STATE OF THE NATION: 09/02/11

In 1976 on the TV programme So it goes Johnny Rotten sang “get off your arse” in his intro to Anarchy in the UK. Now Cameron is pursuing his ‘Big Britain’ concept; getting people off their arse to rebuild the social fabric of the UK. Yeah the politicians screwed it up but what’s wrong with the people sorting out what they can?

Yeah Hitler screwed up things in Britain in the 40s but it took political will and the people themselves to deal with it.

Which brings us on to style, the working class British are the most stylish people that there have been in the post war world. To quantify, it’s about knowing what you want, what works and not about that stupid word ‘fashion’. The middle classes dress comfortably, the upper classes dress within preset ideas and tradition. The underclass is the worst; they look like shit. It’s not about money it’s about wanting to look good. The working class way has been about saving your wages to buy that shirt that coat that jacket. Foregoing some luxuries to look the nuts. The under class don’t earn therefore they don’t care. They worship at the temple of JD sports and wear sackcloth.

Urban shrines. The middle class intelligentsia chain white bicycles at the sight of death by lorry, while the underclass weep and wail and leave their mark at the sight of fatal stabbings; not an iota of genuine emotion connected.

Then you have the lack of inspirational characters; icons if you will. Who is there in this century, now eleven years old, to aspire to, to get excited by, to admire? There is no Bruce Lee, Michael Jackson, Jimi Hendrix, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Winston Churchill, Che Guevara, Ghandi. Monroe, Dean, Brando. The gifted and essential characters, Ali, Stevie, Aretha, Bobby, Al etc are from the last century. 2011’s biggest stars are the Black Eyed Peas. That says it all No one with any balls!

Popular culture, it appears, died at the dawn of the new century.

That is all from this dispatch