The Lockdown Diaries (5)

An open thread, in which to share links and bicker.

I’ll set the ball rolling with a clarification of note; some feline curiosity; an augmented cat; via Julia, some contemporary scenes; and via Damian, a wondrous feat involving carrier bags. 

Oh, and as some of you may be shopping from home a little more than usual, please bear in mind that any Amazon UK shopping done via this link or the search widget top right, or for Amazon US via this link, results in a small fee for your host at no extra cost to you.

It helps to keep this place here.

For those in need of further diversion, the Reheated series is there to be poked at. 

Comments

[David]

Oh, and while I remember. I’ve recently been entertained by the Science Asylum and Oversimplified YouTube channels. If anyone can recommend similar fare – or any shortish, fairly breezy, information dumps – I’d be appreciative.

[John D]

a wondrous feat involving carrier bags.

LOL Five stars for the ending.

[David]

Five stars for the ending.

I think it qualifies as a project for the weekend.

[sH2]

You can't stop progress.

https://youtu.be/NAQjrTEd_Pc

[Novus]

a wondrous feat

I am never showing that to my wife.

[David]

I am never showing that to my wife.

While rummaging under the sink recently, I had to move the obligatory carrier bag full of other carrier bags. I discovered that some of the carrier bags within the outer carrier bag also had carrier bags inside of them. And a couple of those had carrier bags inside of them too.

It’s not a streamlined storage system, it has to be said.

[David]

Dredging up an old Twitter thread: Hide yo kids, hide yo wife.

I hadn't heard the audio before - the repeated 'no dates till you're 30' jokes really dial up the creepiness.

[Hal]

I discovered that some of the carrier bags within the outer carrier bag also had carrier bags inside of them. And a couple of those had carrier bags inside of them too.

Low cost remake of Inception?

[Jonathan]

Modern History TV has, despite its name, some interesting videos on the medieval period.

[David]

Thanks, Jonathan. Will browse.

[David]

Low cost remake of Inception?

Reminded me of this.

[Farnsworth M Muldoon]

I think it qualifies as a project for the weekend.

You misspelled "project for a sick mind".

Much easier is to take one bag, use it to line one of the tube good booze comes in (I realize finding one might be a problem around here), cram the others in that. You get towards the bottom, just pull the liner bag up and Robert is your father's brother, the ones at the bottom come out, plus you have the bottle of good booze.

[Novus]

It’s not a streamlined storage system

I completely agree that the folding system is objectively superior. The reason I will never show it to my wife is that I am certain that it would somehow, and rapidly, mutate into my responsibility. It's not so superior that I am prepared to do it.

[David]

The reason I will never show it to my wife is that I am certain that it would somehow, and rapidly, mutate into my responsibility.

[ Taps forehead. ]

Wise words.

[Jonathan]

Come, sweet Asteroid of Death....

via Yeyo

[Hal]

The reason I will never show it to my wife is that I am certain that it would somehow, and rapidly, mutate into my responsibility.

Granting, actually, for anyone out of range ot Tesco, that's not an issue:

Yes, dear, as soon as you get us a steady supply of exactly those shopping bags, so that exactly those folding instructions can be followed., Etc.

[Farnsworth M Muldoon]

I completely agree that the folding system is objectively superior.

Unless you factor in all the time wasted folding and unfolding, as well as wasting an entire drawer as opposed to hanging a bag of bags on a hook on the back of a closet door and taking up no otherwise usable space.

Come, sweet Asteroid of Death....

Related, tackling the important issues of the crisis du jour.

[Sam Duncan]

“clarification of note”

That reminds me of the time my TV told me the next show was “Football Rivalries: Arse”.

Is The History Guy of any interest, David, or already known? Also this dude, if astronomy (and occasional forays into, usually, related matters) is your thing.

[David]

if astronomy (and occasional forays into, usually, related matters) is your thing.

It is, and thanks.

[Hal]

Previously, in sports . . .

