1. I enjoyed reading this from @davidsonofaaron.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/davidaar... It shows that the politics of nostalgia is class politics. The working class get to live in their 'poor but happy' utopia', whilst the middle classes get the benefits of progress. - ThreadSky

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peterryley.bsky.social • 74 days ago

1. I enjoyed reading this from @davidsonofaaron.bsky.social
https://open.substack.com/pub/davidaaronovitch/p/pining-for-the-slums
It shows that the politics of nostalgia is class politics. The working class get to live in their 'poor but happy' utopia', whilst the middle classes get the benefits of progress.

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peterryley.bsky.social•74 days ago

2. An example is freedom of movement. I live in Greece now. If I hadn't got residence before Brexit, it would be impossible. Wealthier people can get visas as financially independent persons or with a Golden Visa. Mobility has been taken away from ordinary people and restricted to the wealthy.

peterryley.bsky.social•74 days ago

3. And it was used. In my old Salford street, there was a woman who worked six months as a holiday rep in Corfu and six months as a temp in the UK. She chose to leave and go to Corfu rather than lose her job. And a who plumber tried working in Spain for 18 months (he decided it wasn't for him).

peterryley.bsky.social•74 days ago

4. Then there was the irony of my Remainer window cleaner's pal, he voted Leave to stop immigration. When my window cleaner challenged him about the damage to the economy, his mate replied, 'Doesn't bother me, I'm going to live in Spain.' Neither realised that Brexit would make it impossible.

peterryley.bsky.social•74 days ago

5. What social democratic politics is all about, and what EU membership did, was to extend rights to working class people that the middle classes took for granted. Nostalgia was mobilised to take them away again.

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