Recommended Television Programmes

[Serial_Apologist]

Yesterday evening's How to Break into the Elite on BBC2 (9pm) which should have been compulsory viewing for anyone still blindly holding to the social and political status quo, definitively blew the lid on the realities underpinning the oft-vaunted idea of British meritocracy, revealing the true costs of privilege on educational, employment and promotional prospects if you're not born into the ruling class.

A brilliant exposé by BBC reporter Amol Rajan.

[Stanfordian]

Yesterday evening's How to Break into the Elite on BBC2 (9pm) which should have been compulsory viewing for anyone still blindly holding to the social and political status quo, definitively blew the lid on the realities underpinning the oft-vaunted idea of British meritocracy, revealing the true costs of privilege on educational, employment and promotional prospects if you're not born into the ruling class.

A brilliant exposé by BBC reporter Amol Rajan.

When I was fourteen or fifteen the British Open Golf tournament was being held at my town. I was told the R&A were looking for young people to hold up the 'score' and 'quiet' signs and to operate the score boards etc. I enquired and I'll never forget being told that the R&A was only taking on boys that attended the local Grammar Schools not those from Secondary Moderns.

[Serial_Apologist]

When I was fourteen or fifteen the British Open Golf tournament was being held at my town. I was told the R&A were looking for young people to hold up the 'score' and 'quiet' signs and to operate the score boards etc. I enquired and I'll never forget being told that the R&A was only taking on boys that attended the local Grammar Schools not those from Secondary Moderns.

This may seem incidental to my main point, but one of the most shocking parts of the programme came when the subject of job applications came up.

As long as 22 years ago we did "management skills" as part of a broader horticulture degree course. These included interview mock-ups which were recorded on video and played back afterwards for discussion on how we had "performed". One of the questions I was asked was, "Where would you like to see yourself in this company in two years' time?" To which I answered, "Well, wherever the company deemed my abilities appropriate". In the discussion, I was told that this was the wrong answer; the right answer would have been "Doing your job!" I then suppressed what I then wanted to say because I was both shocked and dumbfounded at the change in work ethics that now dictated what would have been unthinkable when I first took employment; had a job prospector given such a reply he or she would have quickly understood that no company wishing to inculcate a corporate togetherness would tolerate having such arrogant selfishness among its workforce, and the application would have rightly been out on his ear. What the programme showed that the practice of taking on self-seeking individualists has now gone further, and that the protocols necessary for passing the interview are at best ambivalent and at worst downright antisocial. One learning of this, is anyone surprised to hear of the amount of bullying and sexual harassment now going on? One, as it happened, unsuccessful applicant, obviously from the "wrong" background, was given a pre-guidance note stressing that interview required "informal business dress". One was clearly supposed to know what this meant or be out of the information loop! It was also indicated that knowing at which point in proceedings it was obligatory to use the "f" word was essential. It was clear that all such unknown unknowns were exclusive only to those with the right prior connections, family, school and university being indispensables, especially in the worlds of journalism, movies and broadcasting.

The programme concluded with Amol Rajan, of Indian heritage, expressing amazement that his own background had allowed him access to what was effectively an occupation chain of succession, starting from having known and kept in touch with a school friend with pre-existing connections who had made The Big Time. One of the essentials was possession of an "extrovert" personality; but, as has been made clear elsewhere (and as I implied earlier) "extroversion" is often a synonym for "psychopath" - the characteristic shared by many at the top of the running order in our wonderful society, whether in politics, business, sport or the law. The world is being run and ordered about by little Hitlers at every level, in other words - these are today's "example setters" and "role models".

I seem to remember in Aldous Huxley's ideal society ("Island") the extroverts and muscle-bounds were sorted by being put to work on roads construction and logging.

[gradus]

In at least one extremely large British company the best graduate openings during the 1990's were only open to those with an Oxbridge first, recruitment agencies were briefed accordingly. This may well have been true in other companies too. The recruits mostly succeeded but occasionally one would falter. The point of it all was to avoid taking people who weren't up to it academically and who matched their seniors already in the company.

[Serial_Apologist]

George Clarke's Coucil House Scandal - on Channel 4, right now.

[Anastasius]

George Clarke's Coucil House Scandal - on Channel 4, right now.

I respect his sincerity even though it is misguided. He missed addressing the main reasons namely people breeding like rabbits and uncontrolled mass immigration.