[RF]

It didn't take long for someone to weigh in with "better solution: use the same reuseable bag for all your shopping". What kind of person can watch that and their first reaction is to scold?

[Farnsworth M Muldoon]

...as soon as you get us a steady supply of exactly those shopping bags...

Too true, because as we all know, at least of those of us who live in civilized states that allow them, it it totally impossible to fold bog standard t-shirt bags into triangles.

[Adam]

In the near future, that which is not forbidden will be mandatory.

Either everyone must fold all bags and do so by the approved method, or no one shall fold any bag. Because coronavirus in both cases.

[Darleen]

Hide yo kids, hide yo wife

The compilation.

[MC]

What kind of person can watch that and their first reaction is to scold?

Twitter, innit? I spent half an hour whizzing around the twattersphere this afternoon and came to the conclusion that far far too many of my compatriots in the UK are bedwetting morons prepared to see the country fall apart around their ears rather than harden the fuck up and get back to work.

[MC]

Actually, I am not one to talk about toughening up. I find those videos of Biden impossible to watch. They're creepy as all hell. I wouldn't leave him alone with the houseplants, never mind children.

[David]

The compilation.

Ugh.

[Governor Squid]

We need to bring back dueling in the Senate.

[Jonathan]

Just me and the boys out taking our daily Exercise. Yes officer, we are observing social distancing!

[David]

Just me and the boys out taking our daily exercise.

Not too many options in a situation like that. “No, no, don’t rush on my account, chaps. Take your time.”

[Sam Duncan]

“Just me and the boys out taking our daily Exercise.”

Either that or the most badass motorcade in history.

[Steve E]

You can't stop progress.

At the 1:59 minute mark of that video we find "Fat Chat" with that "beacon of fat acceptance everywhere, Sophie Hagen.

Why do so many of these things seem like comedy sketches from the 70s?

[Jonathan]

David finally cracks after 7 weeks in lockdown:

[David]

David finally cracks after 7 weeks in lockdown

Heh. I think I’ve been to that nightclub.

[Farnsworth M Muldoon]

Heh. I think I’ve been to that nightclub.

That must have been a hell of a night out, according to the "Darnitsya" on the front of that building, that is a metro station in Kiev...

[Jonathan]

that is a metro station in Kiev...

Nicely done Farnsworth; now we're going to have to move the location of the Guild of Evil™ HQ.

[David]

That must have been a hell of a night out,

There have been one or two.

[Farnsworth M Muldoon]

There have been one or two.

Go to a party in Luton and wind up in Kiev, it's like they say, anybody who remembers having had a good time in the '60s and '70s really didn't.

[WTP]

now we're going to have to move the location of the Guild of Evil™ HQ.

Well perhaps I can get a table upgrade in the new location. Believe me, you don't want to be sitting here after Farnsworth has used the loo. N95 facemask or no N95 facemask.

[Farnsworth M Muldoon]

Believe me, you don't want to be sitting here after Farnsworth has used the loo.

You are one to talk after what your last trip did to the sewers.

[WTP]

Yeah. But mine doesn't stink. I told you to stay away from those Buffalo Bat Wings.

[Farnsworth M Muldoon]

Yeah. But mine doesn't stink.

Tell that to the buzzards who fell off the manure wagons 1000 yards away.

Anosmia is one of the most dangerous symptoms of WuPing Cough - just sayin'...

[Chester Draws]

Shortish, fairly breezy, information dumps.

https://www.3blue1brown.com/ They are Maths. But if you want complicated Maths explained in about as good way as you can, they are a go-to source for me. I found the one on explaining Euleur's identity in a physical way quite helpful.

[WTP]

Make Europe pay for this damn virus, I say! Those evil bastards!

https://twitchy.com/dougp-3137/2020/05/11/ccp-approved-messaging-gov-andrew-cuomo-has-a-new-name-for-covid-19-a-fresh-dem-media-talking-point-is-born/

[Hal]

James Damore Silently Ends Lawsuit Against Google

and

Author of infamous Google diversity memo drops lawsuit against web giant

[lotocoti]

Try History Matters.
He originally did ten minuters, but had to pare back to avoid the demonetisation dance.

