So, the government have a strategy on social mobility. I find this really amusing that a bunch of MP’s who have all had a leg up through one form of nepotism or the other think they can help people move up the social ladder. I thought at one point we were moving away from social classes, but it seems that we are steeped in them.
For the previous Labour government, university education was the way to move up. That didn’t work. It just left a graduate population in debt with oversubscribed professions. This government is going back to apprentices and wants to rid nepotism in the recruitment of intern by implementing an application policy.
Age, sex and race discrimination still occurs despite application processes as people are not obliged to hire you, just to receive your application. Applying for an intern may just be another paper pushing exercise.
I wonder what would happen if they just left the class system alone and let it work itself out. I was told an interesting fable over the weekend about Lord Shiva and Pavrati. Pavrati looked around her and saw the inequalities in the world and asked Lord Shiva to make everyone happy and rich. Lord Shiva did as his beloved had asked and the world was happy and rich. One day Pavrati wanted some work done but could not find anyone to work for her. She asked one labourer why they would not do the work. The reply was that they were happy and rich and did not need to work. Lord Shiva, changed the world back to the way it was. The moral of this story was that for the world to economically survive, there needs to some sort of social structure and heirachy.
Good luck Cameron and Clegg on your social mobililty adventure.
Bunty
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