[Marxism] Poor, white and pissed

["Jurriaan Bendien" <andromeda246@xxxxxxxxx>]

I really enjoyed reading this item. But I confess I am still a bit confused
about how the concept of "white trash" is being used, the real meaning of
it. Is this really just a bit of status affirmation by people in denial
about the existence of the working class, a swearword, or can trashiness be
operationally defined in some reasonably objective way here? (I'm usually
very reluctant to call anybody trash, particularly if I do not understand
what they've been through (and it takes some time to really work out what
somebody is about). It mostly seems dehumanising, and consequently the label
may say more about the person making the accusation of trash than about the
accused. And it is another instance of negative politics, where one's
position is defined by something that one doesn't want or doesn't like. All
sorts of things seem to be mixed up here, including judgements about
character, morals, lifestyles and habitual behaviours, course of life or
human development or life choices, background and upbringing etc. In my
experience, really trashiness just like refinement occurs at all levels in
the class hierarchy, and trash can be a fashion at a certain stage of life
or refined trash (there are plenty popsongs on the theme)).

Jurriaan



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