[Chester Draws]

How does video length alter monetisation?

I say this with a Youtube channel of 100 videos, that I am not monetising. And am not particularly interested in, either.

[Steve E]

If there are any fans of the Bard here, the Stratford Festival from my neck-of-the-woods, has been free streaming filmed versions of some its better productions. They've been releasing a different play every week. So far they've released King Lear, Coriolanus, and the Scottish play. They all have been very good, but King Lear was especially well done. King Lear ends in four days. The play's the thing!

If you're interested here's the url: https://www.stratfordfestival.ca/AtHome/FreeFilms?utm_source=wordfly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=B-LastChancetowatchKLR&utm_content=version_A

[Fred the Fourth]

3blue1brown...
Chester, you bastard. There goes my week. And I had plans to take all y'all to Venice to fish in the now pristine canals, social distancing be damned.

[Fay]

Thank you Steve E.!

[Fay]

David, you may find your tip jar a little heavier to lift this morning. Thank you again for this mad, wonderful, entertaining and thoroughly enthralling (well, that might be a bit of an exaggeration) blog.

[David]

David, you may find your tip jar a little heavier to lift this morning.

Bless you, madam. May your hands remain soft and stroke-worthy despite frequent washing. Much more of this and I may run away with you. We’ll make it work somehow.

this mad, wonderful, entertaining and thoroughly enthralling (well, that might be a bit of an exaggeration) blog.

No exaggeration at all. Sounds about right.

What?

[Nikw211]

Anybody care to share their thoughts on this scathing (and somewhat inflammatory!) critique of the dance choreography skills of nurses and other medical staff currently displayed all over TikTok?

[Horace Dunn]

Nikw211

I think that, if I were one of these front-line health workers who has to work 14 hour shifts seven days a week and can hardly stand for exhaustion, I'd wonder why I was being made to work so hard when so many of my colleagues had ample leisure time.

That's purely hypothetical by the way. Here in the UK it's illegal to say anything even mildly critical of doctors and nurses. Not that I'd want to because they're all so splendid.

[David]

This just in:

Please update your files and lifestyles accordingly.

[RF]

and another thanks to Steve E!

[Farnsworth M Muldoon]

This just in:

Related first world problem.

[Jen]

This just in:

*eye roll* What does that even mean?

[David]

What does that even mean?

I think the nearest approximation is something like, “I am better than you, having wasted money I can’t afford on a farcical parody of an education, and, entirely coincidentally, I’m seething with pretentious resentment.” Something along those lines. Some people seem determined to be upset about the fact that (a) the overwhelming majority of people are straight, and (b) the overwhelming majority of people understand this and behave accordingly.

As if it were somehow weird. Or indeed colonial.

[Governor Squid]

I'm at a loss to find the link, but I vaguely recall some mad genius recreating the seventy gazillion various pride flags so that the stripes were proportional to population. They were all, of course, half-pink and half-blue, with very modest little stripes in the middle. Really brought home the absurdity of why seventy gazillion flags were necessary to subdivide an already small sub-group.

Goes without saying that the mad genius was torn limb-from-limb by the ravening horde. Little wonder I can't find reference to it now -- such things are thoroughly memory-holed as a matter of policy.

[David]

recreating the seventy gazillion various pride flags so that the stripes were proportional to population.

[ Sounds of chortling. ]

[Jonathan]

I suppose that we white people simply aren't carrying out enough hate crimes...

Georgia investigators have charged Rashawn Smith with making a terroristic threat. Smith is accused of being the person behind a hoax Facebook account of a racist white Trump supporter who promised to kill pro-Ahmaud Abery protesters in a mass shooting.

via Andy Ngô

[David]

I wonder, does staging hoax ‘hate crimes’ count as “emotional labour”?

