[g8-sheffield] Oppenly Classist..

[Chris Malins]

I like being middle class ;-)

Dan wrote:
> All philosophers, who find
> Some favourite system to their mind
> In every point to make it fit
> Will force all nature to submit
> 
> (Swift)
> 
> Whenever people get power, they will make a world in the image of their 
> dogma - and they'll make it in the flesh and bones of whoever gets in 
> their way.  Whether it's the hateful 'middle class', or 'reactionary 
> elements of the working class' that the Bolsheviks would shoot - its 
> just falling into the same pattern.
> 
> Dan
> ----
> 
> zerosevenfour two wrote:
> 
>>
>>
>> The class system is the injustice at the heart of British, and 
>> especially English, society. It is the system that I hate with a 
>> passion, and one that has crushed countless millions of people 
>> throughout contemporary history and even my own family, parents, 
>> grandparents and, if I am honest, me too. That I detest the unfairness 
>> and injustice of this system with every fibre of my being, I cannot 
>> state enough. So many millions of people even today, in the 21st 
>> century, are still suffering in one form or another, because in the 
>> eyes of greater society they are not worthy; not good enough for 
>> polite society. Not deemed of any value. Surplus to requirements. 
>> Third rate. Passed over for some kid with more privileged status and a 
>> silver spoon in the mouth. The detrimental effect this has had on 
>> British society is impossible to calculate.
>>
>> The scale of sheer injustice, and, to be frank, evil, is breathtaking, 
>> and no essay of any kind could fully do it justice. I am one voice in 
>> a sea of voices after all. Few people in British society have ever 
>> looked at the class system full on, without blinkers of one kind or 
>> another, or waxing sentimentally, or in the briefest glances. It is 
>> something that by its very nature is painful to many of us, even those 
>> who have benefited unjustly because of this most unjust of structures. 
>> Because I believe that not only has the system in Britain robbed 
>> millions of a full life, it has also crippled those, who promoted the 
>> injustice and evil, into lives of half-truths, double standards, and 
>> lives built on every kind of base corruption, shoddiness and 
>> cowardice. But I am not here to write about the moneyed and well off, 
>> the socially perfect and correctly spoken, I am here to write about 
>> those left out of the wealth, those left out of the good jobs and 
>> opportunities, those like me born at the bottom of the hierarchy, and 
>> to all intents and purposes, meant to stay there.
>>
>> Class is such an emotive issue, and it is true that if a middle class 
>> person meets a working class person, there will very likely be a sense 
>> of angst and uncertainty on both sides; the animosities, though well 
>> buried, would not take long to rise to the surface. And in Britain 
>> certainly, there is a tendency for people, as groups of all kinds, and 
>> most definitely class groups, to polarise against each other, in many 
>> ways and for many reasons. A working class person, seeing what he or 
>> she thinks are middle class effete tendencies, may particularly become 
>> harder and less genteel to counter what he or she thinks are base 
>> middle class values. A middle class person, seeing what he or she 
>> thinks are base working class values, whatever they may be, might very 
>> well have a tendency to shun these things. And of course, there is 
>> then a general national tendency to despise what you don't understand, 
>> to what you find distasteful, and so on. Of such is the British class 
>> system, in highly oversimplified form. Class in Britain goes far 
>> deeper than this; in real terms, it could be said to be about groups 
>> who are related in their similar life chances, job opportunities, 
>> levels of education, access to all the good, or bad, things in life 
>> and better, or worse, opportunities in general. Working class people 
>> will find that many doors to them are closed, because they lack a 
>> decent education, a 'decent' accent, they live in an inner city or 
>> council estate or poor neighbourhood, that they come from poor 
>> backgrounds of some kind, and so on. Much of this might be inferred, 
>> some of it is spoken about, and a lot of it is internalised over the 
>> course of a person's life, and in society in general. A working class 
>> person will definitely for the most part internalise negative values, 
>> a belief that he or she should keep their head down, accept their lot, 
>> and hope one day to be lucky.
