Viewing posts tagged trade unions
Posted by:
Jack Graham
7 years, 3 months ago
"I have in my hand a piece of paper," says Mr Stevens, CEO of Global Chemicals, echoing Chamberlain in unconscious admission that his promises of a profitable truce in the class war will turn out to be worthless, "which will mean a great deal to all of you. Wealth in our time!"
The ex-miners, crowded around the gates of the closed pit, are unimpressed.
"When the National Coal Board were forced to close the pit last year..." Stevens begins.
"It were a shame, that was!" heckles one of the workers, in Ignorant Yokel Speak.
"No, my friends," says Stevens chummily, presenting himself as one of them, "we must not be bitter. We must face the facts."
Note the 'we'; the most abused word in political discourse. As in 'we're all in this together'.
"Coal is a dying industry," asserts Stevens.
The miners shout "Rubbish! Rubbish!"
When it happens in reality, the idea that the mines had to shut because they were unprofitable
will be rubbish. Mining was
always subsidised.
"Oil is our future now and the government agrees with me. They have not only given us the go-ahead for our plans, they have promised us money ...
Posted by:
Jack Graham
9 years ago
The patronizing use of Welsh stereotypes in 'The Green Death' is evidence of the employment of centuries-old imperial condecenscion. However, Welshness alone does not straightforwardly equal idiocy in this story. Rather, it is the conjunction of Welshness with membership of the proletariat which produces characters who don't really have a clue what's going and need everything explained to them.
Clifford Jones and 'Nancy' (note how
she doesn't need a surname) are allowed to be efficient and useful only because their Welshness (which entails them using cute provincialisms galore) is offset by their educated, middle-class boffinity and right-onitude. Meanwhile, Jo marvels openly at her own foolishness in caring so much about the death of a "funny little Welshman" (who kept her alive). The difference between these Welsh characters - i.e. between the ones who qualify as people and those who don't - is down to class.
The workers in this story are belittled, peripheral figures. They are profoundly out of touch and their Welshness is but a conduit by which they can be further quaintified. They miss the big picture, even when the hippy scientists try to explain everything to them. They side with Stevens ...
