The Suzanne Moore-Julie Burchill uproar shows how utterly bonkers parts of the radical Left are at the moment
Last night I went to see Les Misérables, and nearly disgraced myself. As the ensemble broke into their first stirring rendition of “Do You Hear The People Sing” – and all around me wept proud tears of solidarity – I almost burst out laughing.

It wasn’t that I was belittling Hugh Jackman and Eddie Redmayne’s revolutionary ardour, though Russell Crowe’s Javert did strike me as just the sort of man who knows how to take tough choices in an age of austerity. Instead I was reminded of the time I was working for the GMB union, and we decided to use “The People’s Song” to open our annual congress.
Every year we’d begin with Jerusalem, and for once we thought we’d let our hair down a bit. So we played it, the delegates loved it and John Edmonds made for a pretty striking Jean Valjean. But the following year one of our branches tabled an official motion condemning the officers of the union for playing a song they said was being used to fill the coffers of Sir Cameron Mackintosh, the producer of the smash hit West End show, and a donor to the Tory party.

Just like those manning the Parisian barricades in 1832, we stood accused of treachery. As I suppose, by extension, did Victor Hugo and Claude-Michel Schönberg.
The Left detests a traitor. Or rather, there’s nothing the Left loves more than embarking on a witch-hunt for a traitor. Which is why Suzanne Moore found herself strapped firmly into the progressive ducking stool last week, after writing an article for the New Statesman that contained the line “We are angry with ourselves for not being happier, not being loved properly and not having the ideal body shape – that of a Brazilian transsexual”. This single sentence, in a piece that otherwise sought to take a chainsaw to sexism and gender prejudice, saw Moore facing demands to apologise for what Pink News called her “recent transphobic outburst”.

No sooner had Moore been officially found to be in league with the devil than it was Julie Burchill’s turn. Burchill had defended her friend in a typically understated Observer piece, including a hot contender for most un-PC line of all time: “a gaggle of transsexuals telling Suzanne Moore how to write looks a lot like how I'd imagine the Black and White Minstrels telling Usain Bolt how to run would look”. This resulted in Lib Dem minister Lynne Featherstone demanding Burchill’s sacking, which was a very sensible response. What we all need at the moment is government ministers appointing newspaper columnists.
Next it was Owen Jones’s turn. The horny-handed tribune of the workers dared to suggest on Twitter there were probably more appropriate candidates for progressive outrage than Moore or Burchill, and was promptly vilified for his own treachery.

Then, just as the whole thing was starting to resemble a surreal feminist/LGBT Marx brother’s sketch, in rushed gay rights activist Peter Tatchell shouting “Make that three hard-boiled eggs!” Actually, I couldn’t quite make out what Peter’s take on the whole issue was, but what I do know is he spent the next hour or so vainly trying to convince people he hadn’t become the new Bernard Manning.
I’ve got to be honest; I’ve found the spectacle of the cream of the progressive movement re-enacting the final scene from Reservoir Dogs strangely exhilarating. It’s like watching a grainy video from the 1970s, with Norman Mailer sitting in some run down cinema in Greenwich Village, swearing at Germaine Greer, and screaming “You damn harpies!” at every women in the room.
It’s also quite illustrative of some of the problems affecting the radical Left at the moment: not least the fact that a significant fraction of the radical Left is utterly bonkers. I’ve got my differences with Suzanne Moore – as a man I don’t actually feel collective responsibility for the breast-implant scandal, for example – but anyone who claims Moore is prejudiced is jumping an exceedingly large shark.

But the fight for equality has always been a bare-knuckle one. That’s because – in truth – it’s not based on equality at all. It’s about primacy.
Throughout the Eighties, as a debate began to open up within the black community in the US about attitudes towards women, a popular argument was that this represented a dangerous distraction from the “real struggle” for racial equality. Some even went so far as to claim black men had enough on their plates as it was, without having to shoulder the additional burden of worrying about “their women’s” distinct place in society. And that attitude is reflected in this week’s gender-storm. Julie Burchill is at least being honest when she tells the transgender community to get off her lawn: “Shims, shemales, whatever you're calling yourselves these days – don't threaten or bully us lowly natural-born women, I warn you”. The radical Left acknowledges everyone’s right to equality. But it also demands everyone takes a ticket, and gets in line.

Though those fighting the good fight would never be caught dead admitting it, they’ve spent decades constructing, and scrapping over, a tightly defined hierarchy of oppression. And that hierarchy is invariably a self-serving reflection of prevailing internal power cliques. On the Left it currently looks like this: Tier 1 Women, Tier 2 Black, Tier 3 Gay, Tier 4 Everyone Else.
What’s interesting, is that this hierarchy does not actually reflect actual influence or social advancement. So while the gay rights lobby has proved by far the most successful in altering perceptions, and securing legislative change, amongst the Left it does not enjoy the benefit of all-gay shortlists, shadow cabinet quotas, a dedicated shadow ministry, etc. And if gay activists or black activists within Labour’s ranks were to push for these things then it’s not the white, male dinosaurs they’d find standing in their way, but Labour’s women.