>>
>> This is how I felt for chunks of my life. I don't feel this way 
>> anymore, nor do I believe that any person has to accept anything in 
>> life they do not wish to. It is about understanding negatives, and it 
>> is more importantly understanding positives in life. If we as working 
>> class people allow other more privileged types to an unchallenged 
>> position in all areas of life, we can't complain when they do just 
>> that, maintain a privileged, and of course increasingly unjust, 
>> position. If, on the other hand, as we hold out for better lives 
>> ourselves, better jobs, better educations, better housing and better 
>> all round lifestyles, whilst at the same challenging unjust privilege 
>> of all kinds, we make our own very immediate environments more just 
>> and more fairer. It isn't about hating and despising, we can leave 
>> that to our so-called betters and superiors, it is about finding a 
>> liveable and workable reality for working class people, that enables 
>> us personally and as groups of people of all kinds to have better 
>> lives, for ourselves, our families and friends, and our children to 
>> come. It is that simple.
>>
>> I speak for myself when I write this, and at the same time as someone 
>> who is highly educated, well read, literate, cultured and so on, but 
>> for many years I have always felt out of sorts, and that sooner or 
>> later someone would find me out and send me back to the craphole I 
>> grew up in. I have done well for myself in some ways, getting the 
>> aforementioned degree at university and, at this time of writing, a 
>> reasonable job as a journalist, and someone who likes to pursue 
>> hobbies of various kinds; not bad for a kid who grew up in a Liverpool 
>> slum! But, as with all happy-ever-after stories, I have had hard times 
>> and bad times too. I have often felt inferior to other people, at 
>> times this has overwhelmed me and made me feel less and smaller than 
>> other people. It is not something I can quantify, or explain or 
>> understand easily, and best left as a simple explanation; that at 
>> times I feel less than other people. I believe a large part of this is 
>> because of the British class system, and the nonsensical way British 
>> people have related to each other as groups and individuals for about 
>> the last 200 years or so. Is this what we want as a nation, what we 
>> demand for ourselves, and the next generation after us? It is not what 
>> I want for myself, or any member of my family anyway. It is up to each 
>> reader to think about this for themselves. At any rate, I have often 
>> felt inferior compared to other people. It has skewed my 
>> relationships, friendships, family relationships and how I felt about 
>> myself over the many years of my life. Today, I feel better and 
>> stronger. On a national scale, these type of feelings create vast 
>> waves of anxiety, animosity, crime, injustice, indifference, and vast 
>> gulfs between those who have, often in plenty, and those who have very 
>> little of anything at all. This is the core of all the class 
>> injustice, the vastly unequal resource distribution.
>>
>> It is not just that there are poor people, and people who are richer, 
>> it is the philosophy that often follows such inequalities, 
>> philosophies that, more often than not, justify and even promote base 
>> and rank injustice, division and unfairness. Why does our Head of 
>> State, the Queen, who has a private fortune of hundreds of millions of 
>> pounds, get millions more each year from taxpayers, whilst millions of 
>> ordinary workers make do on a fraction of this, and all the while 
>> working hard and paying taxes? It is what I call the 'philosophy of 
>> insanity', and it is the philosophy that underpins much of the unequal 
>> relations that still exist in the British Isles at this time, circa 
>> mid-2004. A philosophy that allows rich people to prosper, even when 
>> they already have everything they need and more anyway, whilst denying 
>> a basic standard of living to many more British citizens. Unless, and 
>> until, this 'philosophy of insanity' is tackled, and tackled head on, 
>> and it is brought into the public forum, we will continue to live in 
>> an unjust society, and an unjust world. I don't accept of course that 
>> any human society, or any human relationship of any kind, at this time 
>> will ever be perfect in entirety, but it is up to us who want and wish 
>> to change society to do so; if we can't change it, we can write about, 
>> if we can't write about, we can debate it, and if we can't change the 
>> whole world, or even Britain, we can change ourselves, and our 
>> attitudes to privilege and a fairer democracy for all. It is 
>> understanding this, that the individual is important, that change does 
>> and will happen, for you and me. Why shouldn't a working class kid 
>> from the wrong side of the tracks get on, make a better life and have 
>> money for once? It is learning to be positive, when all around might 
>> be negative, that better life chances spring out of the air. We of 
>> course have to reach out for them, and help others less fortunate to 
>> do the same.
