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Steal As Much As You Can: How to Win the Culture Wars in an Age of Austerity
To put it plainly then: the vast majority of people tasked with creating our media simply lack the sensibilities that have always driven artistic innovation.
The 2010s have been a double-edged decade. Socioeconomic factors have led to the widespread and increased disenfranchisement of poorer people from the mainstream media and the institutions shaping it. This has coincided with a growing number of people from low income backgrounds also receiving better educations than ever before, and having the means at their disposal to both name and resent it.
Steal as much as you can is the story of how this bright generation came to be, and what effective means are still at their disposal to challenge the establishment and ultimately win. By rejecting the established routines of achieving prosperity, and by stealing what you can from them on the way, this book offers hope to anyone who feels increasingly frustrated by our increasingly unequal society.
The 2010s have been a double-edged decade. Socioeconomic factors have led to the widespread and increased disenfranchisement of poorer people from the mainstream media and the institutions shaping it. This has coincided with a growing number of people from low income backgrounds also receiving better educations than ever before, and having the means at their disposal to both name and resent it.
Steal as much as you can is the story of how this bright generation came to be, and what effective means are still at their disposal to challenge the establishment and ultimately win. By rejecting the established routines of achieving prosperity, and by stealing what you can from them on the way, this book offers hope to anyone who feels increasingly frustrated by our increasingly unequal society.
170 pages, Paperback
Published October 8, 2019
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September 7, 2020In which Nathalie Olah argues that a combination of elitism and risk-aversion has pushed the experiences of the majority “incrementally to the margins of our culture”. She contends that the media and arts institutions “have become increasingly complicit in the neoliberal project, serving as the soft-power limb of an economic and political agenda that seeks to divorce objects, ideas and words from any greater meaning beyond their market value”. Our media “has succumbed to an unprecedented level of nepotism and elitism,” and “is a free media in name alone”. This matters because it debases our culture and undermines the basis of our democracy, which “relies on a free and independent media to empower the electorate in making sound political judgements”.
The bulk of the book is a polemical outlining of New Labour and the legacy media's complicity in the neoliberal project and the concomitant elitism within the media and academia, despite a superficial show of inclusivity, whereby minority groups (whether defined in terms of race, gender, or class) are “accepted by the establishment providing they play by its rules, and are sculpted and packaged to fit within its highly autocratic middle-class rules of taste. In other words, providing they are never able to make any direct or implied challenge to the establishment nor its attendant power structures”. This is an insidious process and is performed under the guise of tastefulness, culture, and prestige. The media and arts institutions, as well as education establishments uphold, both explicitly and implicitly, these rules of propriety which contain an inherent bias towards the white middle-class.
Olah outlines the way that this is done through critical engagements with various aspects of popular culture such as The Apprentice and the media treatment of the footballer Raheem Sterling. Her analyses are cogent and incisive and she is adept at slipping from a lucid, descriptive account into a highly rhetorical conclusion. She also outlines how this can be combatted through radical art and literature, such as the works of Bret Easton Ellis (in a reappraisal of sorts), which flout established rules of taste under which “issues that are infused with anger and rage are mollified and made puny, stripped of the intensity that is required for them to make any meaningful headway in transforming society to become more equal and progressive”. This flouting would constitute an example of what Olah means by stealing.
The titular stealing refers to a “stealing [of] the same tools that have been used to ostracise the working class for decades”. Olah maintains that these acts of theft will constitute a genuine threat to the capitalist class and outlines four ways that this is to be done:
1. Ceasing to treat elite institutions (Oxbridge, the legacy media, market leaders in the arts, and so on) with respect and thereby perpetuating the myth of their superiority.
2. Freely, coldly, and guiltlessly taking advantage of ways to exploit the capitalist system in order to make money in a purely transactional manner.
3. Stealing the exclusionary methods of the establishment to use against it. This would include resisting the adoption of corporate jargon and continuing to speak in a native vernacular.
4. The fourth act of theft is archaeological and involves “excavating the history of working-class and marginal communities and doggedly highlighting and problematizing the illegitimate aspects of Britain's classist and colonial heritage.”
