On a good turnout of 117 votes (thanks to everybody who took part), the results to last week's Fun Online Poll are as follows:
This whole US debt downgrade, Eurozone panic, stock market crash etc
A great buying opportunity - 20%
Nothing to worry about - 5%
Maybe there'll be a double-dip recession - 9%
We're heading into a Second Great Depression - 21%
I'm going to stock up with gold, tinned food, and a shotgun and cartridges - 38%
Other, please specify - 7%
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Oh dear, David Starkey has dared to mention what a lot of people were thinking, that the "rap culture" (music, videos and dress code - hoodies and expensive trainers) glorifies and romanticises crime, violence, misogyny and naked consumerism (weren't Run DMC synonymous with Adidas trainers?).
I'm quite sure that "rap culure" must be at least one of the many dozens of reasons for the nature of the recent 'riots', albeit not the actual trigger*, so that's this week's Fun Online Poll: Does "rap culture" glorify crime and violence?
Vote here or use the widget in the sidebar.
* IMHO, the real trigger is the something-for-nothing culture which starts at the very top (e.g. bankers' bonuses and MPs' expenses) and which newspapers like The Daily Express continuously celebrates.
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4 comments:
I don't think that's why Starkey got into trouble - that point on its own is uncontroversial. It's when he praised David Lamy for suggesting that, if you had your eyes shut, he'd sound white. Which is both really quite offensive (according to a straw poll of my middle-class black mates, who were distinctly unimpressed) and reminiscent of the time the BNP booked a black DJ for their Christmas disco because he "didn't sound black on the phone".
BTW, agree with you on "something-for-nothing culture", and the fact that it's tied in with both elite contempt for the public and homeownerism.
JB, but Starkey had painted himself into a corner.
He said, probably rightly, that young people do themselves no favours by adopting this ridiculous accent, so it was only fair, albeit tactless, to then praise e.g. David Lammy or the woman sitting next to him for "making an effort".
"something-for-nothing culture"
Isn't that just good, old-fashioned greed, against which the Bible, the Koran, the Tao te Ching etc all rail against in vain?
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