>>
>> Justice; justice is a big word, and an idea that cuts through 
>> everything, that cleans everything, and makes fairness and tolerance 
>> where there might be no such things. Justice for working class people, 
>> for people like you and me, is and has been in very short supply. When 
>> we demand justice, for ourselves, our families, friends and cherish 
>> justice as a higher form of society, I believe that we go in the right 
>> direction. Justice is where it is at; where there is justice, there 
>> will be harmony, peace, friendship, where there is a lack of justice 
>> there will be indifference, hatred, oppression and a lack of any good 
>> will of any kind. Normal people cry out for justice all over the 
>> world! Then we should hold justice to our hearts, demand it for the 
>> whole world, and not least for ourselves. It is in just relationships, 
>> be that marriage, friendships, an office, or even on the street, that 
>> humans can fire on all cylinders and be the best that all their 
>> capabilities and ambitions allow. It is in a ready justice that we can 
>> all stand on the same ground, demand a better life for one and all, 
>> and make Britain, even the world, a better place to live in. The mere 
>> notion of justice itself drives away corruption, unfairness and 
>> non-level playing fields of every kind. Justice is the ideal that all 
>> people should live up to, and the ideal and reality we should want for 
>> ourselves, and the people around us. For justice, we need to be just. 
>> To be just, we need to accept that we are on a level playing field, 
>> and that what is truly good for one, is generally good for others too.
>>
>> When working class people dream, when little people dream, the whole 
>> world sits up and takes notice. It is not the ambitions of the rich 
>> and pampered elites that have really ever shaped the world, it is 
>> always the hungry, the impoverished, the slum dweller, the forgotten 
>> who shape the world and give society impetus and focus. Throughout 
>> history, contemporary history and today, this has often been the case. 
>> When you and I dream, and when we want to make our lives better, and 
>> have what the rich and powerful and the pampered take for granted, we 
>> change the world, and we change ourselves too. This is an important 
>> point. Why shouldn't you have a better education, a better job, a good 
>> business, a nice house? Why shouldn't you dream, have ambition, 
>> believe that good things can happen to you? They can, and they will, 
>> if you are prepared to dream, work towards the goals you want, and 
>> look at life in the long-term. Nothing happens overnight, but takes 
>> time and a change in attitudes, life goals, outlook and personal 
>> ambitions. Even the very idea of your dreams taking shape and hold in 
>> the real world is in itself for many working class people a 
>> revelation, something that I think many working class people do not do 
>> or do not believe is possible for them. It is possible, but it takes 
>> time to shape a good character and a winning mindset from a mindset 
>> and lifestyle that might be used to negative realities and situations 
>> of many different kinds. It is a revelation, and a revolution in 
>> thought processes that shapes the world we live in. Thinking alone 
>> will not bring about change, but thought and action combined can bring 
>> about the results everyone desires. Everything built, written, made, 
>> cooked and so much more besides is after all merely the result of 
>> someone's idea at some time or other. So, the world revolves on 
>> thought processes. For a working class person, sometimes the only 
>> thing you may have are wonderful ideas, and dreams of a better life. 
>> What starts in the head, can take shape in reality. It is holding onto 
>> the dream, and pursing it that make dreams worthwhile.
>>
>> As working class people, we have a latent energy that generally is 
>> underdeveloped and underused, an energy that often comes out 
>> negatively or destructively in some way, to the detriment of that 
>> person, or others around them. It is understanding this very potent 
>> force, this nervous energy, and harnessing it to our better advantage, 
>> that any person can make a better life for themselves. To waste such 
>> enormous potential, such enormous energy, is to waste one's talents, 
>> dreams and goals and to muddy the path that we can all find if we look 
>> hard enough. It is accentuating the positive, and downplaying the 
>> negative. It is being magnanimous in success, and matter-of-fact in 
>> defeat. It is always being open minded to a better life, and resilient 
>> in finding that better life. It is using that powerful energy for 
>> positive results, and making our own lives and the people around us 
>> better, happier and more productive. It is moving on from such passing 
>> systems as class, racism, and injustice of very kind, and finding a 
>> better place spiritually, emotionally, economically and the place very 
>> much where you wish to be. Of such is the reality of the enormous 
>> human potential each of us has at our fingertips, assuming we make use 
>> of it. When working class people unleash this energy, it is an energy 
>> that is unstoppable, and properly controlled and directed, can take 
>> the lowest person to the highest place and the best outcome. It is 
>> this that I myself labour under at this time, and this idea that 
>> nourishes me and gives me hope.