Don’t get me wrong; as Daniel Day-Lewis and Steven Spielberg are about to remind us, some civil wars need to be fought. And while I’m sympathetic to Moore, those of us who can’t even understand where her accusers are coming from could do worse than read this response. But seriously, guys, try and keep your eyes on the prize.
I remember a year ago getting into a debate about lack of women’s representation in the Labour Party. Several people were tweeting the usual refrain “Why aren’t there more women in senior positions in the shadow cabinet?” I responded by pointing out that in 2010 Labour held its most open leadership election for three decades. And not a single female member of the shadow cabinet bothered to even stand.
If you want genuine equality you don’t actually have to stand in line. But you do at least need to buy that ticket.

deadken posted:

i have a friend who used to be on heroin, he dropped out of school, he'd start fights, got kicked out of home a couple of times. i'd see him at parties in clothes he'd been wearing for days, sitting in a corner, staring into empty space for hours on end. he could very easily have ended up being homeless. but guess what, he didn't. instead he's now got a job and is going back to uni next year, he has a girlfriend and existential angst aside is doing ok. why? because despite the slow breakdown of his family and his addictions and everything else Class Is The Primary Determining Factor In Basically Anything

in truth, the only reason i;m not and face down in a gutter right now is because i was born into an upper middle class family. granted, i'm going to be dead in the next few years anyways but perpetuating a languid life with as many more unbearable years is the metric of success in western society.

hey posted:

I used to volunteer at a homeless shelter and I could walk away with that notion with a lot of homeless people. Not all homeless people are the insane people trying to communicate with aliens while vomiting all over themselves.
One of the biggest roadblocks for homeless people to getting a job was having no address/phone. Without it many business would would never consider hiring someone. The jobs homeless people could get were completely humiliating and exploitative.
And this was in Canada, a bastion of social welfare. I can't imagine how much worse it it could be in America

I wish you would kill yourself goatstein. You suck so much

a prepaid phone is $10. you can make up an address. did you ever consider that maybe they were making up lame excuses? never presume to know the bottom of a person's capacity for self-destruction

Goethestein posted:

hey posted:

I used to volunteer at a homeless shelter and I could walk away with that notion with a lot of homeless people. Not all homeless people are the insane people trying to communicate with aliens while vomiting all over themselves.
One of the biggest roadblocks for homeless people to getting a job was having no address/phone. Without it many business would would never consider hiring someone. The jobs homeless people could get were completely humiliating and exploitative.
And this was in Canada, a bastion of social welfare. I can't imagine how much worse it it could be in America

I wish you would kill yourself goatstein. You suck so much

a prepaid phone is $10. you can make up an address. did you ever consider that maybe they were making up lame excuses? never presume to know the bottom of a person's capacity for self-destruction

Goethestein posted:

littlegreenpills posted:

1. no it isn't, a prepaid phone is around $50 new for the handset. could get it second hand off CL, but oops no computer access. and thanks to antiterrorism initiatives you need ID and proof of address to buy one. guess what les heaumlesses don't have
2. unless you're literally talking about cash in hand day labor then no lol

http://www.walmart.com/browse/cell-phones/no-contract-phones-plans/3944_542371_1072335/?_refineresult=true&catNavId=1072335&facet=price%3A0+-+%2410||price%3A%2410+-+%2420&ic=48_0&path=0%3A3944&ref_values=428983+500841&povid=cat1072335-env460189-moduleA111512-lLinkLHNShopByPrice1Under20Dollars

you don't need ID or proof of address to buy a burner phone, i bought one in florida two years ago when my phone broke and they didn't ask me for shit. unless your job is mailing you paychecks i'm not sure what they would ever need a valid address for

hint: you were white

you work in HR, don't you habitually ask people for ID or an address before you hire them. also if you're homeless they throw you out of walmart. oops

Goethestein posted:

littlegreenpills posted:

1. no it isn't, a prepaid phone is around $50 new for the handset. could get it second hand off CL, but oops no computer access. and thanks to antiterrorism initiatives you need ID and proof of address to buy one. guess what les heaumlesses don't have
2. unless you're literally talking about cash in hand day labor then no lol

http://www.walmart.com/browse/cell-phones/no-contract-phones-plans/3944_542371_1072335/?_refineresult=true&catNavId=1072335&facet=price%3A0+-+%2410||price%3A%2410+-+%2420&ic=48_0&path=0%3A3944&ref_values=428983+500841&povid=cat1072335-env460189-moduleA111512-lLinkLHNShopByPrice1Under20Dollars

you don't need ID or proof of address to buy a burner phone, i bought one in florida two years ago when my phone broke and they didn't ask me for shit. unless your job is mailing you paychecks i'm not sure what they would ever need a valid address for

it's a lot more expensive in Canada for telecommunications. in any case you're a reactionary shit lord who has no idea what it's like to be homeless.

littlegreenpills posted:

try it, they'll kick you out. especially if you smell like a butt and have many interesting skin diseases

then there is no hope, you are worthless and should kill yourself

Goethestein posted:

the reason people dont hire the homeless is because they are terrible employees in every way, and for no other reason.

its bc they have no fixed address so its difficult to arrange paye

Goethestein posted:

the reason people dont hire the homeless is because they are terrible employees in every way, and for no other reason.

I would rather hire a guy who sleeps on the park bathroom floor and smells like cumin and feces than half of the sadlords on this forum blaming capitalism for their personal failures