Thread by @docrussjackson

Eton exemplifies the world of archaic rules & unconscionable wealth, where only success counts - no matter how it is attained.

It is a system that "underpins almost all that is wrong with British society," as Boris Johnson's sister, Rachel, has said.

spiegel.de/international/…

Boris Johnson's government doesn't represent "modern Great Britain," as Johnson has claimed, but an archaic system that teaches those who belong to it that they are destined for the kind of greatness that others cannot reach.

It is a system that teaches the preservation & exercise of power, but it also one in which the shrewd & cunning, but not necessarily the best, rise to the top.

In its eagerness to produce a ruling elite, the system has also done lasting damage to the psyches of many of the children who have passed through it. And many view the boys' school of Eton College as perhaps the most representative example of this system.

Fear & humiliation were important elements of the Eton system.

At the end of each school year, everyone can see who was best in class & who was worst. The school is home to "horrible bullying".

21st century Britain has seen the perpetuation of a system that has almost nothing to do with educational equity & equal opportunity. The hollow mantra of 'social mobility' disguises the fact that boundaries between the very top & the very bottom are increasingly impermeable.

"A child today has less chance of breaking through the class and career barrier than their grandparents born in the 1950s. The subtle networks of the privately schooled help to create a system of self-perpetuating advantage & social immobility."

Inevitably, anger against "the elite" has intensified, contributing to the result of the Brexit referendum - a decision that caught David Cameron, the political classes, British business leaders, much of the media and even Brexit frontman Boris Johnson unprepared.

"Elite boarding schools consistently turn out people who appear much more competent than they actually are".

The system produces "a recognizable product, which is very poor at emotions and has a built-in sense of entitlement."

Products of the system tend to be self-confident, eloquent & charismatic, but often lack the ability to deal with their own feelings & those of others.

https://twitter.com/docrussjackson/status/1372489098502549505

British boarding school students have to leave their homes & families prematurely to struggle for survival in an environment of competition & harassment.

Often, their inner child is locked away & they quickly become "pseudo adults." That is why many of them seem so "boyish."

Essentially, Britain is being run by children in adult bodies for whom politics is little more than a fascinating game.

There is a certain predilection for #infantilism: Boris Johnson & his messy hair; Jacob Rees-Mogg, fond of taking pictures with his nanny;

David Cameron, who turned tail & disappeared after his brutal Brexit defeat in 2016; & Nigel Farage, another elite school product, who seems like a Simpsons character come-to-life.
We might call it "boarding school syndrome."

The British boarding school system does not provide its charges with a realistic image of the conditions in which the vast majority of the population live. The years in educational luxury are instead much more likely to further deepen the chasm between the elite & the rest.

Occasionally, there are counterexamples, such as Clement Atlee, but generally pupils leave school with inflated egos, unshakeable faith in their own abilities & a craving for success. But this system for the self-selection of our leaders is profoundly damaging for Britain.

Even some @Conservatives can see it clearly: Nadine Dorries described Cameron & Osborne as "two posh, arrogant boys... who don't know the price of milk... who show no remorse, no contrition & no passion to want to understand the lives of others - & that is their real crime."

Boris Johnson even presented a plan to lower taxes on the richest 10%. Even the center-right magazine the Economist wrote that "Britain is governed by a self-involved clique that rewards group membership above competition & self-confidence above expertise."

It was this wealthy & extremely well-networked clique that brought will Brexit to fruition. Because of the advantages they enjoy, they didn't fear a no-deal, & they know they won't have to pay the price for it - they know they will get away scot-free.

They always have.