Know Your Place: Britain’s Joe the Plumber Moment
Rochdale is a poor town with high unemployment, and Mrs. Duffy, who worked hard all her life and whose grandchildren are struggling, is right to be worried about immigration; most of the British population think it is too high. But Gordon Brown did not just call her a bigot — he is entitled to his opinion, and he thought he was speaking in private — but “that woman.” The message was not merely “You are wrong,” but “How dare you!” This was insubordination. The working classes, Labour voters especially, are required to embrace the ideas of their betters, and not to get above themselves.
Unless they are dutifully overthrowing the bourgeoisie as ordained by Marx, the working classes must stay firmly in their place. Socialists do not really believe in equality of opportunity, because they do not believe in meritocracy. They prefer poor people, or indeed ethnic minorities, to remain in their ghettos where they can be patronized. I have often wondered whether this partially explains the anti-Semitism of some parts of the left. Jews are an ethnic minority who do well for themselves and refuse to play the victim. The left cannot patronize them as it can other minority groups.
If all citizens, male and female, black and white, have something approaching equal opportunity of advancement — a truly level playing field, not affirmative action, diversity quotas, and other procrustean measures — all hell breaks loose. Muslim women may step outside the house and cast off their hijab, their religion, and their menfolk. Black women may reject black men as lazy and feckless. Women may cease to be “caring” as the feminist dogma insists they are, and may even become a secretary of State under a Republican government or, in the UK, a Conservative prime minister.
Yes, a Conservative prime minister. Socialists hated Margaret Thatcher, a grocer’s daughter, because they cannot abide an “upstart.” Julie Burchill:
A whole host of characters who had previously passed for decent revealed themselves as sneering snobs when they applied themselves to Thatcher. Mary Warnock said it made her feel sick to hear that Mrs T bought her a pussy-bow blouse at Marks & Spencer; Jonathan Miller whipped himself into a self-righteous frenzy over “her odious suburban gentility.”
America is not thought to be as class-ridden as Britain, but was not some of the left’s hostility to Sarah Palin based on social snobbery as much as on opposition to her politics? And what was Joe the plumber if not an ordinary working man made good? In wanting to hang onto his hard-earned cash, instead of giving it to immigrants and “community organizers,” Joe the plumber had stepped outside his appointed limits. No wonder Obama was offended. How dare he!
Actually, Joe the Plumber did not say anything except to ask a simple question. He said nothing that could be interpreted as bigoted. It was Obama’s surprisingly honest (for him) answer about spreading the wealth around (i.e. Socialism) that got Joe in trouble.
But it may be even worse here, since the media is overwhelmingly left-wing and openly propagandist for Obama and our far-left, so they trashed Joe publicly and released what was supposed to be confidential information (I believe he won a lot of money in an out-of-court settlement).
Sure, Britain has the Communists at the BBC, al-Guardian and das-Independent, but you also have a large non-leftist newspaper circulation (Times, Telegraph, Daily Mail) to counter that.
America doesn’t.
I love it when leftists have an honest moment. Their views are so counter to everything the middle class believes that have to immediately go into damage control – and try to get us to re-believe their lies instead of the truths that accidentally flew out of their mouths.
It’s like the philosopher Witold Gombrowicz said all those years ago, “Leftists are imperialists. They do not understand that they are aristocrats”. Is there any hereditary king as imperious and entitled as the philosopher kings of today’s royal courts of academe, NGOs, and think tanks? Were the Spanish missionaries any more culturally genocidal than our modern-day goo-goos, with their revulsion and contempt for their own kin? No, and the everyday people of the West grow weary of being the playthings of clumsy, Chomskyesque children. Change is coming… but it ain’t the change they’ve been waiting for…
This reminds me of a paper I read some time ago by Edward Glaeser, The “Curley” Effect. In it he traced the practice of progressives to take over a city government, drive out the conservative voters to consolidate power, but only offer their constituency marginal spoils and never ones that would assist them in leaving their victim status which causes them to vote “progressive.”
It also reminds me of the disgust with which I viewed Bill Clinton when he tried to distance himself from “that woman.” The involvement was unfortunate but he betrayed her like the popular boy caught out with the girl from the wrong side of the tracks. A real man, even in a denial, would have shown the respect to use her name.
I live in a decidedly left-wing town, Bloomington, Indiana. It is home to Indiana University; Liberal left-wing professors and students populate the place.
Anyway, my husband and I are good tippers, usually 20% or so… many waiters and waitresses comment on their good fortune and compare our generosity to the left-wing customers, i.e. the profs, the local Democratic Party, which are decidedly niggardly in their tipping habits. The Dems have a regular morning breakfast get-together, long-winded, takes up many tables, and they leave “bupkis.”
So much for their spreading the wealth… all talk and no action when it is their wealth on the line…
The restaurant should institute one of those rules where parties of 7 or more get a mandatory 17-18% service charge added on to the bill.
I normally don’t like that rule, but if it drives out the Communist scum from IU in favor of a better class of (good American) clientele, they should definitely go for it.
Liberals seem to feel that their “service” to mankind begins and ends with their supporting left wing programs.
It’s long been known that conservatives are much more generous than liberals. This can be shown by examining their tax returns. Liberals give little or nothing to charity.
The reaction to Palin was more that of a snobby governing class that looks down on those who didn’t go to the right schools, etc, rather than anyhing to do with Right or Left, though it seemed to be more prevalent or open on the Left.
“Scratch the surface of a liberal and you find an aristrocrat.” – Frank Herbert from the Dune series. Truer words were never spoken.
perfect quote.
modern liberalism begins in the 1830-40s when feudalism was dying out. it realy is the same thing in a new form.
