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Posts
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since when did the working class become such objects of ridicule ? I am seeing a pattern developing here. I am working class an sooo Proud ! My Parents before me was a mother who worked in a Jute Mill and an Engineer father, who worked his way up the chain of Trade unionism, to become the Organiser of a Major Trade Union.
am i supposed to somehow tip my working class Bonnet to people that have never had a History like mine, and feel inferior..?
If so it is not working.
or is it the Snobbery of the Council House Sales and Thatchers “classless society”.. ?
Who on Earth decrees such Notions ! ? ..
I reiterate, I am working class and proud, in fact there WAS a Classless society when i grew up, we all had the same hopes in life. we all did well in comprehensive Education,,heck even SOME of us lived in the Ardler Multis ( tower blocks) . We never starved, we were not beaten up like some Dickensian Vision of Myopia of the so called Middle class values.. Heck even Santa Brought us what we asked for at christmas.
and yet… I know folks from real POSH parts, that got a ” book” on christmas day, to teach them the ” value” .
nah.. I would rather me,myself and I..
shhh but even some of us The Great Unwashed can spell, so therefore bite back !
FUDD !
Nowt wrong with being working class, rubyred. I agree with your statement. And it’s good that you’re rightfully proud of your family and your roots. I could be wrong but i think this very interesting piece was inspired by something i said in my post and I think you may have misinterpreted my intended meaning, so I’ve responded to your comment on my post. If I’m wrong then I apologize in advance.
*makes mark on thread*
Working class and proud and certainly not embarassed to admit it…also brought up in a Council House
I was brought up on the back streets of Leeds.. when our houses were cleared for slum clearance the community was broken up…. we were supposed to rejoice in the new found luxury of hot water indoor sanitation and gardens the council house we were moved to provided us.. as a child I just missed my old mates…. I still wonder what happened to them all and Aunty Alice who lived next door not a real Aunty,….. but any female who was as old as your mam was an Aunty :D and all those kids like myself who played on the streets…. a tin can as a football and an old bit of rope as a skipping rope… yes of course I am remembering through rose coloured glasses…. better to do that than remember some of the horrors……
I don’t wear my working class background like a badge though…. Im glad to have left it behind…. doesn’t mean I am ashamed of my roots…. just means I’ve moved on.
the working class has changed since I was a kid in the fifties…not just in the fact that most are no longer men who go to work with cloth caps smoking ciggies while their wives looked after the home.
There’s been a very sad change, I think.
I was brought up in a council estate, failed my 11-plus, went to a tough secondary modern for a couple of years. We had very very little..but people helped one another out. When dad was ill, people would bring stuff round and check we were all ok. Dad always taught me not to think in terms of me, but in terms of us. And we were honest too. As we had little else, we had one thing – our name, our dignity.
When I went to the houses of mates at junior school, their dad would follow me around as though I was likely to steal precious objects from his house. The kids in my class at the same school were mainly posh, had a very different way of talking, and made it clear that I was dirt. The middle classes presented quite a nasty front and were ready to steal what little I had, sometimes did. I was always disbelieved if I protested, because I was working class.
Now somthing horrible seems to have happened. Money has become more important than people in the one-upmanship games being played – look at the posts here on the dolers. When I went home, I noticed my parent’s house getting affluent (by no means well-off) and I noticed that nobody helped one another any more, hardly kind words. That got worse as people bought their council houses at knock-down prices.
I’m still hopeful. I think a lot of good people are left, but they’re quiet, their voice has gone for the moment. If you held to old socialistic values you were seen as a bit of a fool everywhere for a long time – your ideas weren’t even worth discussing.
Now who’s the fool?
I moved out of Leeds scep into rural Yorkshire…. those values of good neighbourliness still hold strong here…. but I know what you mean about that disappearing.
what about if you havent got a job
then you cant be called working class
so what is the next step down called?@mrs_teapot wrote:
I moved out of Leeds scep into rural Yorkshire…. those values of good neighbourliness still hold strong here…. but I know what you mean about that disappearing. There was no dad around for me when I was a child and my mother was often absent so I was pushed from pillar to post….. I was never beaten though or abused so I suppose I was lucky… those things make you the person you become…..one thing was certain for me …. my kids would never have the worries I experienced… and they don’t :D
depends where in rural Yorks, Mrs T.
There are parts of North Yorks where neighbourly soildarity is pretty nasty, a Brit version of Orange County, California.
Other parts – yes.
@rogue trader wrote:
what about if you havent got a job
then you cant be called working class
so what is the next step down called?cosy, I think the unemployed bit is all ed teh resever army of labour.
It’s working-class in my book, as it can only make a living by selling its labour power.
Or it could be called lumpen working class?? Thieves, beggars, prostitutes, disabled, the despairing, the lot all rolled into one term.
@sceptical guy wrote:
@mrs_teapot wrote:
I moved out of Leeds scep into rural Yorkshire…. those values of good neighbourliness still hold strong here….
depends where in rural Yorks, Mrs T.
There are parts of North Yorks where neighbourly soildarity is pretty nasty, a Brit version of Orange County, California.
Other parts – yes.
Ha ha! Maybe Im one of those scep and I just don’t know it :shock: I’ve only been here for about 6 years scep… but have only good things to report about it…. love it here :D
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