tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8647966782809031279.post3331780513239309720..comments2024-03-07T20:05:33.349+00:00Comments on Urban policy and practice: Middle-class nation state?Dr Peter Matthewshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06308785385644187726noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8647966782809031279.post-71898616688333224512013-11-14T21:49:19.253+00:002013-11-14T21:49:19.253+00:00Your last paragraph, as a wishy-washy lefty libera...Your last paragraph, as a wishy-washy lefty liberal, is where I don't want the argument, or reality, to end. But I fear that in a very unequal society, with limited social mobility then that is indeed where we end up.<br /><br />I'm now too tired to get my head around the Foucauldian analysis to pick up on your government/nation point though :-( Dr Peter Matthewshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06308785385644187726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8647966782809031279.post-15498171890067733002013-11-14T19:13:37.978+00:002013-11-14T19:13:37.978+00:00Not a middle class nation state - a middle class g...Not a middle class nation state - a middle class government. We - in theory spend £120bn on the reduction of inequality (welfare ex-pensions) - but through child benefit and other benefits, plus funding for elite arts, libraries and such, much of this attempt to alleviate relative poverty has been diverted to middle class interests and preferences. However, if you accept - as many do - the idea of "everything within the state, nothing without the sate", then there is no difference between a "middle class nation" and a "middle class government".<br /><br />The price of this is that today us middle classes have got so used to the idea of government paying that we have forgotten about the idea of personal responsibility and the concept of paying our way. Thus, as you note, rejection of selling assets to pay for care.<br /><br />Today we have the grotesque sight of middle class professional - mostly with public sector jobs - exploiting the poor so as to protect their personal, financial and social interests. And a major political party crafting its policies on education, care and welfare to satisfy those intersts as the expense of the ordinary worker that party claims to serve.<br /><br />Or maybe I misunderstood you?Simon Cookehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12586896340482296341noreply@blogger.com