"Lennon didn't have the worry of paying for University, education was free, right through to graduation. So although I would agree you don't have to be working class to be a hero, I just wonder what the fuck he was complaining about."
The "welfare state" consisted of organized temporary hand-outs until the chance to regroup (Thatcher). Lennon was complaining about what passed for "life" in post war Britain. I grant that this welfare state seems like a socialist fantasy compared to what is happening in the U.S. now; but that's just relative to a completely fucked up situation.
Joanna