Then I wish you a happy holiday and that you enjoy as many alfresco brunches as you want while you are there. Are you pretending to think I have said it's wrong for people to go on holiday?
I'm not pretending anything. I was simply explaining that not all (nor any, AFAICS) of us are "jetsetters", and that in most cases we won't be jetting off to Berlin to enjoy a "Berlin Brunch", we'll be enjoying same as part of a (long-awaited) holiday.
The whole point of this is the repeated comments about how X costs more than Y spends on basic living costs per week/month/year. Some event/restaurant/whatever in Brixton is criticised on the basis of what it costs, and then that amount of money is placed against another amount which represents what some of Brixton's most hard-up have to live off. And the underlying implication is that there's some kind of moral problem with money being spent frivolously in Brixton when it's in the context of the poverty of some who live nearby.
Of course there's a moral issue, but it goes far wider than Brixton. That said, people here use Brixton as the example because we live here, we see the poverty, and we see the effect that expensive clubs, bars and restaurants are having, especially as some, perhaps a majority of those outlets, repatriate their profits outside the area. That might not bother the majority of posters, or even more than a tiny minority of Brixton residents, but it bothers me because I've been watching this happen in different parts of south London for over 40 years now, and I'm fairly well-acquainted with how the story plays out.
Well, you can argue there is if you want but then at least be consistent, instead of cherry picking certain examples like, say, this Berlin Brunch - which I won't certainly be wasting any of my money on - but I'm not going to judge those who do, in the sneering way that comes round again and again on this thread.
And who is it judging what comprises sneering, and who is sneering, teuchter? You who won't judge how people spend their money, but are happy to judge posters whose worldview and morality differ from yours?
If people are going to imply that there's something wrong with this frivolous spending on eating out, then it seems rather as if they don't think they ever engage in the same themselves. Or is it OK if it's conducted outwith the bounds of Brixton?
In my own case, I
don't "eat out". Most restaurants aren't disability-friendly in terms of accessibility
yet, and likely won't be until accessibility is mandatory - even then, it'll only apply to new-build.
I'm not sure people are objecting to "frivolous spending when eating out". It appears to me that the objection is to the price
per se, and perhaps to the knock-on effect that higher prices can have on other outlets. We've already seen "local" restaurants closing over the last few years because of rent/lease cost issues. I certainly worry that
rentiers are encouraged by higher prices in "entertainment"-based outlets such as club, pubs and restaurants, and that this feeds an already-existing problem for locals.
I'm not going to criticise you or anyone else for spending your disposable income on holidays any more than I'm going to criticise some twentysomethings for spending their twenty quid on a faux Berlin Brunch experience. Or the hundreds of people spending fifty quid on a night out at the Dogstar every weekend, as has been going on for years anyway. Or any of the other Brixton bars, restaurants, clubs, venues, whatever.
I don't object to people spending their money as they wish.
I find spending £20 on a "
faux Berlin Brunch experience" sad. I find it sad for 2 reasons:
1) As you've already noted, it's likely to be inauthentic.
2) You're unlikely to pay the Euro equivalent of £20 on brunch in Berlin even at a decent quality restaurant, rather than a cafe.
And my making this point will now be spun into an implication that I don't give a toss about the poor of Brixton, or that I am a cheerleader for the systemic processes that are changing Brixton into something that I don't want any more than many others here. Or perhaps someone particularly disingenuous will twist things into an unpleasant accusation of "psychological abuse" just because I choose not to go along with the lazy, sneery tone of repetitive commentary that seems so often to dominate this thread.
Have you seen yourself in this martyr role for long, or is it a fairly new thing?