[David]

Another one for the file marked progressive incentives.

[Sam Duncan]

“James Damore Silently Ends Lawsuit Against Google”

“A lawyer for the men told Bloomberg his clients are prohibited from saying anything beyond what's in the court filing” and “Details of whatever agreement Damore and co and Google forged between themselves were not disclosed”.

Sounds a lot like a huge payout without formal admission of guilt, especially given that Damore always seemed rather reluctant in his role as whistleblower, and was probably satisfied with compensation for loss of earnings and reputation.

[Fay]

Much more of this and I may run away with you.

Giggles girlishly as she stumbles to the fainting couch.

[David]

Giggles girlishly as she stumbles to the fainting couch.

[ Admires self in mirror, licks own eyebrows. ]

[Daniel Ream]

Sounds a lot like a huge payout without formal admission of guilt

Unfortunately, likely not. According to one of the articles, a NLRB adjudicator ruled that his "use of biological stereotypes" in the email justified his firing.

[WTP]

Anybody care to share their thoughts on
...
I think that, if I were one of these front-line health workers who has to work 14 hour shifts seven days a week and can hardly stand for exhaustion, I'd wonder why I was being made to work so hard when so many of my colleagues had ample leisure time.

Well that was grating. I think the problem there lies in where the C-19 cases were concentrated. Just guessing but I'm sure that the ones doing the dancing had plenty of time on their hands because there weren't any/many C-19 cases in their area, either due to the cancellation of "unnecessary" or whatever medical procedures and the (possible) temporary decrease in trauma cases due to lockdowns. Meanwhile back in New York...

While I agree in generally with the woman who produced/narrated that, I think she would have made greater impact by sticking to just the nurses acting like fools during what we are supposed to be treating as a very, very grave situation. That and the waste of PPE that could more easily be transferred to where it (supposedly) was/is in short supply. Though I'm sure the scolds will scold the scold for scolding the scolds by suggesting...I dunno...some sorry excuse will come up. It's not real PPE. It was used for other purposes than the virus. It...it...whatever.

The rant about TicTok I think is wasted and detracts from the real problem. Yeah, I guess it is a Chinese app and I personally have no use for it, but it's a bit of a hard sell to make an issue of it. Agree it's stupid and it's Chinese source is a concern. But I've found it best when trying to make a point, in any given context stick to ONE point.

That said...I'm much more concerned that I can't easily weed out other real-world products that were made in China. Just today, based on trip to dentist yesterday, wife needs a Waterpik type devise. There are many brands to choose from but all (apparently) are manufactured in China. Like a lot of things. And over the short term, I totally understand that we may need to bite the bullet. But given how quick so many software firms are to react to market changes, it really pisses me off that after this WuhanFlu has thrown the world into a tailspin that there still is no easy way to weed out China-manufactured products. I see a good number of people asking how for this functionality but very little action by Amazon or anyone else. Yes, there are a few portals to go through but they have their own issues. I was able to find a filter to attach to Chrome (which is its own issue), but Amazon with all its resources doesn't care. Google searches of "manufactured in US" or "not made in China" appear pointless and/or the qualification is ignored.

[Hal]

Giggles girlishly as she stumbles to the fainting couch.

[ Admires self in mirror, licks own eyebrows. ]

[Sam Duncan]

“I'm much more concerned that I can't easily weed out other real-world products that were made in China.“

I was on the lookout for a new webcam recently, for obvious reasons. It's extremely hard to find one for less than, frankly, silly money that isn't made in China. In the end I gave up and stuck with my crappy old 480p job. Eh, it works... more or less.

[WTP]

It's extremely hard to find one for less than, frankly, silly money that isn't made in China.

Exactly. Read this excuse making...specifically:

On China
We also don't want to come across as anti-China here.

