Some middles in the Labour party are more squeezed than others;
Have you seen the pics when he was a ship steward?, pretty handsome, a lady's man onboard by all accounts.
Squeezed Middle Watch
- Thread starter Belushi
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Have you seen the pics when he was a ship steward?, pretty handsome, a lady's man onboard by all accounts.
Rather too glib, I feel.
One description of the 'squeezed middle' (Resolution foundation) identifies the 40% of the population that earns less than the median wage but more than the bottom 10%. Workers in this cohort have suffered disproportionately from the globalised de-coupling of productivity increases and wage rises, whilst also seeing tory attacks on the in-work benefits 'sticking-plasters' put in place by NL.
I would agree with those who have already cautioned about being quick to scoff at the plight of this section of society. Remember the tory scum and their press are harnessing the 'pain' felt by the "squeezed middle" to convince many to go along with their programme to demonise the feckless, undeserving, work-shy, skiving shirkers etc. etc. etc.
Yes, I realised that as soon as I posted it, they may 'lash out' even more, certain sections certainly will.
chilango
Hypothetical Wanker
Most of the so-called squeezed middle are actually working class.
That many of them, and many of us, don't recognise this is one of the great victories of the British ruling class.
Remus Harbank
Cake and whipped cream…
not for long, as the so-called first world will resemble the rest of the globe in more ways than one…
apart from the uk's obsession with class one thing is clear - globally the so-called middle classes have no-one to blame but themselves. They had a chance post WWII and they truly fucked it up by giving in to consumerism, speculation, egocentricity and entitlement. They had access to free education (i'm talking about the babyboomers here), they had the chance to truly inform themselves and what did most do? Buy 4 cars, 7 tellies, and get into debt up to their eyeballs feeling like superstars, fucking their own offspring over in the process.
The elites never cared for the middle classes, in their eyes I would guess they are seen a necessary evil, a wealth redistribution tool, something that can be squeezed for money and profit. That system doesn't work anymore, automatisation puts paid to their use, and what's happening now is the same weeding out that has affected the by now mythical working classes (also ex peasants and servants who managed to get by by moving into the cities – now they are being turfed out again)
The middle classes as a whole could have consolidated their power in the last half century, now they are fucked and with the exception of a few technical professionals will see what the gutter looks like from below. They will try and ‘protest’ but guess what – they didn't give a shit when the surveillance apparatus around them was built up. On the contrary – it will get used to the same end as what surveillance systems traditionally get used for – from inducing fear down to disappearances.
Also – that Telegraph article about Eton is intentional – the goalposts need redefining: With the Ultra rich's wealth going up by a gazillion percent every year, the new (and very bijou) middle class will be the Middletons of this world. The rest is scum, and in 30 years from now, if they are lucky, most will eat charity supplied pink slime patties from 3D printed plates in slums with their scabby fingers staring at government issued tablet screens.
nino_savatte
No pasaran!
Hey, not all baby-boomers bought into that shite. 
Remus Harbank
Cake and whipped cream…
of course not, there are always exceptions (and one should not generalise like I did above really) and that's what in the end makes one hopeful.Hey, not all baby-boomers bought into that shite.
A minority cannot suppress a Majority for long. I predict people are gonna rise up and take it all back once they start to feel a bit hungry
likesfish
You can't park here sir
The traditional working class taking power was never going to work.
You need people who actually know how a fucking state works and how to actually get shit done in the real world not according to some theory or you end up in nightmare country.
Sooner rather than later a tiny elite and everybody else in the shit but with an education and communication technology things are going to start to look bad for the elite
You need people who actually know how a fucking state works and how to actually get shit done in the real world not according to some theory or you end up in nightmare country.
Sooner rather than later a tiny elite and everybody else in the shit but with an education and communication technology things are going to start to look bad for the elite
Remus Harbank
Cake and whipped cream…
yes but there is this thing called asymmetrical warfare – we are still just bodies with two arms and two legs – the other side has got technology of a kind that hasn't been seen before – how does one rise up against a killing drone for example? Add to that the old Divide and Rule mechanism, false information, scapegoats, etc and the majority will not know what to do for a long time. I agree with one thing though – the ultra rich will land themselves in the shit eventually, as they always do.A minority cannot suppress a Majority for long. I predict people are gonna rise up and take it all back once they start to feel a bit hungry
Remus Harbank
Cake and whipped cream…
the ‘elites’ seem to be doing just fine at the moment as opposed to the other 99.99%
This aint scifi land yet.
gamma globulins
plinky plonky
I did a bit of research a couple of years ago, looking at income and perceived place in the national income distribution. Basically of the 5 income quintiles, most people thought they were a quintile below the one they were actually in, apart from those in the bottom quintile, where most thought they were in the one above.
seventh bullet
sovietwave
'Diddums.'
