Political stereotyping

Interesting this business of political stereotyping.
It seems to be used by one group to show how superior they are to another group: better educated, more caring, harder working, more successful, more aware; in every way better.
On social media, anyway.
On the doorstep whilst canvassing over the past few weeks I have been met with perfect politeness everywhere; some people prepared to discuss their, and my, views; some not, from voters of every age, situation and persuasion. None of the condescension and patronising sense of superiority that is so evident on here, possibly because people feel they are anonymous so can be as rude as they like.
Sad.

Don't know what "class" I am, not voting Tory (or Labour!) but MaizieD I think you'll find you'd be accusing kitty of libel not slander.

maizie, that seemed to touch a nerve! I accused you of nothing

Political stereotyping is also encouraged by the First Past the Post System- where so many Constituencies are so polarised, and it is constant see-sawing between right-left-righ-left and there is no space nor respect for anyone else.

The stereotyping does, of course, goes both and more ways.

It does touch a nerve in this quarter, maizie and shows a very prejudiced attitude in the people using such terms.

Not suggesting that I have a prejudiced attitude then, kitty? So why mention me by name?

Happy to say it's libellous, rather than slanderous, Janipat.

Replying to you, maizie, about people (in general!) using those terms.

Political stereotyping and class. So my parents were working class, lived through the depression and the,war. My Dad brought up in poverty with 7 siblings in 2 up 2 down house left school at 14. Mum raised in a house with father in and out of work and also left school at 14. Certainly not well off, but worked hard for what they had. Both life long Conservatives.

One thing I take a slight exception to you say we are fairly well off because DH worked hard that actually makes me cringe because many people work their arses off all their lives but aren’t well off through a variety of circumstances although working hard can leave you in a comfortable position it may not always
Hard work doesn’t always bring riches and it feels disingenuous to write as though it is only well off folks who work hard

There is a lot of prejudiced thinking on here, stereotyping people into boxes, especially in eazybee's post.

I don't actually know what people vote, wouldn't be so presumptuous as to ask, but as the Tory always gets in, I presume many must vote Tory. I know some people who were privately educated and some who drive white vans and many others who do not fit either category.

Thinking that children are separated by their education, where they live etc in modern Britain is a fallacy.
Only about 6.5% go to private schools.

The pupils at my DGC's comprehensive school range from from poorer backgrounds to the children of more wealthy parents.
That was the same when I was at school and my DC too.

Many apologies to eazybee

It was not your post, it was knickas's post to which I replied.

Sorry, eazybee!

knickas why do you assume that someone who may drive a white van is not educated and is convinced that everyone is out to take what is theirs?

If it's the case that only those two demographics (you imagine) vote Tory, then the Tories would never be elected.

knickas63 is spot on and has it absolutely right. I think a lot of voters are influenced by the tabloids and the BBC and haven't a clue what they're voting for - I just despair really!

tooting29 that’s exactly the same as my mum and dad except my mum left school at 9. Dad was down a coal mine in his youth. Like yours, both life long Conservative voters.

So if knickas is right and Tory voters either are privately educated or those who drive white vans that could possibly total about 10% of the electorate.

How come the Tories ever get in if only about 10% ever vote for them?

It is stereotyping and rubbish.

I suppose Lib Dem voters wear socks and sandals (the men) and the women have long hair in a bun and wear a droopy hippy style skirt.
That is just as ridiculous.

It's expressed when people don't grasp their own privilege. My friends father is 82 and has "worked hard" since he was 15. He earns minimum wage. The idea that he is deserving to be a "have not" despite working 50 to 60 hours a week of back breaking menial labour, somehow not working hard enough according to some, is the problem.

kitty you are right. I am fed up of being told we are the scum of the earth. That we don’t care for others less fortunate. That we don’t care about the NHS, the homeless and those struggling just because we have a different idea as to which party would do the best for this country.

There was an article in yesterday's Guardian about the way that the old class labels don't fit today's population. The author claims that age is a more important deciding factor in the way people vote than traditional class or wealth.

By the way, the "haves" are generally the more elderly. 20% of baby boomers are millionaires, although 36% of pensioners in private rented accommodation are in poverty.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/dec/10/myth-labour-lost-working-class-pollsters

Crikey!
20%? does that amount include the value of their family home?

I think it's true, the old social grading system is out of date and irrelevant now.

Presumably, yes. I've seen the figure before, so I assume it's true.

Why do some people always seem to assume that people who claim benefits are not hardworking and sensible?

My point about my dh having worked hard was meant to press home the point that we didnt inherent much apart from a bit of brown furniture not that we were somehow different from anyone else.

I am not sure? I had a conversation with my son last night on the phone. He was determined to talk politics. He abused me and my husband for voting Tory, He is voting Labour. I said he was entitled to vote for who he wanted. He certainly thinks we are the 'haves' and he is a 'doesn't have'. He can not see that we have because we worked at saving to get a house. We did not go out for over 18 months so we could save. My son and his wife gave up teaching jobs to travel at a cost of £30,000. He could have put that towards a mortgage. They constantly eat out and think nothing of having a few drinks out. We took a picnic. The latest is he is confused as to why he did not get a months pay when he took a month out as paternity leave. He buys expensive clothes for himself. He questions us why he can not afford a house with a garden so our two gc can play out. Unfortunately my son and DIL think everybody else should pay for their things. He did not learn this from me and my husband.

Yes, I agree the Tory way forward is always better for the 'haves' but it doesn't mean that it is better for the country.

The 'country' is not some abstract term. It is made up of 4 million children in poverty, and parents having to use food banks. Knife crime and drug crime at an all time high because the Tory's cut 20,000 police from our streets. Public services cut to the bone, which leaves the haves ok because they can access private services if they need too. Our children leaving university with debt they will never clear and a housing market beyond their reach. All this and our National Debt has still doubled.
Yes, I would be considered a 'have' but I want the rest of society Haves' also. And the one thing that stops that happening is Tory ideology. The Tory Government of the last ten years has brought our country to its Knees. No more of the same for me.

The legislation and policies of this Tory government betray their lack of understanding of the lives that many people are forced to lead. This is the evidence that we can all see before us. None of their policies have been targeted at those who need our help and support: universal credit, austerity, underfunding of public services, killing off Sure Start - it is all there for all to see.

Political dogma as driven their agenda, and an absence of concern for the underdog that borders on sheer cruelty.

This is why people are tempted to label Tory voters in a pejorative way, because their votes imply that they are happy with what this government has done to people at the bottom of the heap and they would like to see more of the same.

I have several Tory voting friends and they are the epitome of kindness to me; but there seems to be a yawning gap in their thinking when they refer to government activity.

The fact that the Tories are now on a spending spree is not the least impressive - they are simply proposing (not promising) to try and clear up some of the mess that THEY have created.

Exactly Lucky- and the assumption that those who dispair with the politics and tactics of Johnson and teh ERG, are Reds under the bed and green eyed 'have nots and downs and outs' - is just so offensive and so wrong too.