Good Parenting, Bad Government?

Much has been made in the press about the government's 'Good Parenting Guide', with all the expected snide comments about the quality of advice given in it, such as 'don't have an affair whilst your partner is pregnant'. Such attitudes simply confirm the grip that the middle classes have on the media. Yes, it might well seem obvious to you or I, sat in our nice suburban semis, that cheating on your wife is not considered acceptable behaviour within in the context of a normal relationship, but this guide isn't aimed at us. It is clearly aimed at the growing underclass who mainly inhabit our urban housing estates, existing in a twilight world of casual employment, state benefits, debt and constant poverty. This is a world fuelled by drugs and alcohol, where aspirations are defined by the crude materialism of our modern society: only ownership of the latest consumer goods can make you happy - if you can't afford to buy them, steal 'em instead! Ownership of a widescreen TV is considered of greater importance than paying the rent.

This is a world where 'normal' social rules and morality have broken down. Personal relationships don't fall into the cozy middle class 'two point four children' and Mum and Dad convention. For many women in this underworld, having children is virtually a career - let's face it, with minimum wage casual work becoming the norm for the unskilled or semi-skilled, they are never likely to be able to follow any conventional kind of career. The men don't even have this option - for them it is an aimless drift between mind-numbing dead-end casual work, the dole queue, petty crime and occasionally prison - with a cocoon of alcohol and drugs to try and get them through each pointless day. Just like the work, the relationships become casual. Respect for law and order and, indeed, society generally is also eroded over time. And they whole thing is self-perpetuating. Kids grow up in this environment thinking that it is the norm that you and your siblings all have different fathers, that it is normal for your Mother to sleep with her partner's mates for money on a casual basis, as a means to make ends meet. They grow up thinking that everyone has bailiffs and debt collectors knocking on the door, that everybody has been evicted from their home at least once. They think it normal to have the latest mobile phone, yet still be living in poverty. And they don't learn any better. From an early age they're brought up up by the TV - plonked in front of that flickering screen for hours on end whilst their mother either works shifts, is too off her face to cope, or incapacitated by domestic violence. Not only does this constant exposure to TV help to reinforce the materialistic values espoused by commercials, it severely stunts the development of their verbal communication skills. The knock on effect of this is under-achievement and rapid disenchantment with education when they finally attend school.

So yes, these people do need to be told the basics of what we consider normal morality. I don't know whether thgis is the right way, but right now, nobody else seems to be trying. My assessment of Britain's estate dwellers may seem harsh, but don't misunderstand me - I don't blame them for their predicament. The fact is that they've been let down by everyone: the education system, employers, social institutions, government social policy, in fact the the whole of bloody society. But the worst thing is that cozy middle Britain still just wants to ignore them - only acknowledging their existence to ridicule and caricature them as 'chavs' , layabouts and dole scroungers. For God's sake shake of this bloody complacency! This widening social divide is a disgrace (especially when it is happening under a Labour government)! If nothing else, you should take notice and do something in order to protect yourselves! Just remember H G Wells' dire warnings: before you know it those Morlocks will coming off of their estates and eating you effete middle class Eloi bastards!