Friends, there was a time when, if you didn't speak "the Queen's English", i.e. English with an upper-class British accent, you wouldn't get anywhere near a BBC microphone or a television camera. And I say: right you were, snobs! Mere peasants have no right to assail us with their dreary diction. Of course, a lot has changed in Britain's class system since the end of WWII. Nowadays, a compromise, middle class accent, denuded of regionalisms, is arguably taking over. That's "democracy" at work, I suppose. In the U.S., it has long been the case that one's accent does not necessarily indicate one's social status. This is why I favor the reinstitution of sumptuary laws. Look 'em up, peons!
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c05q318501yo
In other news, the WaPo is absolutely right to celebrate the recent decline in food insecurity, and to tie this trend to the waxing prosperity of the "developing world", but it is somewhat missing the forest for the trees, since the real news -- in a world-historical sense -- is that, in this day and age, virtually no one is starving. That may not seem very surprising to those of us who live in the USA and have supermarket-sized expectations for caloric intake, but for most of human history it has been shockingly common for large numbers of people to starve. Not so long ago it was pretty common in "Afro-Asia" too. No more! Modern agricultural methods have banished famine almost altogether, and guess what? That's kinda good!!! We don't stop to reflect on it very often, but we should. Chances are, you'll never be desperately hungry, and therefore just plain desperate. You can thank the Brits and their pioneering work in the Agricultural Revolution for that.
Dr. Waddy: Yes, I did have to look up the definition of sumptuary laws.Being essentially a "villein" , I am bound by them even though they are no longer formal. I also celebrate the divine right of Kings.
ReplyDeleteI grew up in a blue collar city neighborhood on the edge of an affluent suburban community. I started noticing class distinctions especially during my teen years. Some of my friends changed from public to private schools. They went to dance schools and a couple of them got brand new cars when they were 16. They were forbidden to apply to the state colleges I approached. Most of them were not disdainful of me but as time went on I was increasingly unable to keep up with them. When I went in the Navy and met people from many American subcultures I became aware of other forms of class differences. In my experiences modes of speech often revealed such differences.
But I understand that the British class system was far more and perhaps still is to an extent more rigid than what I experienced. In the TV series The Duchess of Duke St, set in a high class hotel in London a bowler hatted businessman seeking lodging in about 1915 is politely but firmly advised that he would best look elsewhere. In 1973 I went to a fashionable party in London with an American cousin who was much at ease in any social situation. I was plainly out of place but not due to any purposeful disapproval. I played Juliet's imperious father in Romeo and Juliet and in that character made a point of displaying open disdain for anyone of less than aristocratic rank.
Of course our rising "American" socialist insurgents would dutifully eliminate any manner of class differences , even when they are not class differences. They would assure equal lack and ennui; of course some of the elect would be, counterintuitively , "more equal than others"and exempt from mandated universal commonality.
RAY TO JACK
DeleteWithout questioning that you went to a fashionable party in London in 1973, is that before or after you were in the U.S. Navy? As I recall, you said you went to some school in Singapore at one time. Sounds like you have been around. Just curious. Thanks.
RAY TO JACK
DeleteI do know, from what you frequently mention, that your main career was spent as a librarian in the New York State prison system. Right?
Dr. Waddy: I think a modern super market is a wonder and probably the most important facet of the almost fantastic material well being so many of us have , in contrast to all past ages! The abundance , quality and availability of food therein is an indescribable blessing. To think that ancient deadly scourge , perhaps the worst of all, has been alleviated to the extent it has been: there is maybe no word sufficient to describe what almost incredibly good fortune it is for humanity. We live in a future the most perceptive of past thinkers might have thought ever unattainable. The most joyful development of the last approximately 50 years may well be the emergence of vast lands like India and China from endemic shortage of this essential and vital element of all civilization.
ReplyDeleteDr. Waddy: Nonetheless our Marxist rump will have none of it except of course for their own gustatory satisfaction. It has been accomplished by heretic defiance of their immutable doctrine. "Therefore it is only just that it be done utter and complete dismantling and reconstruction on correct lines. Only then can it be celebrated!"
ReplyDeleteDr. Waddy: "Yes, there has been much progress in assuring food security for the world. But it lacks the PERFECTION our unimpeachable Marxist verities guarantee and must be summarily and thoroughly supplanted by our exalted doctrine. Oh well, there will of course be growing pains as the existing system is rendered just but trust us, we'll get it right this time. Forward , forward America with true progress, Marxist Leninist progress!" Our socialist saviors won't put it that way, YET, but it is what they intend.
ReplyDeleteRAY TO JACK
DeleteWhere does "Soylent Green" fit in?
Ray: Yes, that was my eventual post Navy career. I pursued it mainly because I wanted to be sure of living in a rural area and I always loved libraries. The party in London was post Navy; I was there traveling back after my semester in Singapore. During that stopover I completely serendipitously happened on the formal unveiling of Churchill's statue. I had three PMs and Mrs. Churchill walk right by me coming out of Parliament Square. I'll never get over the thrill of that. I did a lot of traipsing around when I was younger but I'm thoroughly attached to home now (despite our far left gov't, rural NY state is a wonderful place). How about yourself and Doc. Waddy too?
ReplyDeleteRAY TO JACK
DeleteAfter my Air Force stint, worked civil service for the federal government. Got an MA in history during that time, and was able to teach part-time at a community college.
Ray: Never saw Soylent Green; if portrays a"utopia " I'm going to guess it is a totalitarian one.
ReplyDeleteJack, I don't think there's any question that class distinctions were more rigid in the America of your youth than they are today, ALTHOUGH one can argue that the current red vs. blue divide often manifests itself in distinctly class terms, and that the Left's contempt for conservatives often includes unmistakable classist overtones.
ReplyDeleteRay, soylent green is the pinnacle of conservationism, you might say, although it is the opposite of vegetarianism, so the Left must feel rather conflicted, no?
Ray, I didn't know (or plumb forgot) that you were a federal government employee. Are you racked with guilt??? Hey, I was, and technically remain, a NYS employee, which is far worse!!!