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Why does the modern left hate the working class? | Paul Embery
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Why does the modern left hate the working class? | Paul Embery
A brilliant British writer and firefighter following in Orwell's footsteps...

A podcast from the archives this week and a great one it is! Paul Embery is a British firefighter, trade union activist, and prominent proponent of Blue Labour. He is a regular columnist for UnHerd and the author of Despised: Why the Modern Left Loathes the Working Class. Find him on Twitter here.

Timestamps:

0:00 Intro

1:35 Paul’s working-class background and how he came to write the book

5:53 Paul’s writing (and non-university) background

8:25 Did Paul have to develop a thicker skin as a public writer?

10:46 Saying “I was wrong” and flirting with the far left

14:30 Following in Orwell’s footsteps and the left’s authoritarian tendency

22:32 How many people are worth talking to?

24:39 The left’s response to the brutal murder of Sir David Amess and personality politics

28:50 What is Blue Labour?

32:06 How the left adopts the mentality of the right

35:50 Would Paul rather see extreme social liberalism or extreme neoliberalism?

39:06 Could Blue Labour transform the Party?

40:51 Have the Tories parked their tanks on the Blue Labour lawn?

43:52 Would Paul ever go into politics?

45:28 What would have to happen for Paul to enter politics?

46:55 The bankruptcy of the Marxist “false consciousness”

52:28 What’s the most woke idea Paul agrees with?

54:35 The problem with “lived experience”

55:45 Are we moving in a more authoritarian direction?

1:01:44 Pronouns are not just about being kind

1:05:50 Why are trade unions going woke?

1:10:42 Favourite fiction and non-fiction

1:12:25 What other occupation would Paul have chosen?

1:14:10 Paul’s advice to young people

1:15:54 If Paul could only change one policy

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