Friday 24 May 2013

Who is a Capitalist? Who is Smart? Who is a Minority?

Following on from the last blog, the next paragraph from the Facebook commentator reads "I think owning a home doesn't make you a capitalist; it makes you a smart Brit. I think being a minority does not make you noble or victimized, and does not entitle you to anything. Get over it. Join in with the majority!"

Well the term capitalist is often a derogatory term for a rich person but it also means a supporter of capitalism, the economic system to which we all belong, so owning a home does make you a capitalist. I am not sure what the author means by smart. Some people go through their life paying rent and spend as much as they earn which may include a holiday or two each year. Others put all their money into a mortgage and don't have the holidays and then find the money from their house pays for their place in a care home in their old age. At the same time those with no savings get it free. Who is a capitalist? Who is smart? I think the debate could go on and on.

What does the second sentence mean? Remember that Sally Bercow lost her libel case today after tweeting "Why is Lord McAlpine trending. *innocent face*." She had linked Lord McAlpine to sex abuse claims and was found guilty of libel. So what does this author mean when he writes that "being a minority does not make you noble or victimized, and does not entitle you to anything"? Have some people claimed to be victims and claimed something to which they were not entitled? We have no details from him but if your mind has been directed to a particular section of society and there are people in that section who don't feel they are victims and haven't claimed anything to which they weren't entitled then this claim is defamatory. Do you still want to agree with it?


Why should anyone be told to join a majority for any reason? Do you want to be told to join a majority whatever that means? Which groups does this allow me to join? I can't think what the author means. Would you like to make a guess? You may have come up with an answer but if Sally Bercow can be found guilty then maybe this author could be guilty too. That may be why he didn't mention any particular minority group.


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