Steal As Much As You Can is a leftist manifesto which is neither dismal nor naïve. The latter comes largely from the fact that it is written from ground level, with Olah talking from experience and giving examples of how she has enacted various acts of “stealing”. Additionally, her background means that she is coming at this from a specific angle: a working-class Oxford graduate working in the media who has avoided ingratiating herself with either of these institutions, with both the culture of The University of Oxford - “what I encountered at Oxford seemed to flout every convention of the academic or scientific approach as I had understood it” - and The Guardian - “its broadly centrist, neoliberal agenda […] passed off as left-wing” - coming under fire explicitly within the book. However, Olah is clear that, referring to the book, “it will not just be polemics such as this […] that will be crucial, but a visual language and mode of expression that sits far closer to the lived experience of the majority”.
The bulk of the book is a polemical outlining of New Labour and the legacy media's complicity in the neoliberal project and the concomitant elitism within the media and academia, despite a superficial show of inclusivity, whereby minority groups (whether defined in terms of race, gender, or class) are “accepted by the establishment providing they play by its rules, and are sculpted and packaged to fit within its highly autocratic middle-class rules of taste. In other words, providing they are never able to make any direct or implied challenge to the establishment nor its attendant power structures”. This is an insidious process and is performed under the guise of tastefulness, culture, and prestige. The media and arts institutions, as well as education establishments uphold, both explicitly and implicitly, these rules of propriety which contain an inherent bias towards the white middle-class.
Olah outlines the way that this is done through critical engagements with various aspects of popular culture such as The Apprentice and the media treatment of the footballer Raheem Sterling. Her analyses are cogent and incisive and she is adept at slipping from a lucid, descriptive account into a highly rhetorical conclusion. She also outlines how this can be combatted through radical art and literature, such as the works of Bret Easton Ellis (in a reappraisal of sorts), which flout established rules of taste under which “issues that are infused with anger and rage are mollified and made puny, stripped of the intensity that is required for them to make any meaningful headway in transforming society to become more equal and progressive”. This flouting would constitute an example of what Olah means by stealing.
The titular stealing refers to a “stealing [of] the same tools that have been used to ostracise the working class for decades”. Olah maintains that these acts of theft will constitute a genuine threat to the capitalist class and outlines four ways that this is to be done:
1. Ceasing to treat elite institutions (Oxbridge, the legacy media, market leaders in the arts, and so on) with respect and thereby perpetuating the myth of their superiority.
2. Freely, coldly, and guiltlessly taking advantage of ways to exploit the capitalist system in order to make money in a purely transactional manner.
3. Stealing the exclusionary methods of the establishment to use against it. This would include resisting the adoption of corporate jargon and continuing to speak in a native vernacular.
4. The fourth act of theft is archaeological and involves “excavating the history of working-class and marginal communities and doggedly highlighting and problematizing the illegitimate aspects of Britain's classist and colonial heritage.”
Steal As Much As You Can is a leftist manifesto which is neither dismal nor naïve. The latter comes largely from the fact that it is written from ground level, with Olah talking from experience and giving examples of how she has enacted various acts of “stealing”. Additionally, her background means that she is coming at this from a specific angle: a working-class Oxford graduate working in the media who has avoided ingratiating herself with either of these institutions, with both the culture of The University of Oxford - “what I encountered at Oxford seemed to flout every convention of the academic or scientific approach as I had understood it” - and The Guardian - “its broadly centrist, neoliberal agenda […] passed off as left-wing” - coming under fire explicitly within the book. However, Olah is clear that, referring to the book, “it will not just be polemics such as this […] that will be crucial, but a visual language and mode of expression that sits far closer to the lived experience of the majority”.
September 3, 2020
Nathalie Olah’s 2019 characterization of British/American neoliberal media as a means of normalizing and elevating capitalism wasn’t new to me. But it’s insightful and well written, if not prone to long, but coherent! thoughts (which I uh, relate to).
