"Champagne socialist" is a pejorative political term originating in the United Kingdom.
The phrase is used to describe self-identified socialists, whose comfortable upper middle-class lifestyles are thought to contradict their political convictions; this is typified by their supposed consumption of the luxury drink Champagne. It is a popular epithet which implies a degree of hypocrisy and it is closely related to the concept of the liberal elite.
It is broadly similar to the American terms Learjet liberal, limousine liberal or latte liberal, and to idioms in other languages such as the French Gauche caviar, the German Salonkommunist, and the Italian Radical chic. Other related terms include Hampstead liberal, Gucci socialist, and in Ireland smoked salmon socialist.
Video Champagne socialist
United Kingdom
In the UK, the term typically refers to affluent Labour Party supporters, who stereotypically live in Inner London and read The Guardian newspaper. Right-wing critics often use the term to disparage political opponents; the champagne socialist espouses leftist views while enjoying a comfortable lifestyle, implying that left-wing views are really only held by privileged people. This usage of the term has been criticised by the writer and broadcaster Caitlin Moran as a fallacious argument, because it assumes that only those who are poor can express an opinion about social inequality.
The term has also been used by left-wing commentators to criticise centrist views. For example, some traditional left-wingers regard the first Labour Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald as a "champagne socialist" who betrayed the Labour Movement. MacDonald's lavish lifestyle and his mingling with high society is supposed to have been a corrupting influence which led to the end of the Labour Government in 1931 and the formation of the National Government. More recently, the epithet has been levelled at supporters of the New Labour movement which brought Tony Blair to power in 1997.
In an article about Oscar Wilde's 1891 essay "The Soul of Man under Socialism", political commentator Will Self expressed the view that Wilde could be considered an early champagne socialist because of his aesthetic lifestyle and socialist leanings.
The writer and Labour supporter John Mortimer, when accused of being champagne socialist, said that he preferred to be thought of as "more a Bollinger Bolshevik". The label has also been applied to the Labour politician Geoffrey Robinson MP on account of his large personal fortune. Singer Charlotte Church has described herself as a "prosecco socialist", referring to the increasing popularity and lower price range of non-champagne sparkling wines such as prosecco and cava.
Maps Champagne socialist
Australia and New Zealand
In Australia and New Zealand, the variant "Chardonnay socialist" is often used. When the term was coined around 1989, Chardonnay was seen as a drink of affluent people. It became more generally consumed during the next decade and hence the term has lost some of its sting.
Australian left-wing "true believers" levelled the term at supporters of the failed republic referendum of 1999, where the vote was split not along conventional party lines but very much along socio-economic divides, with the rich overwhelmingly supporting the change while the less well-off were opposed. Staunch Australian right-wingers, on the other hand, level it at those who support such things as government funding for the arts, free tertiary education, and the ABC - all causes which are described by critics as "middle-class welfare."
See also
- Radical chic
References
External links
- Dylan Jones: Card-carrying champagne socialists are looking to swap sides - but they want to do it with dignity The Independent
- Champagne socialist at The Free Dictionary
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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