Hearing stories about tipping, it reminds me of my travels in Europe (pre-Intifida, I no longer visit that miserable Nazi excuse of a continent) and how waiters and waitresses would practically beat each other up to serve American guests, who had a habit of leaving good tips — even when a service charge was included. The Eurosocialists couldn’t be bothered.
Many Germans were–and probably still are– surprised to learn that American churches are supported by voluntary contributions. Voluntarism as a principle is not a big thing to Europeans. Even the Green Party was/is organized hierarchically like the SPD and the CDU/CSU.
As many German churches are supported by taxes, their reaction is understandable, it also unfortunate.
It’s also one of the reason’s why most of them are dead. (The churces that is.)
The fundamental assumption made by leftists – the assumption that informs and animates literally 100% of what they favor or oppose – is that ordinary people are basically incompetent and/or immoral. Consider the “liberal” position on gun control and affirmative action, just to cite two easy examples.
Snobbery is an interesting thing. I’m a snob, but I’m working on changing that. I have a tendency to automatically judge and stereotype people by race, class, education, nationality, appearance, etc., rather than judge each person by the content of their character. So far the results have been mixed. When my snobbery rears its ugly swelled head, I can feel smug and superior for a time, and perhaps this helps to mask my own deep-seated feelings of insecurity, my own existential dread. If I remember to do so, I try to catch myself before I pass premature judgment upon someone, I try to look upon each person as a unique and special individual from whom there may be some very worthwhile things to learn, and I even try to look for that spark of goodness and divinity that may dwell within each person. Modern political thinking tends to be collectivist; It tends to label and stereotype people by group identification. This too can lead to snobbery. The individual (and his/her value and uniqueness)gets buried under the avalanche of collectivist thought.
Joe the plumber helps me recall something close to home.. here in the USA..I myself was a well read and very educated woman. Previously a professional woman with many corporate years experience. I happened to become a witness to something significant pertaining to 9-11-01. On the terror trail I worked wiht people from all over the world and people of all races. Always holding back judgements about the muslim faith and opening my eyes to the discrimination of muslims in the USA. Recently when hawked n stalked by a black muslim group which is made up of Afro Americans not forgein born persons. Who are hateful and racist and I have no personal association with this group. I was deemed a racist while trying to defed myself from an onslaught of a gang and gangstalking which forgein financed monies and local black caucauses took issue with me when I revealed they worked for the SAUDIS in a spy network that was anti USA. in the USA. I am not a racist.. but i let them have it with everything i could . I feel ashamed of the US federal govt agencies who let these bigots and violent people in an underground assault my character and my person. Harming me and then the local FBI office refused to investigate and called me crazy cause many of these losers were hired into th CIA after I identifed them in the saud spy network. I stand up for the truth and will not kow tow to your political interests because its deemed politically incorrect. Its only incorrect when WHITE PEOPLE STAND UP FOR THEMSELVES against a black onslaught. Im not JOE THE PLUMBER . I AM PAM THE REAL WITNESS AND I DO NOT APOLOGIZE for the fevor of defending myself when no body else would.
Color me skeptical. You claim to have many years of corporate experience, you imply that you are an American.
Yet your english and spelling is atrocious.
My spelling and punctuation is bad too, yet I got employee of the year two years running in a very large top US company. Also if you read her post you will find that she is very upset with this, so lots of errors tend to creep in, been there myself…
Cheap shot well below the belt…
It’s not just her spelling, it’s her inability to do basic english.
It’s a legitimate question, no matter how much it might hurt your feelings.
Anyone in the corporate world for as long as she claims to have been knows that you do not write messages when you are upset. That’s a quick way to make yourself look bad, or get yourself fired.
What was it at the end of Animal Farm? “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others” or something to that effect. Living in Europe, I am often confronted with this kind of behaviour, particularly from socialists. While Obama was all the rage in Germany in 2008/2009, I pointed out to my fellow Germans that they loved black people as long as they were in America or Africa; black people that actually live in Germany, they don’t love them that much. The do goodie socialists here usually only issue work permits to blacks regardless of education that will only allow them to perform the most menial of jobs, like toilet attendant. They will gladly name streets in honour of Mumia abu Jamal, but refuse to let Africans settle here. They tout their superior views on race, but constantly chastised Condi Rice for being an “Auntie Tom.” It will never cease to amaze me how leftists are able to disconnect themselves so much from reality that they don’t realize how much they actually disdain the people they claim to defend. In my leftist days, I paid good money to see Michael Moore speak at a theatre in London. He gave a rousing defense of the working classes, claiming they were far better than the bourgeoisie who should be taxed until they have less than the working class. Afterwards, staff at the venue where he gave shows for four weeks said they would never have him back because of the horrible way in which he treated the staff; he apparently even called one girl “stupid” for being too slow fetching him his drinks. He easily raked in a 6 figure salary for the event but dragged the poor underpaid students serving him there through the muck.
These people are a disgrace.
She also misspelled her name. It’s properly spelled “Pam Troll”
Brown gave us a clear insight into the liberal mind. Obama too when he spoke of those people “clinging” to guns and religion.
That nice lady, anyone’s grandmother, her husband had been a soldier, spoke of immigration and how no one can really speak openly about it. Instead of tapping into a well of concern in the UK where immigrants seem to outnumber the indigenous in some areas, Brown dissed her in private as a “bigoted woman.” Daring to disagree with her betters. Daring to think that she had something to offer on a major issue of the day. Amazing. And we do have it in spades here: Palin was “caribou barbie,” didn’t read the New York Times, and had kids! (and I am no Palin supporter, but the snobbery revolted me).
It is worse than that, any question on immigration fixes you in their mind as a bigot or a racist, it exposes their corrupt thought process, distilled in a single word, the misuse of the word bigot…