Tuesday 17 June 2014

It’s Capitalism What’s Making Us Fat!

At least, according to Kathryn Hughes in the ‘Guardian’:
…fast food is the emblematic product of maturing and late capitalism. Urban workers, forced to work longer and longer hours, do not have the time to invest in cooking from scratch. Those who are obliged to live in shared accommodation and rented digs may not have the right equipment for making real food slowly (Agas don't fit into bedsits; microwaves do). When you are exhausted after a 10-hour shift, then soup is fiddly to consume on the way home. Burgers and kebabs, by contrast, are easy to eat with one hand and require neither plates nor knives.
I’m sorry? You can’t make ‘real food’ quickly? Like…pasta, salads, grilled fish, etc?

And ‘soup is fiddly to consume on the go’? You drink it, FFS!
Far from being the refuseniks of capitalism, unable to master its first principle of delayed gratification, the people who rely on fast food outlets are its honourable foot soldiers. We should salute them.
Sadly, it seems that – for the progressives – they are the new smokers. So expect to see more volleys of gunfire and fewer salutes. Especially in the pages of this rag you’re writing for…

14 comments:

Ed P said...

No no no, one EATS soup!

Dick Puddlecote said...

"fast food is the emblematic product of maturing and late capitalism"

Of course it is. Cheap food whenever we require it is a good thing and much better than living on a diet of potatoes and bread, as not so long ago, and has been provided by competitive capitalism.

It's only a bad thing if you hate anyone with more cash than you so much that you'd prefer the poor to be on bread and dripping than someone becoming rich on providing what the public likes.

First world problems, eh?

Bucko said...

Forced to work longer and longer hours? By who?

Exhausted after a ten hour shift? If you can't hack 10 hours, do a different job.

Agas? In bedsits? Who cooks on agas anyway?

Is she just talking about people who want to live and work in the centre of London? Is she maybe just writing it how she thinks it is, with no experience of doing any real work?

Lancastrian Oik said...

I would wager my house that the only working class person the silly condescending cow knows is her cleaner.

Furor Teutonicus said...

xx (Agas don't fit into bedsits; microwaves do).xx

And there is virtualy nothing that you use an Aga for that can NOT be cooked in a microwave.

It is a method of cooking, NOT a fucking recipe book!

Furor Teutonicus said...

xx Bucko The Moose said...
Exhausted after a ten hour shift? If you can't hack 10 hours, do a different job. xx

Now, let us talk about all these "hard working East Europeans" that are invading our sacred lands!

I help(ed) out on courses to teach invaders our ways.

Many of them from Poland, Russia, Bulgaria, and all the other remnents of the Warsaw pact.

a day was/is, 6 hours.

Every 15 minutes, a 5 minute break. One break of 15 minutes, and one of 20.

They nearly ALL want to work as nurses/doctors/etc.

They are horrified beyond belief to find out, that here in Germany, a 12 hour shift in these proffessions is normal as breathing air.

Even those that want to go into hotel or shop work are virtualy on the point of hysterical fainting to find that an 8 hour day with only ONE break of 20 minutes is normal for ANY job!

So much for the "hard working scum from the East!!"

(AND! Not ONE of the filthy bastards knows to flush a fucking toilet after themselves!!)

Twenty_Rothmans said...

This fadge foam gathered up by Kathryn Hughes just confirms what we've known all along: What demographic is drawn to fast, cheap food? Have a look in your local London KFC for clues.

Well, we can't be making fun of them, or castigating them, can we? They've all done ten hour shifts.

Of course, of you are as cretinous as I think she is, she might not have realized that even boss men work long hours.

The gormless twat thinks that middle class means 9-5.

Anonymous said...

Demonstrate the bog flush after inviting them to look for the blue goldfish..

Google Jasper Carott.

Anonymous said...

They should shut down all the fast food joints. Rather than being inspired by my 'revolutionary communism', I see this as an anti-litter move. Much of this seems to be the food itself. I carry plastic bags should my dog foul. This should be law for fast food purchasers. Enforcement could be left to the dog wardens.

Anonymous said...

"No no no, one EATS soup!"

Heinz tomato soup, dash of cream , black pepper, oregano, dash of Worcestershire, dash of Tabasco, top load with Mozzarella,
Polish bread on the side.

Oh, yeah....

Anonymous said...

FT. Its a bit like the IT 'experts' I now have to train. They may be the office for 12 hours a day but that's 4 hour hours working,4 hours telling the company management what a good job they are doing and 4 hours looking for a job with a permanent visa

Anonymous said...

Hunter-gatherers can spend days tracking an animal : public transport solves that problem. Slaughter a chav on your way home, dear.

JuliaM said...

"No no no, one EATS soup!"

Not when I make it - thick soup is horrid!

"First world problems, eh?"

Most definitely!

"Agas? In bedsits? Who cooks on agas anyway?"

Should I ever win the lotto & move, if the house has an Aga, it's going on the skip!

"They nearly ALL want to work as nurses/doctors/etc."

How do they think the NHS will give them those sorts of hours?1?

JuliaM said...

"What demographic is drawn to fast, cheap food?"

Actually, this seems to be pretty across the board.

"I see this as an anti-litter move."

MacDonalds at least make a point of litter-picking. Why penalise the service-provider for the use made of that service by the customer.

What happened to personal responsibility?

"They may be the office for 12 hours a day but that's 4 hour hours working,4 hours telling the company management what a good job they are doing and 4 hours looking for a job with a permanent visa"

Heh!