>>
>> Working class people are naturally and obviously more democratic and 
>> egalitarian in nature. It is something I have known, about myself and 
>> working class people in general, for a long time. Those born without 
>> inherited wealth or privilege of any kind seem, in most cases at 
>> least, to believe almost instinctively in social justice, democracy, 
>> egalitarianism and equal relations of every kind. It is strange in 
>> fact why working class people are attacked so, when these beliefs come 
>> to most working class people almost by default. They are good beliefs, 
>> they make the most sense, are the basic tenets of many religions, 
>> including of course Christianity, and to all people in the world are 
>> the values that each individual wants for him or herself and family, 
>> friends and the like. They are self-evident, need no real explanation, 
>> and the world over craves them; where they are, in nations and 
>> societies, people desire them the more, where they are not, in 
>> military juntas and tyrannies, people desire them, cry out for them 
>> and have revolutions to acquire them! They are, by all accounts, 
>> highly desirable virtues. And because there is and has been, a 
>> societal enmity towards working class people, working class culture, 
>> working class ideology and values, it goes without saying that values 
>> such as equality, social justice, egalitarianism and a more fair and 
>> equal society are dismissed and often also held in contempt. Do you 
>> see what I am trying to say? That a society based on genuine working 
>> class values, not in some hippy-dippy, or Communist, or even political 
>> way, but a heartfelt and honest way, would be a society that promoted 
>> justice and equality as a matter of course. This would involve a 
>> fairer wage system, a fairer tax system that took into account 
>> people's ability to pay, a less centralised and more localised 
>> bureaucracy, more accountability from our public servants, a 
>> nationalised public transport system to name but a few important 
>> things. The knock-on effect of such just and fair policies, though 
>> taking a while to adapt to, would make Britain healthier economically 
>> and socially, and would make Britain a nation more genuinely at ease 
>> with itself. We would be, in almost all senses of the word, citizens 
>> of a free nation and not subjects of a once great country but now 
>> living on past glories. I know which I would choose given the chance. 
>> And I know what many other British people would choose too given the 
>> same chance. It is what many of us have only ever half-dared to dream. 
>> Class and prejudice harks back to a bygone age of unspeakable 
>> divisions of all kinds, that, for the most part, have thankfully been 
>> eclipsed or forgotten. It is living on past glories, or looking to 
>> build a better tomorrow for us all. The choice, I believe, is yours 
>> and mine.
>>
>> The injustice of vastly unequal resource distributions is at the heart 
>> of the real problem with the class system, in fact any system which is 
>> based on some form of unfair difference, be that class, racism, 
>> religious differences, language and culture differences, chauvinism 
>> and so on. The wealth distribution in the world is so badly out of 
>> tilt, that even in the wealthy parts of the world, like Britain, 
>> America, Continental Western Europe, there is much poverty and lack of 
>> opportunity, even when we are surrounded all the time by the trappings 
>> of wealth. Class, racism and so on, justify the divisions, give them a 
>> form of credibility, the mark of respectability even, to what is, 
>> frankly after all, base and unjust division. The 'philosophy of 
>> insanity' as I mentioned before, allows those who already have more 
>> than they might possibly spend in a thousand lifetimes, to accumulate 
>> more wealth, pay less tax and be engaged in the pursuit of 
>> accumulation for its own sake, even at the price of health, family 
>> relationships and their own genuine quality of life. On the other 
>> hand, those in the world who have very little, and lack any real 
>> opportunities to get on, are hindered from even having in many cases a 
>> normal and adequate standard of living. This seems accepted without 
>> question all over the world, and it is certainly accepted in Britain, 
>> with few if any noticeable qualms. It is, if we were being completely 
>> and utterly honest, insane; insane policy for an insane world. How do 
>> we challenge injustice as working class people, as ordinary people who 
>> might not have any social power of any kind, or create any real ideas 
>> how to do this? We challenge it by debating it, bringing it into 
>> public and political arenas, by challenging the often cosy middle 
>> class conceptions that poverty in the world is just about big 
>> corporation greed, and those at the very top of the tree. We challenge 
>> it by looking at the divisions between middle class and working class 
>> lifestyles, and the vast gulfs between the job expectancies, life 
>> chances and general all round opportunities between middle class 
>> people and working class people. We challenge it by looking seriously 
>> and honestly at those people, who, claiming to be on the side of 
>> justice, are not really on that side at all. We challenge it by 
>> looking at so-called left wing parties and groups, and really 
>> wondering whether groups full of usually moneyed middle class 
>> politicos really want anything to change at all, and whether much of 
>> what passes for left politics in Britain, are people either on a guilt 
>> trip, or those playing at being rebels until their career begins to 
>> take shape. No one should resent anyone else trying to get on, we all 
>> want a better life, but a little honesty, a little working class 
>> realism into the mix might do all of us a little more good. It is for 
>> to us to challenge injustice wherever it is, and to hold out for 
>> better lives ourselves. The bell tolls for you and me as well, not 
>> just posh rich people. It is for working class people to challenge all 
>> the prejudices that surround class, even when everything seems to be 
>> against that. Challenge racism, challenge chauvinism and challenge the 
>> British class system, and challenge those who defiantly refuse to 
>> debate it until they accept that class is as much an injustice as any 
>> other bigoted and small minded and nonsensical prejudice. It is the 
>> prejudice in Britain that dare not speak its name, it is the prejudice 
>> that is, time and time again, brushed under the carpet, and the 
>> prejudice that, incredibly enough, is rarely mentioned even in equal 
>> opportunity statements and equal rights charters and organisations! Is 
>> this not an incredible state of affairs, that the very prejudice, the 
>> very small-minded prejudice that still shapes Britain's social, 
>> economic, political and even religious spheres, is conveniently 
>> airbrushed from the picture? It is to me, and to many more people too. 