Remus Harbank
Cake and whipped cream…
In case of any uncertainty here's how the top ferengi see the rest of the universe (bottom billions anyone?)
(this is an actual magazine)
(this is an actual magazine)
Fez909
toilet expert
There is some truth in what you're saying in that the super rich don't need the poorest anymore, but to say they don't need anyone is nonsense.
What are the algorithms trading if there's no one doing any work? Where does the value in a market come from?
The rich feed off the working classes. They need us but aim to convince us that we need them. Don't fall into their trap!
Remus Harbank
Cake and whipped cream…
note that the magazine refers to the bottom billions not billion
Its my understanding that the trading can be initiated from the most basic of commodities in the smallest of quantities and traded up to a very high value.
So you are right, they do need someone/something as a jump point but its not so important, think about farmers who grow crops for banks, then plow the crops back into the field unharvested.. that's all the work that needs to be done..
butchersapron
Bring back hanging
No it's not. Things have to be produced, transported and sold. Real things. That means wages. That means all sorts of other things that need to be put in place for this 'trading' to happen. It doesn't matter if in the abstract it's possible to trade a small thing - for the super-rich to exist now they need, not just tangentially, but centrally - billions of people to work and produce things. The 'trading' is actually betting on how that plays out.
ViolentPanda
Hardly getting over it.
Inaccurate. Even for the "super-rich", their fortunes are often still based on extractive and productive industry, with all that such things entail.
yes, algorithms do some work for them, but they're certainly not a mainstay of accumulation. Not yet, anyway.
Orang Utan
Psychick Worrier Ov Geyoor
With technological advances this becomes less true (as history has proved).
Remember all the news stories about bad working conditions at Amazon warehouses? Amazon hit back with lots of PR about investing in robotic technology…
Also who was it that said that in the technological age work and pay are no longer an effective means for running an economy??
marty21
One on one? You're crazy.
with more and more money being spent on mortgages and high rents (particularly by new buyers and renters) doesn't that mean there is less money to spend on other stuff - or is that too symplistic? - if people can't afford to buy new consumer goods,etc because a high percentage of their money is tied up in mortgage/rent - surely the economy will suffer in some way?
butchersapron
Bring back hanging
And this response from capital on leads to a further problems as it removes the value producing component of production from the cycle - leaving even more resting on the management of the remaining productive sectors (massively expanding globally btw). That's essentially what the finance part of capital is doing - jostling for position to take the proceeds of the productive sector and gambling on the ability of the state and capital to be able to re-impose or reproduce the conditions of wage-labour etc into the future.
This, of course, leaves aside that technological developments - whether as responses to class struggle or not - don't simply wipe away existing conditions and demands, they produce new ones - whether consumer based or in terms of means of production.
Actually, with the growth of the world market and increasing global integration of production it's now true more than ever that things need to be materially produced simply because there are now more people then ever dependent on the market to meet their various needs - new enclosures (and not just material ones either) meaning elements of self-sustaining and so on becoming commercialised and tied to wage-labour and commodity production means almost total reliance on real production elsewhere in the circuit of capital - as a matter of life and death in fact. Look at the increasing centrality of logistics and global chains of production off the back of capital mobility and real material things such as containerisation.
It's really important not to mistake a small part of the picture for the whole, or a tendency for an already established total fact.
Lucy Mangan stomping her feet in the Telegraph http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/...y-Mangan-on-the-fall-of-the-middle-class.html
spanglechick
High Empress of Dressing Up
sorry - how can someone with enough education to have at one point been training as a lawyer, write with any kind of lucidity that the average earner used to be able to easily afford school fees.
SaskiaJayne
Rural Guerrilla
Entertaining read & the readers comments are equally entertaining & I love this sort of stuff....“Once, Pimlico was proof of failure – now it’s a delusional dream.”
But seriously, I think the biggest problem for most people is the cost of housing. buying or renting. Halve that & keep everything else the same & people would be generally happier.
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