The premise of the book is that modern media writ large — film, television, art, music and literature— inherently excludes real representation of working and low income people, which effectively mythologizes the “middle class” and prevents socialist uprisings. Inspiring the hope of a achieving this middle class dream comes at the cost of dignity in working class experiences, or oppressed racial, sexual, religious and ethnic groups.
After the 2008 financial crisis, a risk averse market increasingly focused its energy on self preservation, becoming more elite and out of touch just as generations coming of age were becoming more educated and connected than ever.
Ultimately, the message of the book is to embrace your imposter syndrome. For many of us, the nuanced and silent rules of taste will never feel comfortable, and HR shouldn’t convince us that this is a personal failing. Feeling like a reject in a system that would commodify you is completely normal. Thinking of yourself as “human capital”—a means of production—puts you in conflict with your humanity as a rule.
Progressives and socialists, to the extent that we have to engage with the capitalist system to survive, should treat our corporate ties transactionally, without guilt. (with limitations, I mean don’t train to be an oil exec, if I have to spell it out for you.) Steal as much as you can, get the money you need to survive while saving your emotion, creativity and energy for revolution. We need everything we can get to fight against this system of oppression that exists in pursuit of capital at all costs.
The premise of the book is that modern media writ large — film, television, art, music and literature— inherently excludes real representation of working and low income people, which effectively mythologizes the “middle class” and prevents socialist uprisings. Inspiring the hope of a achieving this middle class dream comes at the cost of dignity in working class experiences, or oppressed racial, sexual, religious and ethnic groups.
After the 2008 financial crisis, a risk averse market increasingly focused its energy on self preservation, becoming more elite and out of touch just as generations coming of age were becoming more educated and connected than ever.
Ultimately, the message of the book is to embrace your imposter syndrome. For many of us, the nuanced and silent rules of taste will never feel comfortable, and HR shouldn’t convince us that this is a personal failing. Feeling like a reject in a system that would commodify you is completely normal. Thinking of yourself as “human capital”—a means of production—puts you in conflict with your humanity as a rule.
Progressives and socialists, to the extent that we have to engage with the capitalist system to survive, should treat our corporate ties transactionally, without guilt. (with limitations, I mean don’t train to be an oil exec, if I have to spell it out for you.) Steal as much as you can, get the money you need to survive while saving your emotion, creativity and energy for revolution. We need everything we can get to fight against this system of oppression that exists in pursuit of capital at all costs.
May 23, 2020
The book made me finally check out what grime music is after hearing it so many times mentioned by our glorious would-be communist leaders. Strangely enough it's much like this book: unintentionally funny.
March 12, 2024
Overly broad and rambly. Most of the book is not about what the title says it is, and is instead about setting up the context of neoliberalism and art's function within it - none of it untrue (though Olah makes claims about the effects of art that are pretty arguable imo), but it does all feel very surface-level, like someone's first realization of how deeply fucked the world is. Anyone who spends time reading any amount of vaguely left-leaning crit/theory is not going to be too surprised by the contents of this book, but they're presented as if they are new and radical ideas. Olah's main touchstones for what she's doing here are Capitalist Realism and, uh, David Foster Wallace (with some nods to Stuart Hall, though not particularly in-depth ones) which is illustrative of where this book sits and what its imaginary is. On a purely formal level this isn't a particularly great bit of rhetoric and the conclusions - which essentially amount to "work as little as possible, negotiate for higher salaries, and support small businesses" - are hasty and impotent.
Willing to say at this point that I don't care for most of Repeater's output, other than rare cases where the material is highly specific.
Willing to say at this point that I don't care for most of Repeater's output, other than rare cases where the material is highly specific.
May 3, 2021
I agree
December 23, 2020
A very UK-heavy manual for the Left on how to build culture in the age of austerity.
The basic point is that you cannot (easily) participate in culture if it's dominated by elites who themselves have created an ideological vacuum in service of neoliberalism.
The analysis is spot-on and important to hear: "We are tourists of culture rather than participants, having only to attend a museum or, increasingly, capture it on our phones.", but she also points the finger at the main problem:
It's a win-win for elitist power, people need to consume your stuff and pay you, but they're not powerful enough to remove you from your position. So what are people to do?
