On Togetherness, Transparency, Equality and, possibly, Honesty
When a bunch of privileged “professional politicians” formed the Coalition Government to save us all from the horrors of the economic recession, one of their PR geniuses coined a motto to represent this government values - “WE ARE ALL IN IT TOGETHER”. Laughable, I know, but one is born every minute and just for the sake preserving future generations of naïve fools, everyone could at least expect to stick to the pretences.
But why bother? The old Kurt Vonnegut once said that politicians are like monkeys… they are not capable of resolving to stages puzzles and have very short memory. I guess so is the public. In this respect they deserve each other very much.
What is truly ridiculous, it is the awkward pretence, which the current “leaders” are pulling on in a vain attempt to show that they are also in some way a “salt of the earth”.
Today is the day when the kids in London learn what school they will go to continue their education… The secondary school situation in London for boys can only be described as awful. In fact there are practically no good state schools for boys within city limits. The choice of faith and selective schools is limited to a few schools that can be counted on the fingers of one hand. Basically, for the 11 year olds in London, if they do not belong to a particular faith (but even in this case live very close to the chosen educational establishment) the only choice is less than perfect inner city schools with their ritual pass of first humiliation, harassment and then degradation.
3000 children this year did not get the choice of their schools. This means none of the six schools they put in their list took them on…. Not a problem, for Nick Clegg though. His junior was accepted to a well known and very strictly catholic faith school - London Oratory (same school Blair’s kids used to go to when the latter was in power). “Good on you Cleggy”, one would think, and actually he, having been educated in Westminster College, is clearly slumming. But wait….. it is a catholic school. In fact, it is so strict that if would refuse applicant where only one parent is a catholic. On top of that they have strict points system and the large part of the score is the proximity to school.
Interestingly, neither Downing Street is close to Hammersmith nor Clegg is a Catholic. In fact he admitted that he is not a believer at all. Now, how come Clegg Jr. was accepted? And what does it say about Nick himself? And the system that allows this to happen?
But those are the problems of the flock…. They are supposed to be fickle and prone to corruptions of various kinds. But what does it say about the Sheppard and in this particular case - the Catholic Church? I’d like to see Clegg’s score sheet and compare it to the rest of applicants. So far, I can only interpret this happening in relation to the eternal Orwells words:
WE ARE ALL EQUAL, BUT SOME OF US ARE A BIT MORE EQUAL THAN THE OTHERS
The Catholic Church apparently, fully shares and endorses the above principle lending it the wonderful divinity. Amen.
May be the government's (or at least party's) motto should be changed to the above? It would be honest.
But why bother? The old Kurt Vonnegut once said that politicians are like monkeys… they are not capable of resolving to stages puzzles and have very short memory. I guess so is the public. In this respect they deserve each other very much.
What is truly ridiculous, it is the awkward pretence, which the current “leaders” are pulling on in a vain attempt to show that they are also in some way a “salt of the earth”.
Today is the day when the kids in London learn what school they will go to continue their education… The secondary school situation in London for boys can only be described as awful. In fact there are practically no good state schools for boys within city limits. The choice of faith and selective schools is limited to a few schools that can be counted on the fingers of one hand. Basically, for the 11 year olds in London, if they do not belong to a particular faith (but even in this case live very close to the chosen educational establishment) the only choice is less than perfect inner city schools with their ritual pass of first humiliation, harassment and then degradation.
3000 children this year did not get the choice of their schools. This means none of the six schools they put in their list took them on…. Not a problem, for Nick Clegg though. His junior was accepted to a well known and very strictly catholic faith school - London Oratory (same school Blair’s kids used to go to when the latter was in power). “Good on you Cleggy”, one would think, and actually he, having been educated in Westminster College, is clearly slumming. But wait….. it is a catholic school. In fact, it is so strict that if would refuse applicant where only one parent is a catholic. On top of that they have strict points system and the large part of the score is the proximity to school.
Interestingly, neither Downing Street is close to Hammersmith nor Clegg is a Catholic. In fact he admitted that he is not a believer at all. Now, how come Clegg Jr. was accepted? And what does it say about Nick himself? And the system that allows this to happen?
But those are the problems of the flock…. They are supposed to be fickle and prone to corruptions of various kinds. But what does it say about the Sheppard and in this particular case - the Catholic Church? I’d like to see Clegg’s score sheet and compare it to the rest of applicants. So far, I can only interpret this happening in relation to the eternal Orwells words:
WE ARE ALL EQUAL, BUT SOME OF US ARE A BIT MORE EQUAL THAN THE OTHERS
The Catholic Church apparently, fully shares and endorses the above principle lending it the wonderful divinity. Amen.
May be the government's (or at least party's) motto should be changed to the above? It would be honest.