The Making of London's 'White Trash'

Spiked [UK] ^ | January 13, 2005 | Ed Barrett

[Cronos]

Ah dunno --- I've walked about London quite a bit and never experienced anything like what you guys have described.

[Cronos]

The sad thing about the UK is the way they've almost lost their own kultur and ape the worst of American culture -- with skateboarding, graffiti, McDonalds -- why, every main street in every town I've been to over here looks the same -- a Debenhams, an M&S, a McDonalds, a Burger King etc. Lewes though is still pretty traditional and so is Stratford on Avon.

[Cronos]

The sad thing about the UK is the way they've almost lost their own kultur and ape the worst of American culture -- with skateboarding, graffiti, McDonalds -- why, nearly every main street in every town I've been to over here looks the same -- a Debenhams, an M&S, a McDonalds, a Burger King etc. Lewes though is still pretty traditional and so is Stratford on Avon.

[AnAmericanMother]

The Infanta story is a false etymology.

See here for more details. The elephant is a symbol of a medieval guild and the site of the pub has a connection with a guild member.

[Cronos]

I have a Sri Lankan friend who remarked that the youth scene in the real US, outside Hollywood and Hip-hop scene, is still remarkably civil. In contrast, he says, youths in New Zealand and the UK seem to match more the Hollywood movie stereotype - vulgar, etc.

I will concur with that -- I expected a lot more from the English and yes, I do find the older generation really civil and English but the new generation and those in their teens and twenties are pretty sad. I really think Britain's salvation is coming from its immigrants from South Asia. THat being said, once they chuck their socialist education policy and their stupid government ideas (no spanking allowed????), and actually bring discipline back, I think the UK could be one of the leading lights again.

[AnAmericanMother]

Guess I was just unlucky.

Of course, I was there a long time ago, in the early 80s when the pound was down against the dollar and IIRC the Brixton riots had just happened (still in the papers - huge front page photo of buildings burning with the headline "RED SKY AT NIGHT - BRIXTON'S ALIGHT"). Checking Google, looks like it must have been 1981.

I think the general economy and the civil unrest must have contributed to more violence than is usual now.

[Slipperduke]

I couldn't agree more. If you get a chance, look out for a book called 'Crap Towns', it has pretty much the same philosophy.

Unfortunately, you have to look very hard for individuality these days. There are still some gorgeous places in Cornwall, Cumbria and outer Yorkshire, but the larger they get, the more uniform they become. Bit of a shame really.

[Cronos]

'Crap Towns'

READ It!!!! Which place won? I forget. It's gotten so bad, one can hardly find a decent chippie around anymore, just Mickey Dees and Burger Kings. 'Tis not like Brussels where you can get Gauffres etc. on the streets or Paris and its crépes or Roma and its street bakery vendors mmmm... A real pity. I think the Chinese joints you have are good, but the Indian (actually Bangladeshi) joints aren't that great -- 'cept for a few new ones. The Japanese, Italian and Spanish (tapas bars!) are superb!

[Mears]

Thanks! The Brits have such a great sense of the absurd I was never quite sure how it got it's name.

[Wallace T.]

In many respects, the disdain the English elite has for the white working class is similar to that both country-club Republicans and the Democrats allied to the MSM, education bureaucracy, and entertainment business have for ordinary Americans, especially those south of the Potomac and west of the Alleghenies (or beyond the Hudson, to get very parochial). Both groups show greater respect for immigrants, legal or not, because, in the case of the RINOs, they provide cheap labor or are entrepreneurial, or in the case of the liberal Democrats, they add to the nation's diversity.

America has its hillbillies, rednecks, PWT, swamp Yankees, cedar choppers, goat ropers, etc., as much as the English have the equivalent. Keep in mind that it is all right to post these slurs. Were I to post similar denigrative terms for, say, African-Americans, I would be considered a pariah. Obviously, a double standard exists.

All that said, America's working class whites are more strongly motivated by religion and patriotism than are their English counterparts. The blue collar and rural white has been the backbone of the U.S. armed forces, unless there is a World War II-type draft in place. At least in the South, you will find a church, usually Baptist or pentecostal, on every street corner in white working class neighborhoods. Additionally, greater economic freedom permits increased ability for Americans to improve themselves than it does for their English counterparts. As a result, America is more fortunate than the mother country.

[Cronos]

oh, check this link out -- hilarious!!! www. chavscum.co.uk

btw, I'd rather associate myself with the mods or goths!

[Mears]

What we now have is a new version of the deserving and undeserving poor - the noble new British working class, who are ethnic, and the thoroughly swinish old working class, who are white. And I honestly can't think of anything worse for race relations in this country than for its indigenous proletariat to be lectured on how lacking they are in comparison to the country's immigrant population, and how grateful they should be to have them here.

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How discouraging this all is.