>> We have allowed people to speak for us, been silent for far too long. 
>> We have allowed class prejudice to fester, without challenging it, and 
>> without challenging the people who benefit from it, and the people who 
>> pretend it is not an issue. If you are working class, it is an issue 
>> every day of your life.
>>
>> More top jobs, more power, and more opportunities must be made 
>> available to working class people, who should at all times challenge 
>> the notion that certain jobs and lifestyles are available only to 
>> those who already come from privileged backgrounds. The idea that 
>> because someone comes from a wealthy background, an already privileged 
>> background, and then gets a top job merely because of this, is an 
>> absurdity and a serious setback to democracy in a modern first world 
>> country. Surely, to spread the wealth around, and to ensure a healthy 
>> democracy, a more democratic and meritocratic society is needed, and 
>> certainly whatever those in privileged positions may believe, working 
>> class people desire and demand a fairer job market, and a bigger slice 
>> of the pie. We should also look at the role of charity too, and ask 
>> why it is often moneyed and middle class people who get the plum jobs 
>> in these organisations, and more often than not, it is poor working 
>> class people who have to stand on the street corners rattling tins in 
>> people's faces as volunteers. We should challenge this obscene 
>> reality, and understand that charity's absolute role is to take from 
>> the haves and redistribute to the have-nots, starting with giving poor 
>> and working class people some key jobs in these very self same 
>> charities. A working class person should think hard about keeping 
>> those who already have comfy lifestyles, in those lifestyles, while 
>> working class people the length and breadth of Britain struggle to get 
>> jobs paying just over minimum wage. Perhaps it is better to buy a 'Big 
>> Issue' on the street, and give directly to those, but I am not 
>> advocating a revolution, only a revolution in thought. When we 
>> challenge hypocrisy and injustice, wherever it is and in whatever form 
>> it takes, we then see how rotten and corrupt such injustice is, and 
>> that what is usually held together by such injustice and corruption 
>> is, after all, easy to challenge. Fight injustice with justice. It is 
>> an irresistible force. Working class people should challenge society's 
>> hypocrisy and double-standards on very personal and local levels, and 
>> also in general and more global terms. A working class person should 
>> hold out for a better job and a better life and not accept that 
>> someone, whatever their social status, has any more right than anyone 
>> else to simply get a job or a better life before you. Challenge this 
>> notion in your own life, and you will find a better life whilst 
>> changing the world too. We have nothing to lose but our chains!
>>
>> A democratic society, one where the best person gets the job 
>> regardless of their social background, will see a society where people 
>> are held accountable, sportspeople begin to win instead of nice middle 
>> class boys and girls losing everything all the time, and a more 
>> fairer, tolerant society that is genuinely more at ease with itself. 
