Have working class people changed in the way they think since the days of Trestle's Ragged Trousered Philanthropists? Do they still think in the same way as they did then?
I had a rather strange day yesterday (Sunday). I posted 1,500 election leaflets (I’m running for Scargill’s working class Socialist Labour Party) in a part of the Liverpool Kensington Fairfield working class ward, which has been excluded, from the New Deal for community’s initiative. I met Lib Dem councillor Frank Doran and had a twenty-minute conversation with him. During the course of the conversation he would not deny that it was now common policy for demolition homeowners to be given former tenants houses which had become empty through natural migration. These houses will be given to demolition homeowners on what is known as a house for a house basis. I asked him what would happen to the homeless people who were on the housing association’s lists if the housing associations were giving their houses away to demolition homeowners? I also asked him was he aware of the probability that these same houses would be refurbished at a cost of about £12,000 each before they were given away? He chose not to answer these questions and quickly changed the subject. It was obvious to me though, that these poor unfortunate homeless people will have to go to private landlords who want an £800 deposit and charge a rent of £80 to £100 per week. Is it worth these people going to work if half of their wages or maybe more would go on rent alone?
They are a strange bunch these Liberal Democrats, they seem to have this uncanny ability of convincing you that they are doing an excellent job. But when they have gone and you reflect on what they said you soon come to the realisation that they are no different than New Labour or the Conservatives, they just perpetuate the monotonous dreadful system that we all have to live under.
Whilst posting leaflets in a road that looked very similar to Coronation Street on the TV, I noticed this rather thin man; I guess he was about 55 years old, literally dragging himself down the road. From house to house he grasped the windowsills, just stopping himself from falling down. A rather tired worn out woman of about 60 years old came out of her house and shouted across the road to me pleading with me to take him home. She said he only lived across the main road in the next street. I put my arm around him and using most of my strength practically carried him the hundred or so yards down the road. At first I thought he was drunk. but I soon realised that it was something much worse. The poor guy had practically no control over his limbs.
I got the guy home and the door to his house was open and he scrambled in swaying all over the place. As I walked away a couple of people were walking on the other side of the road. They had obviously observed me struggling along the road with him. I said to them, was that guy drunk, one of them, a guy in his late thirties, said no he is like that all the time, he lives with his old mother who tries to look after him. As I walked away it became obvious to me that the guy must be suffering from one of those illnesses that effected the coordination of his limbs. I thought, "there but for the grace of God go I".
In another road were all the houses looked scruffy and in a poor state of repair (probably housing association properties) I spoke with several people, homeowners and tenants, they all seemed pissed off. One of them, a private landlord tenant and a rather simple unassuming bloke who had had a bit too much to drink, said that he would not vote for anyone and every local election leaflet that comes through his door goes in the bin. I tried to explain to him that if a socialist government was in power he and thousands like him would not have to worry about ending up with Rachman type landlords, but he would not listen. He continued to go off on a tangent complaining about things that bore no relation to actual reality. It was pointless trying to remonstrate with him; he could not even understand what I was saying such was the obvious poor level of his comprehension of anything that could be described as being even of the slightest complication. Most of these people have lost any hope of ever buying a house because houses are now too expensive. They, like me, seem to have resigned themselves to the fact that they will probably rent until they died. And as for housing association property, they told me that it was impossible to get on to a housing associations list. As I walked away from them I became very depressed. It seemed to me that we as working class people are going backwards into another Victorian age.
One thing I did notice though, was the people who live in the New Deal for Community’s area are much more clued up as to what was going on than the above-mentioned people are. This is proof that critical newsletters such as the Whistle Blower, (48 issues posted by me to all 13,000 residents in the New Deal area) after a certain period of time, do educate the people. It also proves that people, if they are critically informed, are not as stupid as the dominant culture within our society makes them out to be.
They are a strange bunch these Liberal Democrats, they seem to have this uncanny ability of convincing you that they are doing an excellent job. But when they have gone and you reflect on what they said you soon come to the realisation that they are no different than New Labour or the Conservatives, they just perpetuate the monotonous dreadful system that we all have to live under.
Whilst posting leaflets in a road that looked very similar to Coronation Street on the TV, I noticed this rather thin man; I guess he was about 55 years old, literally dragging himself down the road. From house to house he grasped the windowsills, just stopping himself from falling down. A rather tired worn out woman of about 60 years old came out of her house and shouted across the road to me pleading with me to take him home. She said he only lived across the main road in the next street. I put my arm around him and using most of my strength practically carried him the hundred or so yards down the road. At first I thought he was drunk. but I soon realised that it was something much worse. The poor guy had practically no control over his limbs.
I got the guy home and the door to his house was open and he scrambled in swaying all over the place. As I walked away a couple of people were walking on the other side of the road. They had obviously observed me struggling along the road with him. I said to them, was that guy drunk, one of them, a guy in his late thirties, said no he is like that all the time, he lives with his old mother who tries to look after him. As I walked away it became obvious to me that the guy must be suffering from one of those illnesses that effected the coordination of his limbs. I thought, "there but for the grace of God go I".
In another road were all the houses looked scruffy and in a poor state of repair (probably housing association properties) I spoke with several people, homeowners and tenants, they all seemed pissed off. One of them, a private landlord tenant and a rather simple unassuming bloke who had had a bit too much to drink, said that he would not vote for anyone and every local election leaflet that comes through his door goes in the bin. I tried to explain to him that if a socialist government was in power he and thousands like him would not have to worry about ending up with Rachman type landlords, but he would not listen. He continued to go off on a tangent complaining about things that bore no relation to actual reality. It was pointless trying to remonstrate with him; he could not even understand what I was saying such was the obvious poor level of his comprehension of anything that could be described as being even of the slightest complication. Most of these people have lost any hope of ever buying a house because houses are now too expensive. They, like me, seem to have resigned themselves to the fact that they will probably rent until they died. And as for housing association property, they told me that it was impossible to get on to a housing associations list. As I walked away from them I became very depressed. It seemed to me that we as working class people are going backwards into another Victorian age.
One thing I did notice though, was the people who live in the New Deal for Community’s area are much more clued up as to what was going on than the above-mentioned people are. This is proof that critical newsletters such as the Whistle Blower, (48 issues posted by me to all 13,000 residents in the New Deal area) after a certain period of time, do educate the people. It also proves that people, if they are critically informed, are not as stupid as the dominant culture within our society makes them out to be.
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