[lbo-talk] authentically working class

James Heartfield Heartfield at blueyonder.co.uk
Wed Sep 10 13:58:52 PDT 2008


Miles sums up the problem of the liberal reaction to Sarah Palin succinctly

"Actually, it makes perfect sense to me that they're so concerned about morals and values. They see lots of unmarried pregnancies, drug abuse, and divorce in their own subculture, and they think things are bad all around."

Just who is the 'they' here? Who is it that sees a lot of unmarried pregnancies, drug abuse and divorce in their own sub-culture? Well, of course, it is not a sub-culture at all: many children are born out of wedlock, divorce is extensive, and drug use is still a minority activity, but it is a pretty hefty minority (include alcohol abuse and it would be the majority).

England is a bit different from America (here 42.3 per cent of children are born to unmarried mothers and one fifth of all young adults use cannabis or other illicit drugs). Still, when Miles says that 'they' are concerned to shore up moral values, I would say that that was a common response among a lot of working class people. Certainly the mothers at my daughters' school who want to see the school uniform upheld, and are most resistant to sex education are working class mothers who are struggling to maintain some standards in what they experience as a constant decline in family security. These people are indeed concerned about values, and if I do not always agree with the solutions that impress them, I would be a fool if I had no sympathy for the problems they face.

'Fuck 'em'? No, that's not how I feel.



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