One common 'game' of political wonks on Twitter, especially on the left, is pointing out when someone on their own side isn't ideologically pure enough. They went to a fancy high-school, or they got a rich background, or their salary is too high, all of that can make you not enough of an ally, or not pure enough, or not left enough, or whatever. The first step should be the removal of the guilt to having to resort to 'whatever means necessary to survive the market economy'.
The main step is to build your own culture, remixing, stealing, outside of the entrenched cultural structures:
Again, I think this is very UK heavy, and I feel like this is already happening for a long time elsewhere?
The basic point is that you cannot (easily) participate in culture if it's dominated by elites who themselves have created an ideological vacuum in service of neoliberalism.
the media has overwhelmingly subscribed to the pathology of impostor syndrome, administering advice to working-class people on how to better conform and “iron out” any divergent aspects of their character and outer appearance in order to succeed. This represents a woeful ineptitude for critiquing the power structures that govern society, being complicit in a value judgement that ascribes deficiency and even mental derangement to anyone who now diverges from the very narrow set of middle-class signifiers approved by the modern workplace.
The analysis is spot-on and important to hear: "We are tourists of culture rather than participants, having only to attend a museum or, increasingly, capture it on our phones.", but she also points the finger at the main problem:
No meaningful challenge to either the political or cultural hegemony will ever be achieved if those seeking to carry it out are suffering under the perpetual anxiety of not being able to make rent.
It's a win-win for elitist power, people need to consume your stuff and pay you, but they're not powerful enough to remove you from your position. So what are people to do?
Because, in the steady march to supplant the status quo, it will not just be polemics such as this (or lectures or think-tank reports) that will be crucial, but a visual language and mode of expression that sits far closer to the lived experience of the majority.
One common 'game' of political wonks on Twitter, especially on the left, is pointing out when someone on their own side isn't ideologically pure enough. They went to a fancy high-school, or they got a rich background, or their salary is too high, all of that can make you not enough of an ally, or not pure enough, or not left enough, or whatever. The first step should be the removal of the guilt to having to resort to 'whatever means necessary to survive the market economy'.
The main step is to build your own culture, remixing, stealing, outside of the entrenched cultural structures:
What I am advocating for is the chance for real people to share real stories, tell real jokes and share real music in a vernacular that is understood by the majority of people alive in this wild west of a free-market economy and under the auspices of a governing class that hasn’t the first idea how to relate to it
Again, I think this is very UK heavy, and I feel like this is already happening for a long time elsewhere?
Read
December 27, 2021Felt a bit rushed? If the final chapter of this had been developed more and made into the whole book it could have been a really helpful intervention pamphlet. Still really liked it overall cos the argument about middle class institutions making culture shit and politics dysfunctional is correct and good
December 14, 2019
Five stars because it says the things that need to be said again and again till the all-encompassing deceitful reality of our time becomes visible and tangible. Then and only then will we be able to find the starting point of a struggle yet to come. Deserves to be read multiple times.
January 5, 2021
Whilst most of the book doesn’t live up to the title it did however outlay strong arguments I’ve been struggling to put into words myself over the past year or two.
December 29, 2020
Articulates and maps well the era of my life and my experience of it. Easy to read, perhaps a little repetition. The conclusion and the thefts are rewarding reading, serve as good anchor for assessing ones place in capitalism and a must read for those experiencing the purvasive sense of being unable to challenge an insidious neoliberal working culture.
Incited my passions, and there was not one thing I disagreed with the author on, but I was unlikely to anyway. Felt an extremely close affinity to this author's assessments, a fantastic book for me that I wish I could have read 2 years ago. If you've only just read capitalist realism (where the hell have you been?!) this is a natural and enjoyable, not to mention very USEFUL, next-up for your reading list.
Very much enjoyed the discussions on taste and literature.
A great, fun and ultimately culturally equipping read, does what it says in the tin. The rest of my review is personal nit picking.
