[thechat] Re: Tony Blair

martin.p.burns at uk.pwcglobal.com martin.p.burns at uk.pwcglobal.com
Tue Nov 6 17:11:25 CST 2001


Memo from Martin P Burns of PricewaterhouseCoopers

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To:   thechat at lists.evolt.org


Subject:  Re: [thechat] Re: Tony Blair

>I think Blair's accent sounds "snooty."

Oh no question about it.

>But it could be the CONTENT of what I hear from him that truly grates on
me.

Yes. He is acting as a president but without the constitutional checks and
balances which that needs.

>>We're a class-ridden country. Which sucks.

>Is class a mutable thing like it is here?  For example, in the US,
>some people manage to work their way up the economic and therefore up
>the "class" ladder.

It's very difficult, because class is very much bound up with upbringing
and education (and hence accent).

It's much more possible to make a lot of money and have your *children*
bridge the class gap. So I make a much more credible middle class person
than my parents do, although they've really worked hard at reinventing
themselves (my father started off working life as a motor mechanic in the
Gorbals (a fairly deprived area of Glasgow)). It's taken them decades,
whereas we had the head-start and very good (although not feepaying)
educations.

And to a certain extent, money is looked down upon - it's *breeding* [sic]
(which means starting off in that class) which counts.

>I just remembered that TV show... "Keeping Up Appearances."
>tee hee.  I love Hyacinth's family.

Yes, she's trying way too hard to really be accepted as the class
she aspires to. If she really were, she wouldn't have to make the effort.

Of course, the class she aspires to is a class which cares about class...

There's a good class segmentation of UK newspapers which used to
be commonly spoken of (from memory and open to correction):
* The Times is read by the people who run the country
* The Telegraph is read by the people who think they run the country
* The Financial Times is read by the people who pay the people who
   run the country
* The Mail is read by the people who think they know how the country
   should be run (Hyacinth is a Mail reader)
* The Express is read by the people who think the country is being run
   for their benefit
* The Mirror is read by the people who think the country should be run
   for their benefit
* The Sun is read by the people who don't care who the country is run
   by as long as she has big t.... [sic] (The Sun has a topless woman on
   Page 3 and has had for 20 years)

Cheers
Martin


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