Equality, whither at thou?
May 4th, 2010Arguably the most telling characteristic of any society is the degree of inequality. In Britain’s case it has not only grown in the last two decades to previously unheard-of dimensions, it has even spawned a new social class system and deconstructed the whole concept of aspiration and social mobility. It has made the facile division of Britain into working class/middle class or Middle England versus the rest wholly otiose. That does not begin to reflect the ugly social reality of UK 2010.
The distinctive features of the social landscape are no longer the gradual assimilation of an upwardly mobile working class into a broad-tent middle class, but rather the distinctive polarisation at either end of the spectrum into extremes of alienation. Richard Lambert, president of the CBI no less, has recently referred to the gargantuan greed and bonuses of the hyper-wealthy, perhaps 1-2% of the population, as marking them out as aliens. (more…)