First I accept the book is oriented towards media and cultural sectors, but it does conclude essentially with tips for the broader working class. For me, and this is entirely personal, it lacked in not seeming to tackle the separate but entirely compatible desire to do actual work one is simply proud of or enjoys or believes to be socially necessary and the right to live a life as such separate of whether they centre around dismantling the neoliberal project they are part of, and therefore how those voices can make use of the author's suggestions on taking back. I think this is relevant, as there will be certain working scenarios in which we don't feel comfortable just milking our employer for the most we can and doing nothing beyond what is asked just because they prescribe (unavoidably, as argued) to the neoliberal agenda, but also don't wish to move our personal labour to another sector or job - I'm thinking public sector work when I say this (where nepotism, PR, prescribed taste and the neoliberal bullshit management job phenomenon is at every turn, and where those doing the actually socially necessary work in these institutions don't necessarily have the autonomy (against their own sense of what's right or good) to stop at the end of their working day, or refuse to engage in something beyond their contract - many act out of need of the users of their services; their lived experience can drain their energy for deeper cultural challenging during the day to day, yet these constitute voices whose vernacular should be considered to be of utmost importance)).
That's a very personal point, and perhaps disingenuous in that I could have missed this in my reading. Nonetheless it doesn't undermine anything said in the book, just felt for myself it was a missing element to working class (or just working) context that I feel like I would have welcomed insights from this particular author on - in terms of theft in that context specifically. Although I do accept this would likely be shaped in an exploration of unionising, a subject matter of its own, and thus slightly distinct to the scope of the book.
Dare I put the charge of elitism in the assumption of the type of work people that care about challenging neoliberalism may be doing :D
Disclaimer.
I don't do spelling and grammar well, if that's a problem for you just jog on.
Incited my passions, and there was not one thing I disagreed with the author on, but I was unlikely to anyway. Felt an extremely close affinity to this author's assessments, a fantastic book for me that I wish I could have read 2 years ago. If you've only just read capitalist realism (where the hell have you been?!) this is a natural and enjoyable, not to mention very USEFUL, next-up for your reading list.
Very much enjoyed the discussions on taste and literature.
A great, fun and ultimately culturally equipping read, does what it says in the tin. The rest of my review is personal nit picking.
First I accept the book is oriented towards media and cultural sectors, but it does conclude essentially with tips for the broader working class. For me, and this is entirely personal, it lacked in not seeming to tackle the separate but entirely compatible desire to do actual work one is simply proud of or enjoys or believes to be socially necessary and the right to live a life as such separate of whether they centre around dismantling the neoliberal project they are part of, and therefore how those voices can make use of the author's suggestions on taking back. I think this is relevant, as there will be certain working scenarios in which we don't feel comfortable just milking our employer for the most we can and doing nothing beyond what is asked just because they prescribe (unavoidably, as argued) to the neoliberal agenda, but also don't wish to move our personal labour to another sector or job - I'm thinking public sector work when I say this (where nepotism, PR, prescribed taste and the neoliberal bullshit management job phenomenon is at every turn, and where those doing the actually socially necessary work in these institutions don't necessarily have the autonomy (against their own sense of what's right or good) to stop at the end of their working day, or refuse to engage in something beyond their contract - many act out of need of the users of their services; their lived experience can drain their energy for deeper cultural challenging during the day to day, yet these constitute voices whose vernacular should be considered to be of utmost importance)).
That's a very personal point, and perhaps disingenuous in that I could have missed this in my reading. Nonetheless it doesn't undermine anything said in the book, just felt for myself it was a missing element to working class (or just working) context that I feel like I would have welcomed insights from this particular author on - in terms of theft in that context specifically. Although I do accept this would likely be shaped in an exploration of unionising, a subject matter of its own, and thus slightly distinct to the scope of the book.
Dare I put the charge of elitism in the assumption of the type of work people that care about challenging neoliberalism may be doing :D
Disclaimer.
I don't do spelling and grammar well, if that's a problem for you just jog on.
June 10, 2021
I had a hard time with this one- it took me much longer than it should have to complete it, as it was very dense. I recognize that a large amount of that was due to my unfamiliarity with the topics being spoken about- I don't know a lot about British politics or pop culture.
