In Orwell's mouth - and maybe this might be true of some of the English
labour movement, I don't know - "decency" always has a middle class tinge. I
doubt it figured much in the Australian trade union movement: the AWU
shearers in their 1930s strikes would probably have considered it a bit
poncey. It's not a word, or a concept, I object to; its apparent
colourlessness and banality reveals a universe of kind, and the restraint of
the implicitly savage indictment of "indecency" can be more damning than
oceans of frothing outrage, which often conceal mere egocentricity or a
sentimentalised indifference.
Best
A
Alison Croggon
Blog: http://theatrenotes.blogspot.com
Editor, Masthead: http://masthead.net.au
Home page: http://alisoncroggon.com
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