palandio
Jr. Member
Posts: 1,029
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« on: January 09, 2017, 04:08:12 PM » |
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Class is complex. I just wanted to propose two observations.
1. While in Germany the percentage of self-employed people and enterpreneurs among the total workforce is relatively low (slightly over 10%, if I remember correctly), in Italy it is much higher: About one third is either self-employed or employed by a family member. This also seems to have profound consequences for politics.
2. The next observation is much less straight-forward, much more perception-based and probably also more contentious. Some Western European countries seem to have a more prominent "autochthoneous under-class" than others. By under-class I mean specifically persons and families that have been poor and will remain poor for a foreseeable time. For example in some almost entirely Italian quarters of Southern Italian cities most people don't have legal, regular or stable jobs (and there are no long-time unemployment payments). Also the immage of an English de-classed white ex-working class is quite strong, maybe stronger than the reality? On the other hand you here much less of an autochthoneous under-class in Western Germany and France. Is there some trugh to this?
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