LETTER: Entitlement attitude is expected, but it hinders thriving society
While we live in a society marked by very high levels of inequality and very low wages, we must be careful about how we deal with these problems
Jonny Steinberg, writing from faraway Oxford, is as eloquent as anyone on the subject of our troubled state, and usually as insightful. However, his latest column was a long way short of his best (Roots of rebellion lie in degrading low-wage work (https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/opinion/columnists/2019-06-28-jonny-steinberg-roots-of-rebellion-lie-in-degrading-low-wage-work/), June 28). Instead it is reductionist, ungenerous and deeply subversive. Attributing the most cynical of motives to masses of working-class men is bad enough, but doing so without a hint of critical judgment is a serious moral failure. Perhaps it’s the unseasonable summer weather they’ve been having.
In fairness to Steinberg, there’s no questioning either his motives or the plausibility of his thesis. He’s plainly sympathetic to those he’s describing — uneducated, downtrodden, disillusioned — and who can doubt that many, perhaps most, working people harbour both some level of resentment and some proclivi...
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