Frequently while reading the book, Olah would talk about the gatekeeping on academia that keeps working class people from using their own voice, while also using very long and complicated sentences. She also used vocabulary that seemed unnecessarily complex for the ideas she was trying to get across. To be writing to or about working class people, talking about the trick of academia to make you curtail your language, to be talking about the lie of "tastefullness" and then also be using million dollar words makes it almost feel like Olah is looking at us from the outside to the outside- instead of speaking on her own experiences and speaking directly to those effected by this culture.
I also personally disagreed with her takes on anxiety, depression, and especially imposter syndrome- tho I did understand where she was coming from. It felt like she was mistaken or uninformed about what she was talking about- as she implied that imposter syndrom, and even anxiety and depression, are something that has been created to trick working people into working harder or hyper monitoring their own behavior in order to fit in. In contrast- my personal experience with imposter syndrom can affect people even in personal social situations and obviously depression and anxiety are frequently caused or exacerbated by chemical imbalances in the brain. To me, while a solid notion, her use of actual mental illnesses to support her thought of doing the bare minimum and never feeling bad or out of place at work, felt disingenuous to people who struggle with the real effects of these mental illnesses.
I don't necessarily think that this distracts from her overall point, however. Olah expertly describes the displacement of the working class through forced conformity and the lie of "tastefullness" that only working class or the nouveau riche are expected to adhere to.
Worth reading but be prepared to put the work in.
Frequently while reading the book, Olah would talk about the gatekeeping on academia that keeps working class people from using their own voice, while also using very long and complicated sentences. She also used vocabulary that seemed unnecessarily complex for the ideas she was trying to get across. To be writing to or about working class people, talking about the trick of academia to make you curtail your language, to be talking about the lie of "tastefullness" and then also be using million dollar words makes it almost feel like Olah is looking at us from the outside to the outside- instead of speaking on her own experiences and speaking directly to those effected by this culture.
I also personally disagreed with her takes on anxiety, depression, and especially imposter syndrome- tho I did understand where she was coming from. It felt like she was mistaken or uninformed about what she was talking about- as she implied that imposter syndrom, and even anxiety and depression, are something that has been created to trick working people into working harder or hyper monitoring their own behavior in order to fit in. In contrast- my personal experience with imposter syndrom can affect people even in personal social situations and obviously depression and anxiety are frequently caused or exacerbated by chemical imbalances in the brain. To me, while a solid notion, her use of actual mental illnesses to support her thought of doing the bare minimum and never feeling bad or out of place at work, felt disingenuous to people who struggle with the real effects of these mental illnesses.
I don't necessarily think that this distracts from her overall point, however. Olah expertly describes the displacement of the working class through forced conformity and the lie of "tastefullness" that only working class or the nouveau riche are expected to adhere to.
Worth reading but be prepared to put the work in.
February 21, 2021
The book begins with a call to build a cultural climate more reflective of the majority as opposed to the powerful, minority elite., set against failed promises of social mobility, the dire legacy of neoliberalism and suffering caused by austerity, this will require stealing opportunities and appropriating the modes of the establishment to beat them at their own game
The majority of the book does well in highlighting and explaining the negative features of western, neoliberal capitalism and provides an excellent retrospective of modern British pop culture and its political context
The final chapter provides three suggestions to the initial claim made at the beginning of the book:
1) Dispensing of any privilege awarded by establishment institutions
2) Exploiting the capitalist system by using its rewards to support and fund organisations dedicated to its destruction
3) Stealing the mechanisms of exclusion and using it against the establishment
However I felt the book fell short in its criticism of capitalism, particularly its recommendation to partake and gain from the system without taking into account the exploitation of others that would occur as a result
The majority of the book does well in highlighting and explaining the negative features of western, neoliberal capitalism and provides an excellent retrospective of modern British pop culture and its political context
The final chapter provides three suggestions to the initial claim made at the beginning of the book:
1) Dispensing of any privilege awarded by establishment institutions
2) Exploiting the capitalist system by using its rewards to support and fund organisations dedicated to its destruction
3) Stealing the mechanisms of exclusion and using it against the establishment
However I felt the book fell short in its criticism of capitalism, particularly its recommendation to partake and gain from the system without taking into account the exploitation of others that would occur as a result
February 28, 2021
Olah documents the fall of a critical UK media and arts to establishment neoliberalism through the 1990s and Blair years, before providing a powerful argument for how we can resist capitalist hegemony by turning the rules on their head and 'stealing as much as we can'. Whilst the structure of the book is a bit odd, and the subtitle seems somewhat of a misnomer (the core of the book is focused on the 00s, writing off the 10s as a 'lost decade', and the war is against a hegemonic capitalist logic rather than reactionary forces), its content remains incredibly engaging, informative, and (at least to me) novel.
