathema to what is a ‘common weal’ and general plurality of ‘socialism’in Scottish society and culture. It is becoming ever more alien to me. Not in my name. We are lucky to have the opportunity to get away from that and build our own society for the better in 2014.
How much of a leap is this?
If you are on benefits/have a criminal record/disabled/too fat you are not permitted to vote. 5 years ago that sentence would be electoral suicide. Now I would not be surprised if some thinktanks are churning out ideas like that.
Demonisation of the unfortunate is designed to shore up the tory vote in 2015. To make it normal to despise those poorer than you, and admire those richer. It is no exaggeration to say the tories do not care if these people live or die, unless they are striving wealth creators™.
It is, sadly, working, and becoming a popular point of view (one I urge you to challenge if you come across it in real life). Labour (WM flavour) are not stupid and so are hardening their stance in order to gain southern votes, being as they are the victims of the same tactics to the other end of the spectrum at the hands of the SNP and the greens in the north. Which brings me to what I really wanted to say. Once the damage is done, the social security system is gone for a generation. The electoral landscape will have pitched to the right, and there’s no possibility of a tory defeat in 2015 heralding a restoration of all those vicious wrongs we’ve witnessed since 2010.
Would it be right in saying that the underclass developed mainly from the 1980s under the old battleaxes’ governments?
@Cameron
My sentence was obviously facetious.
As to Fascism, it is a label that has been devalued by its popular usage to describe small transgressions of power. It is therefore not a word that I would employ in political discourse. Go around calling Cameron a Fascist and no one will take your arguments seriously.
I’m aware of political theory and history, and Marx’s identification of, and accusations against, the lumpenproletariat (which is a word that I really, really like), but I’m not a Marxist. I try not to be an ist of any order and a good many people on the Left annoy me as much as those on the Right.
@ Cuphook
I get your point about overuse of the f word, as most people have a very poor understanding of fascism’s philosophical foundations.
Brace yourself now as the tinfoil hat is now firmly back in place. Could this be a fault of the education system?
@ muttley79
Check out Aristotle’s definition of “natural slaves” and see what you think.
link to en.wikipedia.org
I’ve seen <a href=”http://twitpic.com/btbpim”>this crap</a> going around on Facebook. If you see it post <a href=”http://www.hoax-slayer.com/uk-pensioners-asylum-seekers-protest.shtml”>this</a> link.
Oh dear, HTML tags don’t work. Well, you all know what I mean.
O/T I see that useless bugger of a PM, Cameron, has called the No campaign the ‘Alasdair Darling campaign.’ Who would want to be governed by these fools?…Come on No voters don’t be shy…
O/T a tad …just tried to take part in Mr. Darlings webcast hosted by the Scotsman.
Asked two questions. None posed. Got fed up and challenged some answers he gave others. No reply.
Apparently there are 71 comments on the Q&A. I was logged on from practically the start. Only seen around a dozen possibly 15.
So we’ll see if they show the other questions …if Darling answers them on line or if it is the farce it looks to be.
@muttley …Alistair Darlings campaign. We’ve won a Yes vote then …lol
If we cannot get a Yes vote in the face of this stupidity, ignorance and deceit, would the last person in Scotland turn off the lights please?…I pity the fools, I pity the fools…
@johnnypict,
Do you have to be logged in to see the comments? I can’t see anything other than the article. I clicked on the 71 comments but only the article came up.
Well having read Aristotle’s definition it is to be hoped that sufficient of our countrymen are next year prepared, to quote Bob Marley, to “emancipate themselves from mental slavery”.
I’ve found that phrase extremely relevant and powerful since I did the same myself a year ago. If I myself had such a Damascene moment out of the blue then I can only hope that a million other Scots will have the same experience over the next year.
Oh, I wouldn’t call Cameron a fascist either. I’ve got a more appropriate word for him.
It’s still got a ‘C’ in it though…
And yet still virtually no commentators or politicians are standing up to say that bailing out the banks was wrong! It seems that it is fine to give huge amounts of public money to super-rich bondholders and investors who gambled badly on high finance, but it is morally wrong to give modest handouts to the poor and needy
George Orwell called it Oligarchical Collectivism, the essence of English Socialism (Ingsoc).
@ Simon
Nobody speaks up because it would be a direct challenge to the Party.
Continuing the Orwell theme, consider William Hague’s position on Syria, and who that means we are now allied to (various groups proscribed by the UN as terrorist organizations). Fix in your mind what media themes have been fed to us since that fateful Autumn day in Manhatten, the resulting War (of) Terror and the countless innocent civilian deaths it has caused. Now check out the definitions of Doublethink and Duckspeak.
link to en.wikipedia.org
Since 2011, I’ve been in seasonal employment, after a lifetime of working. 29+years of working doesn’t seem to count for anything – straight on to £65 per week (now £70). Listening to people going on about ‘folk being better off not working’ really annoys me.
I’ve got over my embarrassment, and I call them out on it.
I got my Limited capacity for work questionnaire on the 23rd Dec.
I forgot to include the “bankers know best” and “we are all in it together”, as prevailing themes earlier.
Slightly off topic, but when Alex Salmond had the Herald debate with Jon Snow at Barony Hall it was posted almost immediately on the Herald site. The second debate was Alistair Darling in conversation with Allan Taylor, a week later. Now, over a month after the event, I can find no trace of this video. Anyone seen it?
I actually dropped INSP a line about that in December. Their reply was:
“Unfortunately we were not able to film both events. For the Salmond-Snow event, we managed to arrange the filming as in-kind sponsorship, but we were not able to arrange this for both. Sorry to disappoint.”
In response to a follow-up about attendance, they also said;
“The second event wasn’t a sell-out (as the Snow Salmond one was), but it was still a big crowd. Unfortunately we don’t have a transcript either – sorry!”
Thanks for that Rev, I have been wondering about it, astonishing that they don’t have a transcript, I wonder if any of your readers attended the event, I would like to know how Darling performed. My suspicious tendencies lead me to think that if he did well there would be a transcript available…
I did find it odd that in this day and age when everyone has a high-resolution camera in their pocket in the shape of their phone, not one person thought to take a single picture that included the crowd.
I am a little surprised at how few posts there have been to this thread, which share personal experience of how Con-Dem benefit policies are affecting people, and making criticism based directly on personal experience.
This is in no way meant as a criticism of WOS, or its readers, simply an observation.
Possibly an indication of which demographics are posting to WOS and which are not?
link to guardian.co.uk
Pro-UK camp suffers friendly fire wound in first skirmish of the year
link to heraldscotland.com
Labour targeting seats of Coalition ministers
Getting ready to pull up the drawbridge perhaps? If we are really, really lucky.