We can’t rend our garments if art or music are cut, then take an commodified, sclerotic approach on subjects seen as “toff”. Reverse snobbery is a form of anti-intellectualism.
Travel broadens minds and antiquity is a most revealing place to visit.
Many people who have been through non-English primary and secondary education are going “yeah, obviously”. While an alarming number of Brits are basically doing a version of “THIS THING IS POSH, THEREFORE BAD”. Know-your-place by osmosis.
Incidentally, I AGREE the motives for this are disingenuous, Williamson is a ninny and this is a distraction tactic.
But that doesn't mean I cannot call out the ludicrous reverse snobbery, based on notions that "a rounded education is a luxury" and "X subject is for toffs only".
I'm not fanatical about Latin, by the way. I am fanatically against the toxic principle of judging everything in terms of learned narratives of 'utility'. Industry shortages and short-term treasury priorities should NOT be the sole determinants of what makes a rounded education.
Accept that thinking and you inevitably end up with four core subjects and the rest as the preserve of parents who have money for after-school classes. You end up cutting benefits. No public art, parks or National Theatre. No foreign aid. It's the same difficult-decisions logic.
The moment one accepts the economically illiterate narrative of 'zero-sum game with a hierarchy of priorities', the core argument is lost and austerity is accepted. Including the broadest range of subjects without sacrificing core ones is a matter of money, as rich schools prove.
The UK's class obsession and know-your-place reverse snobbery is a millstone round its neck. It crushes it. It's the same visceral reaction one gets from so many progressives by merely questioning the wisdom of being a monarchy. Or by something as innocent as saying I love opera.
When fine things are kept inaccessible we should DEMAND access. Instead we eschew them, as somehow poncey and "not for me". Thinking a truly great education is only for poshos is part of it.
Change happens when we stop accepting that 'our lot' is all we or our children deserve.
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Dylin's humping, chain gangs litter-picking, inept elbow bumping, and The Saga of The Umbrella That Just Would Not Open.
This full-length Mr Bean episode is Johnson's frantic reaction to polls finally beginning to catch up to his incompetence and venality.
As much as I don't get it, this is Johnson's comfort xone. Dismiss him at your peril. The shtick works.
There's a small window in which to capitalise. NOT by pointing out he's a fool. To his fans that is an ATTRIBUTE. But by pressing the substance to non-fans who are listening.
It's precisely the moment the tide began to turn against Trump. He left 'safe' Republican areas vulnerable by performing to his fans. Those who liked him, loved it. Those who were already dubious, cringed. That was the time for flipping them. Johnson is going down the same route.
Extraordinary, @Tesco. Don't know why shopping wasn't delivered. Can't find out. I'll have to order it again for next week, provided I can pay AGAIN, since their refund takes 5 days. But here's a tenner for wasting my day, leaving me without provisions and treating me like trash.
It is precisely at this point, when companies feel they are big enough to treat their customers with contempt, that they usually fail? What say you, @tesconews? Is this a good look for you?
And always someone pops up with: "But the poor customer service person is badly paid and has no power to help."
YES. BY DESIGN.
It's corporate policy to erase all but ONE point of contact then silo that away from operational bits that can help. It is the ESSENCE of bad service.
If we admitted our cock up, we might get a sympathetic hearing. But to negotiate an agreement - A TREATY - sign it, sell it to the nation as ‘ingenious’, ratify it, then six months later claim it’s everybody else’s fault we don’t like it, is just plain weird.
And who would want to renegotiate with THE SAME KNOB??? What about this process went well last time, that they would want to repeat it? What guarantee is there this failed panto dame won’t turn around in January 2022 and say, nah, this deal is not doing it. Let’s try again. Pfft.
I know business is being 'smart' in hanging labour shortages causing food supply issues only on Covid. I KNOW it's an easier way to get help from this venal gov't. But I wish they found the nerve to acknowledge the Brexit elephant in the room and our journos had the balls to ask.
Perhaps start by asking why no other EU country is experiencing such issues, despite battling the same pandemic.
Then, perhaps question, if this is happening before the UK has implemented full import rules and during the UK's low-demand and high-supply season, what happens around Christmas?
The absence of clear rules is a very real electoral risk to Johnson. Because it rewards, not those who made sacrifices to ameliorate the mess he created, but the least sensible, who have broken the rules all along. It hands the keys to public spaces to the least risk averse. 1/4
It endorses a cavalier attitude that has been lethal to thousands. It forces the vast majority to abstain from taking advantage of these new freedoms, because we know that a minority are determined to abuse them. The Prime Minister is the architect of this imbalance. 2/4
I saw someone who went partying in the early hours of Monday morning tell a journalist: "It was my decision, my risk to take, and I loved it." The problem is that, actually, it's not 'your risk'. It is a risk you forcibly impose on fellow passengers, colleagues, or customers. 3/4
Johnson: "Every pound we spend in Aid has to be borrowed."
And the billions spent on failed apps, 6k-a-day consultants, unusable PPE, contracts to mates, jobs for mistresses, Brexit, Routemaster, garden bridge, Royal Yacht, a tunnel to Ireland, HS2, Trident?
Where did get them?
SOLELY as London Mayor, he spaffed a billion up the wall on NONSENSE. Almost a quarter of his total budget while in post.
Now, he's suddenly all about fiscal responsibility, cutting a tiny budget that saves babies from malaria. Utter Shyster.