The last two chapters where Olah's central argument is sharply crystalised into a rallying manifesto for resistance ends with hope, leaving concrete actions that we can all engage with. Unlike other contemporaneous works by the UK political left, the Corbyn project is not held up as a panacea, in fact it is barely mentioned, instead emphasising the power of grassroots forces and individual actions. In light of this, the hope this book offers has not been crushed alongside the rout of 2019, and the despair of the Sir moist towelette QC year(s).
The last two chapters where Olah's central argument is sharply crystalised into a rallying manifesto for resistance ends with hope, leaving concrete actions that we can all engage with. Unlike other contemporaneous works by the UK political left, the Corbyn project is not held up as a panacea, in fact it is barely mentioned, instead emphasising the power of grassroots forces and individual actions. In light of this, the hope this book offers has not been crushed alongside the rout of 2019, and the despair of the Sir moist towelette QC year(s).
October 22, 2019
Nathalie Olah grew up under New Labour and, from working-class roots, made it to Oxford University, graduating just in time for the global financial crisis. She personifies one of the unexpected consequences of Tony Blair's push for: "education, education, education": the creation of "a well-educated working and lower-middle class on a fact-finding mission to understand the forces that had so far acted against it".
Olah's book tracks the atrophying of culture in the last 20 years, and details the many ways in which Blair's "we're all middle class now" has closed down opportunities for the working classes. She ends by detailing a manifesto for "stealing" this back, by supporting new media outlets while doing the minimum possible to earn a wage from the old.
Olah's book tracks the atrophying of culture in the last 20 years, and details the many ways in which Blair's "we're all middle class now" has closed down opportunities for the working classes. She ends by detailing a manifesto for "stealing" this back, by supporting new media outlets while doing the minimum possible to earn a wage from the old.
August 2, 2021
not reccomended but also would give it a try if have the time :)
i felt the book itself was a timeline of issues within our bureaucracy and global crises laid out . however these issues are great points to highlight as a reminder. but i felt the execution was not strong enough and almost felt too abstract. i thinking pivoting into a more condensed and linear way of expression could of been more helpful personally. i enjoyed the humor and references on art entertainment to soften the subjects. but i think overall this book deserves to be read because i believe someone would feel more connected to it. but i unfortunately did not. but my final point is. give it a try and try not to have expectations. approach the book open minded !
i felt the book itself was a timeline of issues within our bureaucracy and global crises laid out . however these issues are great points to highlight as a reminder. but i felt the execution was not strong enough and almost felt too abstract. i thinking pivoting into a more condensed and linear way of expression could of been more helpful personally. i enjoyed the humor and references on art entertainment to soften the subjects. but i think overall this book deserves to be read because i believe someone would feel more connected to it. but i unfortunately did not. but my final point is. give it a try and try not to have expectations. approach the book open minded !
August 8, 2021
Some interesting ideas, especially regarding the role of art, music and culture in capitalism and how it is appropriated and used by the upper class. However, the writing style featured too much jargon and overly complicated vocabulary, making it clunky to read, and I was spending more time deciphering the author's sentences than gaining the meaning of what she was saying. Somewhat ironic given the contents of the book. I particularly liked the last chapter the best, which is more action-oriented on what can be done to fight the "culture wars" - this should have been more integrated throughout the rest of the book, which was only focused on a detailed analysis of the different issues.
