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The Social Distance Between Us
The Social Distance Between Us: How Remote Politics Wrecked Britain | Darren McGarvey
2 posts | 2 read
*A RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK* If all the best people are in all the top jobs, then why is Britain such a fucking bin fire? Britain is in a long-distance relationship with reality. A ravine cuts through it, partitioning the powerful from the powerless, the vocal from the voiceless, the fortunate from those too often forgotten. This distance dictates how we identify and relate to society's biggest issues - from homelessness and poverty to policing and overrun prisons - ultimately determining how, and whether, we strive to resolve them. So why, for generations, has a select group of people with very limited experience of social inequality been charged with discussing and debating it? I've sat on cold pavements with beggars, asking them why they would rather wander the streets than live in supported accommodation. I've pleaded with alcoholics to give sobriety one last shot before they end up dead - and read their obituaries in the paper weeks later. I've sat with youth workers at their wits' end as diversionary services are cut amid a surge in gang and knife violence. Too many people remain so far from this nightmarish social reality that even when they would earnestly wish to bring about change, they don't know where to start. So start here. Praise for Darren McGarvey: 'The standout, authentic voice of a generation' Herald 'Utterly compelling' Ian Rankin, New Statesman 'Brilliant' Russell Brand 'An absolutely fascinating individual' Owen Jones 'Offer[s] an antidote to populist anger that transcends left and right... articulate and emotional' Financial Times 'McGarvey is a rarity: a working-class writer who has fought to make the middle-class world hear what he has to say' Nick Cohen, Guardian
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Cazxxx
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Couldn‘t have put it better myself!

TrishB I would put a smiley face, but it hasn‘t been funny has it! 12mo
The_Book_Ninja I would have used lots of swear words 12mo
Cazxxx @TrishB Not at all! Couldn‘t find an emoji for ‘surreal‘ 12mo
See All 6 Comments
Cazxxx @The_Book_Ninja Yep. Those wouldn‘t be my exact words either! 12mo
Bookwomble I find these emojis useful to represent my feelings when the topic of Johnson arises - 🤢🤮 12mo
Cazxxx @Bookwomble Those emojis really sum up how I feel about him 12mo
38 likes6 comments
review
OutsmartYourShelf
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This book lays bare the facts that confirm Britain is a country divided, one that is still in the grasp of class warfare. Anyone who has seen the deeply unjust way that the working class, the unemployed, & those with disabilities were treated both during & after the Covid pandemic knows that something needs to change. Read this - it's a damning indictment of all that is wrong with modern Britain. 4🌟

OutsmartYourShelf My thanks to NetGalley & publishers, Ebury Publishing/Penguin Random House UK, for the opportunity to read an ARC. #NetGalley

Full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4776994383
2y
22 likes1 comment