Developing countries, like China, have a major problem called the "middle income gap" where manufacturing moves to their country because of low employment costs. Good factory job cause tons of people to move from rural to urban areas where factories are located. These people develop manufacturing skills; wages rise as people gain more skills. As a higher percentage of their country gets a traditional "job" instead of working on a farm, wages rise again as the supply of unemployed workers dwindles. Eventually, wages rise to a point where the factories leave and go to another less-developed country.

This is why a program like "Made in China 2025" exists.

China has a right to subsidize whatever industries they choose, but if you are looking for the number one reason why nearly all electronic manufacturing has left the United States, the answer is the differing levels of subsidies.

The US Government puts a 10% Tariff on Many Chinese Goods
In 2018, the United States put a 10% tariff on tons of electronics equipment manufactured in China and threatened to increase that tariff to 25%.

We're not a political company, but this was a somewhat sloppy attempt to reverse the effect of the "Made in China 2025" policy, at least for the surveillance camera industry. For example, this tariff covers cameras but not recorders or brackets. Some companies have alleged that security camera systems, if imported together as a bundle, are not covered. (SCW disagrees with this view and pays tariffs on our imported cameras.) Some companies have alleged that if you import each item separately (camera, recorder, and hard drive), and then put them all in box together here in the USA, then you can say "USA manufactured," and escape the tariff. (SCW also disagrees with this view.)

RTWT. It gets worse:
https://www.getscw.com/knowledge-base/usa-and-chinese-manufacturing/

[WTP]

As for China specifically recently...Waaaay back in November of 2019, China launched a rocket that dumped toxic fuel over one of their own villages. Which is, of course, nothing new for them but read some of the comments on the story at this link on Ars Technica:
https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/11/china-keeps-dropping-toxic-rocket-parts-on-its-villages/
Comments such as:

*I think this story is really all you need to know about the Chinese regime. The icing on the cake is the recent disclosures about the concentration camps for ethnic and religious minorities. The real moral challenge of our time for western countries is the push-pull between morality and economics when dealing with China. For the most part economics have been winning much to our disgrace.
* Don't forget for order executions of tissue typed prisoners for organ harvesting and transplantation into western medical tourists ... Sounds like something from the weekly news tabloids but it been fairly well documented.
If a goverment business or person thinks it owns you, you can also expect it not to value you very highly.

Of course, the Chinese Pox was not upon us (AFAWK) as yet. Now read about how recently one of their launches dropped uncontrolled first stage debris (again, a not unusual thing for them) that could have hit NYC:
https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/05/large-chunks-of-a-chinese-rocket-missed-new-york-city-by-about-15-minutes/
And the comments be like:

* What should they do to mitigate this for future launches? Some thrusters on the first stage to do a controlled de-orbit?
* Does the Long March not have a range safety explosive package? Maybe that could be made to auto-detonate when the rocket's orbit starts to decay to fragment the rocket into pieces small enough to be certain to burn up?
* Huh. I guess one way to sidestep issues with the second stage is to just not have one.
Although the way it's set up, you could almost argue they're still using staging with the boosters as the first stage lifting a gigantic second stage.
I wonder if the core stage has enough thrust and residual fuel to start trying to land ot.

Yes. Yes, what China really needs is for us to help them with their rockets. It's our fault really, for not being helpful enough.

Now granted, yes there are criticisms in the second article's comments. But they are much, much more muted in the article where the Chinese endanger Americans even AFTER dumping Peking Pox on the world than the criticisms in the article about China endangering their own people. Western civilization better start getting its shit together and understanding WTLF is going on, not so much with China...I think that could be manageable, but with itself.

[David]

[San Francisco] ranks first in the nation in theft, burglary, vandalism, shoplifting, and other property crime. On average, about 60 cars get broken into each day. Diseases arising from poor sanitation—typhoid, typhus, hepatitis A—are reappearing at an alarming rate. Fentanyl goes for about $20 a pill on Market Street, and each year the city hands out 4.5 million needles, which you can find used and tossed out like cigarette butts in parks and around bus stops. The city’s department of public works deploys faeces cleaners daily—a “poop patrol” to wash the filth from the sidewalks.