>> The injustice of the class system makes victims of us all, and allows 
>> evil and intolerance to go unchecked. A fairer society will to a large 
>> extent, put right the wrongs and injustices that have been allowed, 
>> and historically were allowed, to go on in Britain. If we challenge 
>> racism, then we have to challenge all forms of prejudice, be that 
>> economic, social, geographic and wherever it is found in the British 
>> Isles. So many of us have been duped, duped into accepting second and 
>> third best, duped into remaining silent and duped into thinking we are 
>> only fit to keep our heads down and let someone else have a better 
>> lifestyle. It is when a person challenges injustice, deeply unfair 
>> injustice, that society slowly but sooner than later changes for the 
>> better. We should challenge hypocrisy wherever we see it, and speak 
>> out against it, eloquently and honestly. We should challenge the very 
>> notion of a class system that allows some people to own vast amounts 
>> of wealth, and others to struggle and scrimp and save just to make 
>> ends meet. We can promote fairness, and believe in equality rigidly 
>> and egalitarianism rigidly and demand fair wages, fair prices for the 
>> businesses we work in or want to own ourselves, and safe streets for 
>> the areas and places we live in. With a sense of equality come notions 
>> of justice, and with justice comes the notion of fair play. It will be 
>> the working classes, not the 'enlightened' and liberal middle classes 
>> and wealthy and out-of-touch upper classes, who will make the world 
>> fairer, safer, more equal and more just. We are grounded in such 
>> notions, whereas those who practise hypocrisy and all sorts of double 
>> standards know within themselves that their actions are hypocritical, 
>> that their standards are false and without real conviction. We have 
>> the courage of our convictions, and if we are genuine about a fairer 
>> and more just world, false standards of all kinds will be washed away, 
>> and more fairness and justice will enter the world. If one in one 
>> thousand rich or powerful or wealthy people sees the justice in 
>> equality and a fairer economic system, that is one person we have won 
>> over. We can work with the people who wish to work with us, and around 
>> the people who don't wish to work with us. But this isn't about the 
>> great and the good, the comfy and the privileged, let them write their 
>> own manifestos if they can work their way through the lies, 
>> half-truths and double standards many of them are mired in. This is 
>> about the so-called ordinary people, the people who more often than 
>> not do hard and boring jobs for low pay.
>>
>> Importantly, if people want to attack and tackle any justice, they 
>> must talk about it, openly debate it, write about it!!!! No more 
>> hush-hush or brushed under the carpet, in talking and writing and 
>> debating about the class system we bring it into a public forum. In 
>> challenging injustice and intolerance in our very own lives, we help 
>> to challenge injustices in the whole world. A working class person 
>> should not be ashamed of their background, but must live in the 
>> knowledge that he or she has the same rights as anyone else. These are 
>> beliefs and ideals I have formulated over long periods of my life, a 
>> life that, like many people, has had its ups and downs. I believe 
>> firmly that, although the world is an unjust place at best, and though 
>> injustice and hypocrisy and double-standards need tackling and taking 
>> on, it is always in a positive sense; if a person has a class problem, 
>> or a racist problem, or has taken to themselves any small-minded 
>> prejudice, it is in the end their problem and should be left their 
>> problem. We should challenge injustice with justice, negative 
>> realities with positive and hopeful aspirations and ways of living, 
>> and in the end, perhaps surprisingly, not indulge in any form of class 
>> war or resentments, but find what is genuine, a genuine way of life, 
>> the way of life that a sense of conviction, honesty and being 
>> courageous can win. These are not idle words and they are written with 
>> conviction to instil others with the same sense of worth I now have 
>> myself. It is when ordinary people dare to dream that society changes; 
>> when we the downtrodden and poor stand up to be counted and demand a 
>> fairer slice of the pie, that we win, albeit grudging, respect. But 
>> the real issue is finding a better life, and a fulfilling life and 
>> making society better for all of us, regardless of the class we come 
>> from, the colour of our skin, the background we come from, our gender, 
>> religion or lack thereof, and so on; a society fit for heroes and 
>> heroines of all kinds.
