I could never be comfortable on the left — there’s just too much hate there

Wednesday, 14th April 2010

Hugo Rifkind gives a Shared Opinion

Two minutes later, we had a phone call. All I know is that it was from somebody in a position of authority. ‘It hez been brrrought to ourrr attention thett you are henging clothes,’ she said, grimly. ‘These are against rrrrhegulations and must be rrrhemoved.’

Seriously. Two minutes. In Britain, if somebody minded you hanging out washing, they’d quietly smoulder about it, or maybe stick a note in your letter box the next day. I thought of the massive, repressive state security system that used to exist here, keeping race from race, smothering dissent. Then I went out on the balcony.

I looked up. I looked along. I peered over the edge. From our balcony, I could see no other windows or balconies, which meant that nobody else could see us. So we must have been denounced by somebody from down on the beach, or in another building altogether. Anonymously. In three minutes. It’s sort of terrifying.

Hugo Rifkind is a writer for the Times.

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terence patrick hewett

April 16th, 2010 12:59pm Report this comment

There is nothing mysterious or wonderful about the pronouncements of Johann Hari; he is the heir to the estates of George Gissing and Wyndam Lewis but sadly without their talent.

Joe

April 23rd, 2010 8:09pm Report this comment

It's not 'hatred' to think that the rich-poor divide is grossly unfair, and that greed and selfishness should be celebrated and encouraged. Of course there are people that fit the stereotype you allude to, but you really need to get out more, and meet some nicer people.

Rory Sutherland

May 4th, 2010 11:50pm Report this comment

The strange horror of drying clothes outdoors also seems to apply in the American South (possibly throughout the US, but I came across it in the South). I think it is a class indicator (though perhaps a race indicator, too). But the horror is every bit as great as if someone in Surrey put a car up on bricks. It feels spectacularly wasteful to sit in North Carolina with a 80-degree sea breeze while the Maytag tumble drier churns away, but the social opprobrium is so great you cannot do otherwise.

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