Factual Books

Jilted Generation is a book that argues that the young people today are a jilted generation. They have three problems compared to their parents

• House prices have risen and it now takes much longer to be able to save for a deposit
• Wages have not increase much over the past few years and jobs are less stable
• University education is no longer free and the costs have moved from comparable to credit card debt(a few hundred or thousand) to mortgage level debt(tens of thousands)
• Government debts that will need to be repaid

 This book does contain some facts and figures but mostly it is a sort of glorified political pamphlet, albeit a well written one. It reminds me very much of Chav by Owen Wilson, although the Jilted Generation are perhaps more middle class as they aspire to homes and degrees.

The root cause is the most powerful generations are older. They tend to have accumulated more wealth and are more likely to vote and be in positions of power. This leads to a tendency for institutions to encourage outcomes that benefit the older generations. For example pensions rise whilst working age benefits and university support are cut as pensions are a powerful lobby. Likewise high house prices benefit older home owners as the expense of less powerful younger, renters.

There is undoubtedly truth in all of this, although I suspect that every generation has had its challenges(fighting the world wars was probably no picnic). The previous generation had less chance of going to university - it may have been cheaper but fewer people went for example. Government debt has risen but the cost of servicing the debt payments has fallen as interest rates have collapsed(much has been inflated away).  And whilst jobs are less stable people have more choice in terms of careers options than their parents faced.

I enjoyed this book as it is well-written with great style. The actual economic analysis is not so strong, and the authors fail to really address how they would deal with the problems they raise. They are probably aiming at shifting the terms of political debate so inter-generation rights are considered.

There is a similiar book by David Willett's called The Pinch, which looks at Baby Boomers and how they have advantages over their children's generation. David Willetts is a conservative rather than a radical and so it is a more right wing critique of the same problem, the relationship between generations. I think the two books can probably be read together.

This book gives biographical account of the lives of five defectors from North Korea. It is ethnographical and does not contain much in the way of facts and figures regarding the regime. It is necessarily a biased viewpoint as there have only been a very small number of defectors and so it is hard to be sure that those profiled are necessarily representative of the people who have remained.

The book does show how the regime began to collapse after the end of communism in Eastern Europe and it is from this point that the standard of living in North Korea began to plummet. By the mid 1990s the economic system almost completely collapsed and the country began to endure widespread famine. The individuals in the book find themselves foraging for weeds to cook or engaging in petty theft to survive. The collapse of the economic system sees their skills (doctors and teachers) being no longer used as schools close and medicines run out. That seems to be a common theme as people’s skill remain unused, factors are scrapped, cinemas and hospital close. All that seems to work are the military and secret police. And the result is a huge loss of life (perhaps 10% of the population) and waste of potential.

The system manages to keep going as the people are starved of information about the outside world, and many seem to believe it is a paradise. Moreover Korea’s pre-communist culture is heavily tied in with families and those who betray the regime stain the family name, ensuring their children and grandchildren are punished. This means that defections are rare, and the huge informal spying network acts to ensure no-one criticise the leadership. It feels very much like George Orwell’s 1984.

The sheer level of terror means that the book is unable to speculate on whether everyone really believes in the regime or if they are just pretending. It seems even those who do defect, at the risk of imprisonment to death, still have some hope that North Korea really is a lie and the outside world is much worse.

It seems to be written from a female point of view. Males are assigned workgroups and jobs, these are often no longer paying and so are relatively worthless unless they are used to accept bribes. However women are allowed to engage in small scale enterprises - cooking, selling or prostitution, forging activities and as wives to those across the border in China. This means women have more opportunities for very limited self advancement and are better able to escape.

The book seems to have few positive notes to it, although it does seem that mobile phones are starting to penetrate into North Korea and radio and television can also project into the country. However it does not make any projects when and if the regime will collapse. It seems the famines of the 1990s are gone as food aid has poured into the country.

Chavs: The Demonization of the Working Class analyses the way the white working classes have been demonised and ridiculed in popular culture. The working class are portrayed as “Vickie Pollard” comedy creations or benefit scroungers in popular media.

This book argues that the working class have been left behind as many members have pulled away into the aspirational Middle Classes. Meanwhile a cultural and economic elite has formed at the top of society as incomes and social situations have diverged. The result is rather like a two nation Britain that Benjamin Disraeli might have recognised. Wilson argues that the gap between rich and poor has widened and the cultural weight of the poor has fallen. Economic changes such as the shift from mass production to a more service oriented economy have eroded trade unionism which was a key factor in working class identity. The book is quite weak on economics and features more on the media representation. He makes much of how Working Classes are often portrayed as criminal or uncultured.

 I think the book fails to consider the way in which working class people have chosen to adopt different identities and bought into the Thatcherite idea of individualism and consumerism. I am not sure it is ever going to be possible to turn the clock back to a 1970s world with a strong collective trade union. I am not sure that many people really want to work in a coal mine or steel mill. New Labour only started to win elections when they realised that almost all Working Class people either perceived themselves as Middle Class or aspired to be Middle Class.

Many people argue that more needs to be done to make our society more meritocratic. This book at least makes a case for those who cannot or do not want to become Middle Class. However I think the idea of a Working Class is probably fading away as idenity becomes more complex.

The author writes good prose and I hope to see what else he produces. I think it would be interesting to see him analyse race, gender or sexuality in a similiar way.