>>
>> We must also, as we challenge injustice and hypocrisy, learn to live 
>> better and more wisely; refuse to shop in establishments that are over 
>> expensive or patronising; refuse to keep someone else in wealth who 
>> isn't contributing in some way to the community; think about low wage 
>> economies, think about justice as a broad issue. It is challenging all 
>> the injustices, the social injustices, the economic injustices, the 
>> great disparities of wealth between the rich and poor, the allocation 
>> of all types of resources, where as in so many cases, often those who 
>> have, seem to get more and more. When we challenge injustice, even in 
>> our own very personal lives, we challenge the very heart of the 
>> hypocrisy, which is a grossly unfair economic reality, as much evident 
>> in the modern world as in poorer and less developed parts of the 
>> world. Most injustices revolve on the deeply skewed economic reality 
>> at the heart of the world's system. The Bible states quite clearly: 
>> 'For the love of money is the root of all evil'. Isn't it curious how 
>> those who are often rich and powerful, in spheres such as business, 
>> the Church and higher society of all kinds, claim the higher moral and 
>> religious and political ground as well? So, not content with having 
>> material wealth and privilege, they want the spiritual and 
>> philosophical power as well? How convenient! Much of Left politics, 
>> and it seems church and charity organisations, are all about a veneer 
>> of political correctness and 'goody-two-shoes' rhetoric, whilst at the 
>> same time creating and upholding the divisions and injustices that, 
>> circa 2004, are still dividing Britain. We should challenge wealthy 
>> lefties, and wealthy politically correct individuals, to see if they 
>> are 'true' or merely using slogans to justify their domination in 
>> other spheres. How interesting that for all the charity work and the 
>> splendid words, Britain is almost at the bottom of the modern nations 
>> for child poverty, wage slavery, horrendous pensioner poverty and 
>> whole areas that lack basic amenities, and where people are either out 
>> of work or in low paying and contract-labour jobs. If we do not talk 
>> about this, and bring it into the public forum, the so-called liberals 
>> and 'concerned' will happily ignore it all day long. How can the 
>> fourth wealthiest country in the world be so divided on terms of wealth?
>>
>> We know in our hearts that so much injustice goes on, that it is often 
>> impossible, is impossible, to tackle it all. Everywhere there is 
>> poverty, bad housing, lying and often useless politicians of all 
>> political hues, corruption, injustice, class-prejudice, racism, 
>> bigotry, bad public transport, rundown areas and a general apathy 
>> about it all. Few of us have escaped the apathy and the indifferences 
>> that such injustice inevitably brings with it. But, we are living in a 
>> new age, I would call it the age of awareness; we know the workings of 
>> the world. It is a hard and unfair place at its very best, but at 
>> least we are wise to this. Never before in fact has their been so much 
>> knowledge available, and so much personal freedom, at least in the 
>> West, even if often we waste these freedoms. The freedoms today, the 
>> freedoms we take for granted, have been hard won; we have a duty to 
>> live in ways that even our grandparents could only have dreamed about. 
>> Yes, it is an incredible world out there, with marvellous 
>> opportunities, even for working class people from poor backgrounds; I 
>> am proof of this. We challenge the injustice of the whole world by, in 
>> the end, finding ourselves, and being ourselves. Not hiding behind a 
>> clipped accent, or a make-believe world, but where we face the world 
>> square in the eye, proclaim who we are, and stand up and be counted. 
>> The working class kid from the slum may just find a better life, who 
>> knows?
>>
>> A working class revolution is one where the people at the bottom are 
>> given first credence, and where the reality is accepted that ordinary 
>> people shape and change society, not some supposed pampered elite, 
>> that does little more than drain taxes and live lifestyles of ancient 
>> Chinese emperors; society is for the majority of ordinary people. We 
>> should challenge unjust privilege of every kind, and expect local 
>> politicians and the people claiming to represent us, to do just that. 
>> We should ask for accountability and think about local people and 
>> local issues. We working class people in the cities should challenge 
>> the notion that all the good jobs should go to a middle class elite 
>> that has little or no interest in local issues. We ourselves should 
>> hold out for these top jobs! We should be better, and work harder, and 
>> aspire to better jobs and lives ourselves. In this alone there is a 
>> balancing out of the great injustices that England has been party to 
>> since anyone can care to remember. You need education, ambition and to 
>> dream a little, no, to dream a lot. A good education is one of the 
>> keys. Also a sense of optimism, and the ability to see your life in 
>> the long-term; a new life and outlook does not and will not come 
>> overnight. Then the working class from the wrong side of the tracks 
>> and the wrong accent, won't be in the wrong place, he or she will be 
>> in the right place, whoever they are, whatever they have been and 
>> wherever they have come from, and whatever poverty or hardships that 
>> entailed. Then we will see that the world was made for us too, not 
>> just the worthy and genteel, that God created the whole world for all 
>> of us. The bell tolls for you too, and there is a place in the world 
>> for every one of us.
>>
>> http://openlyclassist.org.uk/archsub.html
>>
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