This is just a brief summary of the lack of hygiene and common decency. A reasonable person might declare an emergency, but in her first official act, [mayor, London] Breed swore in Chesa Boudin, San Francisco’s new district attorney, before a packed house at the Herbst Theatre. “Chesa, you have undertaken a remarkable challenge today,” said U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor in a congratulatory video message. “I hope you reflect as a great beacon to many.” Boudin’s résumé boasts of a stint working directly for the late dictator Hugo Chávez in Venezuela, who turned a once-rich nation back to the dark ages. “We will not prosecute cases involving quality-of-life crimes,” Boudin promised during his campaign. He must have witnessed the success of that policy in Caracas, which was voted the world’s most dangerous city in 2018.

Michael Gibson, here.

[David]

Today’s word is indiscreet.

More here.

[David]

“We need unity.”

Against those divisive white devils.

[Mags]

“We need unity.”
Against those divisive white devils.

"White people love playing divide and rule"

https://order-order.com/2012/01/05/diane-abbotts-white-people-tweet-rage/

#leftiesproject

[David]

“White people love playing divide and rule”

The quality of the feed may be exaggerating the effect slightly, but Ms Abbott – who once blamed capitalism for making her fat - seems to be speaking as if she were neurologically impaired or pontificating in her sleep. Which may explain why she routinely appears unaware of what it is she’s saying.

[Jonathan]

'Why people don't trust the media' part 26,645.

The photo accompanying the story next to a photo of the actual suspect:

But they're definitely not pushing an agenda.

via Selim Bradley

[Jonathan]

'No good deed goes Unpunished' part ∞.

via Orwell & Goode

[WTP]

'No good deed goes Unpunished' part ∞.

I question the 'good deed' part of that. I'd say that's what projecting weakness gets you.

[David]

Today’s word is skank.

[Hal]

"White people love playing divide and rule"

Hmmm. So clearly she is saying that there was always something wrong with having Corbyn around?

And clearly she's planning to go after some fellow named Starmer 'cause of course he should be gotten rid of?

[Jonathan]

Nooooooo!

That Nigerian Prince who emailed me really did have the cash!

[Steve E]

Can't imagine why COVID19 has spread so widely in NYC.

Surely if the spitter were to die it would have to be recorded as a COVID related death.

[David]

Can’t imagine why COVID19 has spread so widely in NYC.

Ain’t people lovely.

[David]

In other garbage-people-are-garbage news.

[Steve E]

In other garbage-people-are-garbage news.

Who hasn't sent their kid to school with a barley sandwich? What?

[Pooklord]

In other garbage-people-are-garbage news.

Wait, is it really the responsibility of schools in Britain to feed the children?

[Nikw211]

In other garbage-people-are-garbage news.

[The supermarket worker] said: "One guy came up with three cases of Carling [lager], which were on offer for £21, no food or anything, and I refused the voucher.

"He said to me, 'I spend enough on them t***ing kids as it is'.

[David]

He said to me, ‘I spend enough on them t***ing kids as it is’

For some reason, this came to mind.

[WTP]

, this came to mind

His latest is here. Do pop over and say hello.

I take it that's a different Peter Risdon now?

[David]

I take it that’s a different Peter Risdon now?

Sadly, he’s no longer with us, I believe.

[pst314]

I take it that's a different Peter Risdon now?

Yes. His old blog posts can be read via the Internet Archive Wayback Machine. It appears that his last post was some time in 2017, after which the URL was hijacked by a succession of unethical or even fraudulent businesses.

Sadly, on January 22, 2017 he reported that he had liver cancer, which I suspect is the reason for the disappearance of his blog:
https://web.archive.org/web/20170324033210/https://peterrisdon.com/blog/">https://peterrisdon.com/blog/">https://web.archive.org/web/20170324033210/https://peterrisdon.com/blog/

An obituary:
http://simplyjews.blogspot.com/2017/07/peter-risdon-rip.html

[pst314]

David, could you rattle the spam filter please?
I commented a few minutes ago about Peter Risdon.

