gentrification

[Sam Pawlett]

Wojtek Sokolowski wrote:
> That is an excellent summary of the problem.  The problem is the middle
> class boredom and the longing to escape it to a more "rugged" life style -
> the ghetto, the boheme, the country-side, the wilderness.  So the main
> difference between the so-called "leftists" you are talking about and other
> segments of the middle class is the cultural icon that symbolize that
> escape: gangs, hip-hop, punk, bohemian lifestyle versus SUVs, safari,
> survivalism etc.

  I think some of the differences in this gentrification thread are
generational. A lot of my generation(mid-twenties), find it hard to
relate to middle classness and "baby-boomer" culture. A lot of young
people really dislike and resent yuppies, baby-boomers and their culture
(no matter what their political views are). It is the ultimate symbol of
capitalism. Ghetto's and real bohemia are not the products of bored
middle class kids, but the products of poor working class kids trying to
live lives of cultural and political dissent and to  express their
alienation and dissatisfaction with the status quo (I know that sounds
cliche but there is some truth in it).  Poor young people have no choice
but to live rugged lives. Once you live in it fora awhile, there is
nothing glamorous or romaantic about it. 

  But both fit well within th ecapitalism system  - since
> both rely primarily on the consumption of cultural commodity.
> 

 Yes, but very hard to escape, bar a few co-ops that lead marginal
existences.

Sam Pawlett