May 29, 2023
Spændende lille bog om samspillet mellem klasse, kulturel kapital, god smag og adgangen til redaktionel magt.
Især bogens afsluttende kapitler, hvor forfatteren anbefaler veluddannede arbejderklassebørn at omfavne deres impostor-syndromer og udnytte kapitalsystemet så meget de kan uden at opgive deres indre integritet har lidt schwung.
Men bogen er også utrolig rodfæstet i britisk populærkultur og i specifikke britiske politiske forhold og ikke mindst i millenial-generationen problemer og oplevelser af verden, og det skader den generelle analyses relevans - idk jeg blev hvert fald aldrig helt opslugt
Især bogens afsluttende kapitler, hvor forfatteren anbefaler veluddannede arbejderklassebørn at omfavne deres impostor-syndromer og udnytte kapitalsystemet så meget de kan uden at opgive deres indre integritet har lidt schwung.
Men bogen er også utrolig rodfæstet i britisk populærkultur og i specifikke britiske politiske forhold og ikke mindst i millenial-generationen problemer og oplevelser af verden, og det skader den generelle analyses relevans - idk jeg blev hvert fald aldrig helt opslugt
March 16, 2024
Lots to admire and it’s hard to knock the overall thrust of the book, but for the talk of intersectionality, there was precious little about geographical inequality and literally nothing about the citizen led activism and writing during the Scottish Independence referendum. The book worked best when addressing the infamous Tony Blair slogan “Education, education, education” and what that actually meant for the working class. I could imagine this setting many a fire in the belly of young working class people and I’ll definitely pass it on to those who I know, but for this slightly cynical old socialist there wasn’t a great deal of new information or insight.
July 11, 2020
I’m not really sure how I felt about this, but it was very clear and I sped through it. I think I found the stuff about New Labour the most interesting because I was a small child during that time and therefore missed a lot of the vibes. I think I wish the what next bit at the end had more concrete propositions than...write a novel about drug addiction on company time? Like is that what she’s saying? But I guess that’s quite hard to do. The idea that the 2010s were a Lost Decade culturally feels incredibly true. I hate Benedict Cumberbatch.
May 3, 2020
This is not the most perfectly organized book I’ve ever read but it packs the exact punch we need—the author is crystal clear in her thesis and eminently readable in her execution. The British and American cultural and political landscapes are not a complete 1:1, but her diagnosis rings as true here in America as in the UK. The “Tastefulness,” “Impostor Syndrome,” and “What’s Next” chapters are particularly strong. I will be recommending this broadly and no doubt returning to it myself.
March 28, 2024
some enlightening observations on neoliberalism but lacks the premise and/or promise of its seductive title that would set it apart from its sources.
definitely don't buy if you want tips on shoplifting.
definitely don't buy if you want tips on shoplifting.
August 4, 2025
Wow. Everyone should read this book. Speak in ur real accent. Don’t be ashamed of the culture you grew up with. Educate yourself on all the tiny invisible ways working class culture is belittled and made to feel less than!!
October 29, 2019
Moderately interesting account of some recent cultural history, but doesn't seem to be especially relevant until towards the end when the title makes sense, and a manifesto emerges
November 2, 2019
I read this following a recommendation on Twitter, I didn't really know what to expect. The author does make some good points but a lot of the book basically boils down to "Blair = bad".
January 18, 2020
good imo
February 19, 2020
Makes important and original societal observations - though I wish the themes explored in the last 2 chapters had been given a larger portion of the book, as they were the most enlightening.
October 30, 2020
This is a book of badly stitched slogans. In the end I still have no idea if Olah is a politician preparing for the campaign or just another simple mind adding to the cacophony.
January 10, 2021
I don't think that the book delivers what the title promises - it is an interesting and modern piece of writing regardless. I guess I just wished it was as exciting as it sounds.
May 15, 2021
Everyone must read
March 12, 2024
Well-written history of modern austerity politics in the UK
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