[pst314]

And just then my comment miraculously appears.

[David]

I move in mysterious ways.

[Nikw211]

he chap who wrote this belter of a piece

Although I demur at his conclusion, that is a striking piece that, like the author, I'd never come across before - so that is much appreciated.

Thinking of Polly Toynbee and her ilk put me in mind of this (my italics):

Elizabeth Banks was inspired to undertake her 1892 investigation into service to find an answer to the question that vexed the English middle classes: why was it that many girls would do almost anything, even if it meant living off 'porridge in the morning and watercress in the evening with no midday meal', rather than undertake the work of cleaning someone else's home? She visited a young seamstress living in terrible conditions - 'the unwomanly rags, the crust of bread, the straw and the broken chair' - in a lodging-house in Camberwell on eighteen pence a week. When the dismayed Elizabeth offered to find her a job as a housemaid, 'with a nice clean bedroom, plenty to eat, print dresses in the morning, black stuff in the afternoon, with white caps and aprons and collars and cuffs', she was astounded by the girl's outrage at the suggestion. '"Did you come only to insult me?" she demanded, stamping her feet. "I go out to service! I wear caps and aprons, those badges of slavery! No, thank you, I prefer to keep my liberty and be independent."' [ ... ] The most important advantage of factory life was freedom. Factory girls did not have to endure the daily petty humiliations of being at the beck and call of a condescending mistress; of having no set hours to call their own, of having pitifully few opportunities to meet men (or even other women).
- Lucy Lethbridge, Servants: A Downstairs view of twentieth-century Britain (ff. 83)

It's quite eye-opening that, for many reasons, but not least the idea that working in a late 19th- or early 20th-century factory could not only be viewed as personally liberating, but actually seen as far preferable for having to work for the likes of Polly Toynbee's ancestors.

It's also notable for the way Banks, apparently a Toynbee-like figure of her own time, seems unable to comprehend why the young seamstress would choose of her own volition to reject the benefits on offer.

Coincidentally, or perhaps not, Toynbee made her name with A Working Life, a written account of her experiences, on safari as it were, in a series of low-paid manual jobs at the close of the 1960s.

In that book, Toynbee remarks (my italics):

The nobility of work is a bizarre concept. In all the jobs I saw and did, in almost all of the jobs for the working classes, I found little that wasn't stultifying and degrading to any normal human intelligence.

Seen in the context of Banks's encounter with the young seamstress of Camberwell and the latter's insistence that she prefer to be free and independent, Toynbee's use of "any normal human intelligence" is ... quite something.

[David]

that is a striking piece that, like the author, I’d never come across before

Well, it’s an account that’s quite possibly inconceivable to the likes of Polly Toynbee. The bit about feral scumbags shitting in stairwells lingers in the mind, and reminded me of this archived post, in which one of Toynbee’s Guardian peers, an urban studies lecturer, bemoans the fact that rough neighbourhoods tend to be much more litter-strewn - litter inequality, as it were - which is, he insists, unfair. Despite the fact that his own sources admit that such neighbourhoods consume a vastly higher percentage of council cleaning resources - up to five times more than is spent on cleaning more respectable residential areas - and while apparently struggling with the idea of how the litter gets there in the first place, or why it’s concentrated in certain neighbourhoods.

As if it just appeared, mysteriously, or fell out of the sky like overnight snow.

[David]

Again, as with Toynbee, there’s a practised denial of agency, of basic responsibility. And so, the glaringly obvious inference – that the primary difference in terms of residential neighbourhoods and littering is one of attitude and behaviour, of being, dare I say it, a little bit bourgeois – simply isn’t mentioned. And indeed, is tip-toed around in a farcical manner. By people who want us to know how much cleverer than us they are.