Saturday 16 July 2011

Blog spam

I was really confused what had happened to some comments made on Plumsteadshire and found that there's a spam filter on Blogger and they ended up in there. I also found quite a few others there too.

Very sorry about about that Anonymous. I do value your comments, even though they're not favourable to me. You're interesting and put an excellent argument forward. Once again, apologies as it's technology getting the better of me.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Quite alright, and please don’t think that my comments are directed uniquely at you – rather at the recent, lamentable trend of labelling people of a certain class ‘chavs’. Once a label is applied stereotyping ensues. I am worried that people who are educated, sensitive and tolerant have adopted this word as part of their vernacular but have not thought through the implications of using a generic term to describe what is, by and large, a disadvantaged section of our society. I honestly fear that people’s sympathy for the disadvantaged is being eroded and we are arriving at a situation where if anyone is in this position it is their own fault because of their laziness or lack of drive rather than a kaleidoscope of social, economic and societal factors.

I would implore you though, as another anonymous contributor does (Friday, July 15, 2011 2:39:00 PM), to think about the type of comments that some of you posts have elicited and the “attitudes you may inadvertently be condoning”. Here’s a useful little exercise to try on your own: define chav.

If you have a problem neighbour then, as I wrote before, you have my sympathy. But, ultimately, you have a problem neighbour who is an individual not a problem neighbour who is a 'chav'. Please don't use the word because it encourages generalisation.

By the way, I have been following your blog (and others locally) for a number of years because I am passionately interested in Plumstead: its history, its present and its future. Much of what you write I agree with.

Re PM’s comment (Sunday, July 17, 2011 10:14:00 AM), I’ve never really thought of Plumstead as Brigadoon, to me it has always seemed much more like Llareggub (Under Milk Wood).