>"Angelus Novus:"
>
>Bill Bartlett's naive idealization of the underclass
>is pure white-skin privilege in practice. My sympathy
>for people ceases when they start doing things like
>burning down asylum homes or beating up immigrants.
>
>
>[WS:] I am with your on this, comrade. There are few things more annoying
>than campus radicals or suburban bleeding hearts who are separated from
>lumpenproletariat by their social status and invisibles wall of their
>"gated" communities, and chastise and guilt trip those ungrateful commoners
>who do not appreciate being the victims of lumpen delinquency and violence.
>It reminds me of Marie Antoinette who had a peasant village built in
>Versailles so she could amuse herself and her court by playing a peasant
>girl. The only logical response to such drivel is "if you like them so
>much, why do not you live amongst them?" As for myself, I have nothing
>against the lumpen as long as they do not attack other people, trash my
>neighborhood, or destroy my quality of life.
>
>Another point: the Spiegel piece that you posted is far from simplistic
>lumpen bashing - it is about structural changes in European economies and
>the social impact they have. It is quite clear that the author does not
>"blame individuals" but rather focuses on structural problems that cause
>this social problem, and the shortage/inadequacy of structural solutions to
>mitigate it.
He's not blaming us for de-industrialisation no, he's just saying it "...has created a new underclass of the unproductive and intellectually depraved. The spiritual cousin of the American phenomenon of "white trash," these strangers in their own land have become a serious threat to democracy."
Now excuse me if, in my unsophisticated way I have mistaken such labels as "depraved", if I misinterpreted it as "lumpen-bashing". Probably lack of education leads to the misunderstanding?
As for you and your comparing me to Marie Antoinette, I can't get my head around that right now. Its just too weird to be accused of being protected by my ivory tower status and privilege. Can't tell whether you're having a loan of me, or of Angelus, or perhaps yourself. I'll sleep on that, talk to you tomorrow, unless there's some trouble with the local peasants I have to deal with of course.
Bill Bartlett Bracknell Tas