Addressing the social question

John

The Daily Rag is living in 1997, I am afraid. They represent a fossilised minority mindset.

Ray

How many grannies has the Mirror's favourite Chancellor-turned-PM kicked over the last eleven years with his pension grabs and his stealth taxes?

Adam McNestrie

There is a reason that politicians and government have hitherto been shy of moralising politics in such a simplistic way. The whole process is fraught with difficulty. To gain a genuine understanding of agency, responsibility and culpability is fraught with difficulty even when we are dealing with the individuals closest to us in our lives; when politicians are dealing with people who are distant, or large classes of people like the obese, the dangers of misunderstanding and oversimplification are massive.

Simple moral schemes with their talk of individuals who are good or evil, who act in ways right and wrong, leave too much out. They eliminate the complexity of context so that they can say something strong and definite. People’s actions are partly determined by their histories, the institutions of which they are a part, the cultures into which they have been socialised, the economic system in which they have to survive. Talk of right and wrong tends to abstract from these things because they are complicated and messy and generally leave one with no one to blame.

To read more of my views link to my blog, Just who the hell are we? on wordpress.com at:
http://adammcnestrie.wordpress.com/

Familiar Clown

What utter BS from the Mirror.
"We talk about people being at risk of obesity, instead of talking about people who eat too much and take too little exercise" is not blaming fat people for being fat, it is attacking the new liberal political mindset that has emerged and given rise to the way such people are talked about. Ditto the other categories. But calling a spade a spade unfortunately also makes for a good attacking story in Britain's tabloids.

London Calling

Big Speech, Big Mistake, walk in to a deprived area of Glasgow and point the finger at the crowd and moraly patronise everyone present by blaming them for all the ills and social deprivation they are experiencing... Not a Good Speech, Not a Good message in which to reach out to the very people you want to embrace and encourage to build a better Britain, no indeed.

This was politics on its head, by pointing out the Rot at the bottom and yet not mentioning the Rot on route to the top also, this would have reached a wider audience if one feels the need to be appear honest about society as a whole.

David should have also mentioned the Fat cats, and the drug taking by so called respectable members of our society and those who are paid to work but don’t perform or provide a competent public service.

It has to work both ways, and by David presenting his one way view, will have caused much harm instead of healing and he will be seen as just as out of touch as Gordon, and if not, more patronising.

Craig Strachan

It's the apparent inconsistency between this speech and "hug-a-hoodie" that jars. We were asked to offer "understanding" to hoodies. Now we are told to condem the obese, the slothful and the poor.

But what are we to do with obese hoodies? Commend their wardrobe, condem their girth?

Big Alec

I think David Cameron was out of order to say what he said. I weigh 26 stone, smoke 60 fags a day, drink heavily, and live on benefits. But I've got feelings as well. When I walk down the street people often make fun of my size, which really upsets me. I've tried all kind of diets but they don't seem to work. I've also tried to give up smoking but I only lasted 2 days. Because of my weight I can't work either, and I don't enjoy good health. David Cameron can say what he likes, but he went to a posh school where they probably don't even allow fat people in, and a posh university as well.

Crewe cut

Nice to have you on board, Big Alec. Just don't make too many waves at CH, or we'll all sink, and you'll push us back to the John Major years.

Tom

Ban Adam McNestrie now! It is v. rude to publicise your own blog like this.

Tom

Ban Adam McNestrie now! It is v. rude to publicise your own blog like this.

Big Alec

Crewe cut, I found your email really offensive. Just because I'm fat doesn't mean I don't have feelings. You're just perpetrating the idea that all fat people are big and jolly, and I'm not - in fact I suffer from a bi-polar disorder - and that's why I can't work! It may also interest you to know that when I get depressed I eat more, smoke one fag after another, and drink like there's no tomorrow. Is any of that MY fault? I'm getting depressed now writing this...and hungry...and I could kill for another fag.

Craig Strachan

Big Alec,

I can relate, brother. I'm a 250-pounder myself. (To be fair to Eton, it's not that it won't take fat people. It can't - all those narrow passageways. The likes of ourselves might make it into chapel, but they'd need a winch to get us out.)

Crewe cut

Big Alec - Cheers mate! Sorry about your affliction. You really must see someone about that. In the meantime, don't read the Daily Mirror, keep all knives under lock and key, choose a reliable keyholder, and just sit back and relax.

Perhaps when you are a bit older...?

Fergus Pickering

Some fat people have a disorder. MOST fat people eat too much. I'm a fat person because I eat too much. I do not suffer from obesity. Do I intend to get thinner? No I don't because I have notice that when people over sixty start getting thinner they generally die not long after. I also drink a fair bit and have just taken up smoking little cigars again. And it's MY BUSINESS. I agree with the general drift of Dave's remarks. Boris is fattish. Boris went to Eton. I think he was fattish when he went.

Craig Strachan

Fergus Pickering,

Yes, it's your business. Not David Cameron's or any other politician's.

(I also have no intention of getting thin. Dieting makes me hungry.)

Frank Pulley

This cofeee house is full of fat f**cks. I'm off to Starb**ks.