4 ms·

FYI: https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/byline-times/ https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/byline-times/ This article I thought was going to be about sacrificial rituals

FYI: https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/byline-times/ https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/byline-times/ This article I thought was going to be about sacrificial rituals, Bilderberg meetings, freemasonry or drinking blood, however it fails to substantiate anything more than some anecdotal stories, snobbery and mythisms about the upper class which are well known in Britain. The upper classes in the UK are super-rich (either in land or in paper assets), but they will always pale in comparison to the multinational companies that have grown in the modern world, be it in Finance, Media etc. These companies and organisations have the direct lines and ties with the UK government, not ol' Reginald Whitcomb (made-up stereotypical name) who has 20,000 acres in Hereford and a cattle ranch in Australia. Sure there is the nepotism/cronyism angle but that occurs in all levels of society and is not inherently a rich/poor characteristic. The fact that the author's mother was able to ingratiate herself with the upper classes deflates the article's argument; that social classes are immutable in Britain and the institutional/familial argument is weak too. There are many rags to riches, and vice versa stories in British society and the world as a whole. Everyone puts on a "good" front when in the company of people who are socially/financially/intellectually better off to them. I do it myself in the tech scene. tl;dr sure 100 years ago the upper classes had more clout, nowadays they are just a static part of British society with a small bit of power in relation to other global forces and companies.

makomk 5y ago
The Byline Times is indeed very much an activist publication for a particular faction of the British left, and not the most accurate one generally; if I remember rightly they were one of the main publications pushing the unfounded and bogus claim that Leave backers had bet billions on a no-deal Brexit destroying the British economy, for example. Kind of surprised to see them on the HN front page; they're the kind of more flamebait than light politics that the site tries to avoid.

makomk 5y ago

The Byline Times is indeed very much an activist publication for a particular faction of the British left, and not the most accurate one generally; if I remember rightly they were one of the main publications pushing the unfounded and bogus claim that Leave backers had bet billions on a no-deal Brexit destroying the British economy, for example. Kind of surprised to see them on the HN front page; they're the kind of more flamebait than light politics that the site tries to avoid.