Allan, Ms. Noonan’s article was refreshingly literate compared to several of the other examples presented thus far. But while she was restrained (see, conservatives utilize political correctness when it is expedient) in her language, it was fairly apparent that she, too, placed the blame for the London riots on lower class youth by her references to the Philly flash mobs, single mothers, and her quoting the Max Hastings piece that triggered this thread: “The depressing truth is that at the bottom of our society is a layer of young people with no skills, education, values or aspirations….”
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The poor people are ruining society! Obviously, if we deprive them of survival needs it will create jobs and social harmony.
Only about 20-24% of Americans get a college degree. One quarter of Americans do not finish high school. Interestingly, they are beginning to come together, though they don’t know it yet. Right now we are seeing the proletarianization of college graduates, as increasingly more of them are forced to take service and labor jobs. This is starting to shift blame to the debt encumbered college graduates not picking the correct line of study. So not only is it poor people with no education or aspiration, bringing us down, it is, also, the college educated with huge aspirations and no sense.
Look at it this way: When a modern economy is functional it needs only about 15-20% of its population at the very most to administrate and perpetuate itself — through lawyers, insurance managers, financial managers, college teachers, media managers, scientists, bureaucrats, managers of all types and many other professions and semi-professions. Then you have another 70% that are production machinery to turn a profit and do the manuel labor, that help support the lifestyles of the top 20%. Then you have another 10% or so that intermittently and consistently live off the “welfare state”.
If every one of them earned a college degree it would not change their status much, but only drive down wages of the management class. You will still have the same pyramidal distribution of wealth and jobs. In the US, over the past few decades, with outsourcing and technological unemployment(automation), the 70% has been forced into service and FIRE jobs.
That is when functional. Now, we are entering a dysfunctional period. Where more people will get pushed to the fringes and the very top will lose their “morals” to keep their privileged position finding new and creative ways to turn a profit off a sinking majority. And large chunks of the middle will take a lower standard of living and all the stress and finger pointing entails that the shift entails.
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Ms. Noonan opines: “At fault in the riots were the distorting effects of the welfare state and a degenerate British popular culture: “A population thinks (because it has often been told so by intellectuals and the political class) that it is entitled to a high standard of consumption, irrespective of its personal efforts; and therefore it regards the fact that it does not receive that high standard, by comparison with the rest of society, as a sign of injustice.” Much of what they have is provided by others, but they are not grateful: dependency doesn’t encourage gratitude but resentment.” The major problem in her statement is that this isn’t true only of recipients of government largesse. The rioting included people of ALL classes. .
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And this is said in seriousness. After an international housing bubble driven by fraud and greed, to be followed by an international bailout of the global banking system to the grand finale, record breaking and defiant, in-your-face bonuses, to the guys that directed it. Hilarious.
