Thursday 23 August 2012

Joan Smith’s Most Stupid Statement (Yet)?

According to Policy Exchange, people don't have a "right" to live in expensive places – unless they're rich, of course.
I… I just don’t even know where to start
One of the things I like most about the area of London where I now live is that it has what's known as "mixed" housing. Even so, class prejudice runs deep: a cop once asked if I'd had any problems with the council flats across the road, adding primly that he'd had to speak to some of the tenants about "inappropriate behaviour".
It’s now ‘class prejudice’ to expect council house tenants to abide by decent standards of behaviour? To not engage in the sort of behaviour that brings the police to your door?

9 comments:

Woman on a Raft said...

Wiki Joan Smith

The daughter of a park superintendent,
i.e. first rung of professional trades, equivalent to horticulturalist or head gardener on an estate, not a parkie as she sometimes implies. He was well up the scale from a groundsman.

Smith was educated at a state school
She went to a grammar school which developed her abilities and fully expected her to have a professional career such as teaching, rather than leaving school to work immediately in retail, catering, or secretarial, with a view to early marriage and the establishment of a family. She tells us she didn't have many friends putting this down to their snobbishness. There might be other reasons.

before reading Latin at the University of Reading in the early 1970s.
Benefiting directly from the expansion of the universities and the taxation of all those girls who became hairdressers and laboured to pay her grant and tuition, and all the other daddies (and some mummies) who earned more and began to pay punitive tax rates under the Labour governments of the early 70s.

Exactly what is this Spartist smoking? 1979 was a long, long time ago and she never, ever was the child of the estates. It's a fiction she's been telling herself for so long she appears to believe it.

Tatty said...

Since the policeperson had prior cause to admonish those particular residents I find it shocking that this woman doesn't know the definition of "prejudice". Just this one word and it's rampant misuse causes terrible social problems worldwide and, rich or poor, this is one word that everyone has the Right to know what it really means.

Preferably before opening their mouths in public and perpetuating this terrible problem.

I suggest a 60 second lesson in every school, a 60 second advert on radio and tv and a one line insert in every newspaper (including their internet sites) and a one line mailshot from every council.

We must do everything we can to eradicate Rampant Ignorance.

Eradicating Rampant Ignorance could save Taxpayers millions !!

*holding my tongue-in-cheek that long hurts....

JuliaM said...

"Exactly what is this Spartist smoking? "

Whatever it is, she's clearly sharing it with the rest of the columnists!

"*holding my tongue-in-cheek that long hurts...."

We really are at 'you couldn't make it up' stage, aren't we?

Mark Wadsworth said...

Ah, "primly" that's a great word which we don't use often enough nowadays. It's almost an onomatapeia. You don't need to have it explained to you what it means, you can just guess, even as a child. Like the adjective "prissy" I suppose.

Although from the tone of the excerpts, the writer you are quoting is the primmest person around.

Anonymous said...

This sounds like a policeman stirring up trouble. I think it is clearly prejudiced to casually invite a complaint, specifying what side of the street you expect the trouble to emanate from.

Believe me, there is plenty of trouble in streets that are entirely privately owned. The distinction between those who behave badly or not, cannot be determined by whether they live in council accommodation. Nor should it be.

Anonymous said...

Bunny

I don't see many comments agreeing with her.

JuliaM said...

"Although from the tone of the excerpts, the writer you are quoting is the primmest person around."

Got it in one!

"I think it is clearly prejudiced to casually invite a complaint.."

Really? He's just asking if they had any issues! If I ask you if your car is running OK, am I 'inviting a breakdown'?

Anonymous said...

Julia, if you cut off a comment mid sentence, you don't only lose a point you lose the game.

Since when have you been so cowardly? It doesn't do you any favours because anyone with half a brain can see what you are doing.

Tatty said...

Anonymous - "**This sounds like a policeman stirring up trouble.

This sounds like a policeman doing a bit of pro-active policing. Y'know, serving the law-abiding public.

It's what they're paid to do, after all.

**entire sentence.