Privileged Pain

Lots of pearl clutching going on here. As I understand it the Guardian recognised their crass reporting and apologised.

Now would anyone like to grab their pearls at the Suns behaviour? They have refused to apologise.

Or of course there is the Daily Mail if you prefer.

Then why ilovecheese did you accuse me of bringing politics into this thread ? It was notanan posted at 11.43 this morning,

anniebach I didn't. I addressed lemongrove, then you said that politics was mentioned earlier, so I thought you were referring to your own post at 11.49.

Then best you address your comments to the poster who did
bring politics into the thread ilovecheese

I nevertheless think it's inappropriate and very wrong to try and minimise or suggest that a death of a child is more bearable if the parents are wealthy

Yes, I agree TerriBull

It was crass for a Guardian journalist to write so cruelly about wealth and the death of a beloved child in the same paragraph. I agree with lemon that recent left wing damnation of the wealthy seems to know no bounds in it's contempt.

This example cannot be justified in any way. It's beyond the pale.

If we turn it around and say that the Daily Mail, a right wing paper, had suggested it was ‘privileged pain’ when Gordon Brown lost his daughter and was uncaring about low paid people having the 10% tax bracket withdrawn, would that be ok?

Of course not! And it’s not ok when it’s the Guardian doing so with David Cameron either - decent people know that.

Decent people, no matter what their political persuasion, would not mention privilege, wealth / money being factors which ease the agony of the loss of a child - ever.

I think the Guardian editorial (so not actually reporting) was really crass & offensive. They did the right thing in taking it down and apologising although it shouldn't have been published in the first place.
However, Cameron did attempt to silence a lot of parents with disabled children and disabled people by mentioning his son in a political context which I think was very wrong and very cynical. He didn't just do that once, either.

His austerity policies hit disabled people much harder than any other group. Not just causing hardship but causing deaths.

I'm disabled, as is my husband. As it happens we weren't directly affected as neither of us were on benefits but I know plenty of people that were affected very badly (and still are).

The narrative about 'scroungers & fakers' and the big rise in disabled people being physically attacked & abused is not a coincidence. My husband (who has been totally blind since his O Levels) has been abused on the street and the worst was someone deliberately getting their dog to attack his guide dog. Luckily there were witnesses who intervened.

Political narratives have serious consequences.

LondonGranny you condemn the Guardian and do the very same

MawB If you re-read my comment you'll see that I did not say that money eases grief.

Tue 17-Sep-19 11:59:06
DC was in a privileged position - he didn't have to worry about his livelihood or taking time to care for his child. Also he was able to buy the support that he needed. Most people in that situation have to worry about those things, in addition to worrying about their child

“Buying support” is a bit spurious when your heart is breaking. .

No one has denied that DC's heart was broken when he lost his son. However, there is no denying that having the support that money can buy - cleaners, nanny etc - would enable any parents suffering from the illness and death of a child to better support their surviving children, for example. As we all know, money cannot by happiness but it can buy time. Time to spend with the dying child and also the surviving children.

Pain is pain. The agony of losing a child and of having to watch them suffer can NEVER be diminished. It doesn't matter how rich or poor a person is. If you are rich, of course, then you can give your child the very best of care and equipment but you can't save them as David Cameron found out. The people who wrote the editorial have never suffered the pain of losing a child. If they had they would have a lot more empathy and compassion. For once I find myself in agreement with Piers Morgan.

Surely not every family with a very ill child are without an extended family ?

To call posters (who are giving good reasons why they think the Guardian journalist wrote a vile piece) ‘pearl clutchers’
WWM2 isn’t in line with your usual ‘sympathy and empathy’......or do you reserve that only for what you perceive to be the underdog?
There really is a ‘what does it matter if it happens to a rich Tory’ mentality around, when in fact, the death of your child
Knows no social boundaries where grieving is concerned.

Well said Avalon.

The Guardian is a left wing newspaper (nothing wrong with that, we all know it) but the pretence that it is balanced is ludicrous. Did any right wing paper call the loss of Gordon Brown’s daughter ‘privileged pain’ when he published his memoirs a few years ago?

Avid Guardian reader, loathe DC. but this was the pits.

Again Dinahmo No, no,not in my experience - we lost our first child- a little boy and money or lack of it simply did not feature in our thinking.
Speaking for myself of course . Your experience may be different.

I’m with notonan My adult son lost his DLA for a while under the Tories and left us struggling. I have never felt such despair. Couldn’t see a future for either of us. He got it back when we applied for PIP. But I don’t feel sorry for DC at all and I am betting that a lot of people feel the same way.

Ben Fogle has put a wonderful post about this horrible comment on Instagram.

Funny old world, poor little lad and poor them as a family going through what they did.

I suppose not trying to get him off and on buses and so on would be some " help" to them.

DC, looks like a kindly soul , compared to the ruthless bastards running the show now.

As a politician I dislike DC for everything he stood /stands for but for DC, the man, who has suffered such pain from the loss of his child I have compassion.

Phoebes thank you. Just read Ben Fogle's post. Says it all.