[Dave2002]

In at least one extremely large British company the best graduate openings during the 1990's were only open to those with an Oxbridge first, recruitment agencies were briefed accordingly. This may well have been true in other companies too. The recruits mostly succeeded but occasionally one would falter. The point of it all was to avoid taking people who weren't up to it academically and who matched their seniors already in the company.

The Bank of England used to have a policy of only taking on graduates with firsts, and probably from Oxbridge too. This seemed to be independent of the job requirements, thus someone with a degree in History would trump anyone with a degree in Mathematics with a lower degree for a job looking at statistics. Of course it is possible that someone with a history degree could still be better at mathematics and statistics than someone with a degree in those subjects, though there is no guarantee of that, so additional checks would need to be made, and using such a criterion would only be used as a filter which would be useful if there were many potentially good candidates.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I respect his sincerity even though it is misguided. He missed addressing the main reasons namely people breeding like rabbits and uncontrolled mass immigration.

You've missed a trick here, 'nasty - if you'd put a bit more effort into being repulsive, you could've mentioned the main cause: old people are being really selfish and not dying soon enough.

(There's never been "uncontrolled mass immigration" - whereas there is a recent record of what can be described as "uncontrolled mass deportation" of citizens who have lived & worked here for decades, contributing National Insurance to pay for State Pensions, and generally stopping the NHS from grinding to a halt.)

[Bryn]

You've missed a trick here, 'nasty - if you'd put a bit more effort into being repulsive, you could've mentioned the main cause: old people are being really selfish and not dying soon enough.

Not just failing to die early enough but failing to take in lodgers or tenants, and continuing single occupancy of a house in order enjoy the freedom, relative privacy and storage space, and to sponge a 20% discount on their Council Tax.

[gurnemanz]

The Bank of England used to have a policy of only taking on graduates with firsts, and probably from Oxbridge too.

This method clearly wouldn't work any more after galloping grade inflation. Around a third of Oxbridge students get Firsts nowadays.

[teamsaint]

This method clearly wouldn't work any more after galloping grade inflation. Around a third of Oxbridge students get Firsts nowadays.

Surrey is the place if you want a first.

Almost worth spending three years in Guildford.....

[MrGongGong]

You've missed a trick here, 'nasty - if you'd put a bit more effort into being repulsive, you could've mentioned the main cause: old people are being really selfish and not dying soon enough.

(There's never been "uncontrolled mass immigration" - whereas there is a recent record of what can be described as "uncontrolled mass deportation" of citizens who have lived & worked here for decades, contributing National Insurance to pay for State Pensions, and generally stopping the NHS from grinding to a halt.)

Nonsense
ALL our problems are caused by the fickle poor breeding too much and furriners cummin over ere with their funny food ......and don't get me started on the Hugenots (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cgeXd5kRDg)

[Richard Barrett]

people breeding like rabbits and uncontrolled mass immigration.

(a) The birth rate in the UK has fallen to its lowest level in 80 years and is on a downward trend;
(b) As for "uncontrolled mass immigration", the word "mass" can I suppose mean whatever you want it to mean, but "uncontrolled"? what relation does that have to reality?

[MrGongGong]

(a) The birth rate in the UK has fallen to its lowest level in 80 years and is on a downward trend;
(b) As for "uncontrolled mass immigration", the word "mass" can I suppose mean whatever you want it to mean, but "uncontrolled"? what relation does that have to reality?

It's bullshit
but full marks for "our friend" remembering the script and parrotting it out

don't let the truth get in the way

[teamsaint]

You've missed a trick here, 'nasty - if you'd put a bit more effort into being repulsive, you could've mentioned the main cause: old people are being really selfish and not dying soon enough.

(There's never been "uncontrolled mass immigration" - whereas there is a recent record of what can be described as "uncontrolled mass deportation" of citizens who have lived & worked here for decades, contributing National Insurance to pay for State Pensions, and generally stopping the NHS from grinding to a halt.)

Uncontrolled Mass Immigration is an emotive phrase. But the British ( Labour/Blair ) government was responsible for not applying available temporary controls on immigration from the A8 countries , controls that the German , French and Italian governments saw fit to introduce. This development was certainly significant in a number of political developments over the last 15 years.


And since we are on old people as well, the government lie about ever increasing life expectancy seems to be being exposed, but sadly I imagine higher state pension age qualification is here to stay.