OPINION
I’ve always been a bit dubious about working-class people. You know whom I mean; those who are always getting drunk and having children; always deceitful and engaging in criminal activities; scamming the welfare system; selling their souls to junk. Even worse is the widespread, bizarre viewpoint that not only should such people never take responsibility for their actions but I should have to pay them money.
As regular readers of my articles will know (although I noted none of my contributions ended up in the “Top 25 Most Read” list from last year; meaning some of you need to pull your socks up!), I’ve always considered left-wing politicians, policies and governments to be a force for bad in the world.
The left claimed there was widespread poverty, exploitation and other horrors which needed to be solved. Completely ignoring the lack of morals of their supporters, it was all the fault of rich people and if only everybody elected a Socialist Government then all would be well and everyone would be free from deprivation. Like magic. Those (perhaps an early version of me? a century or so ago?) pointing out that drunkenness, gonorrhoea, ten children, and indolence might be a slightly more plausible explanation for poverty were derided as cruel and heartless, so history took its course.
What happened when these sorts of problems were solved? What happened when everyone had a house, food, medical care, employment, and welfare safety-nets? I will give you a clue: working-class people started buying things – washing machines, televisions, clothing; all manner of consumer goods; and began enjoying a life which was no longer grim. Something which has continued more or less through to the present day.
But what was the reaction of left-wingers to a dramatic rise in living standards? Did they delight in ticking off a list of problems which were solved? Oh no; oh no no no siree! They complained about it.
One of the most notable examples of this was in Britain where a left-wing politician called Aneurin Bevan famously said at a Labour party conference:
…This so-called affluent society is an ugly society still. It is a vulgar society. It is a meretricious society. It is a society in which priorities have gone all wrong…that it is a vulgar society of which no decent person could be proud…
Now you need to note a couple of things: first, he was talking about poor people buying record players, vacuum cleaners and washing machines (rather than private jets), and secondly, this was a man who’d spent decades complaining about the poverty those exact same people were experiencing! This fellow was so brain-damaged it’d never occurred to him what eliminating poverty might actually mean. Breathtaking. The contempt by the left in Britain for the rising living standards of the poor continues to the present day.
It is therefore with great amusement that I watch Chloe Swarbrick seek the leadership of the Green party: her avowed mission being to eliminate inequality. There are probably lots of stupid, ignorant poor people who think this may lead to their poverty being eliminated – such is the con game the left runs. But no. Chloe’s actual mission is to basically abolish capitalism.
Her idea of “equality” is having everyone living as their ancestors did in the 16th century. As everyone is equally poor there is no inequality.
Oh the sheep to the slaughter thinking Chloe in charge will lead to prosperity for the poor.
