Saturday 26 December 2015

Yet Another Front In The Endless Class War…

Before I became a student there, I never quite appreciated how the tyranny of tradition at institutions like Oxford and Cambridge were being used to prop up the class system in this country.
Oh, really? Do tell…
… after about a year, something strange happened. Wearing a suit no longer held the same resonance it had back in fresher's week. Being served food by people the same age as me was no longer embarrassing.
Ummm, what? Does that mean you don’t frequent McDonalds or Burger King or Subway, out of a sense of embarrassment? Or numerous coffee shops, or other restaurants?

Because if you insist on eating where those serving the food are older, you’ll go pretty hungry.
The troubling part is what it does to the rest of us, those who came from a background where that level of decadence and debauchery isn't normal, even on very, very, very special occasions. Those of us for whom throwing rubbish on the floor and expecting someone to pick it up is reserved for toddlers
Goodness me! I thought the deplorable state of our streets & public transport system was down to the habits of the chavs who were never taught self-respect or respect for their surroundings, and so discard KFC wrappers, McDonalds bags and free newspapers wherever they happen to be.

And yet, in reality, all this was done by Oxbridge students!

They must come out at night and do it, as I never see them around…
Access schemes are all well and good but what are we actually giving these students access to: a culture that values excess over compassion? Detachment from normality? A lifelong sense of entitlement? From the position of the left, surely that's the exact opposite of what we should be doing with our brightest young people…
I think you’ll find Oxbridge is far from the only establishment inculcating a sense of entitlement in its students, if the frequent posts on David Thompson's blog are anything to go by!.

6 comments:

Flaxen Saxon said...

Pretentious twat. Hopefully. He/she will evolve and become better people. Not everyone makes it.

Anonymous said...

One simple answer. If you don't like the way the university is run, then f#ck off and go somewhere else.
Penseivat

Ted Treen said...

Not much to add to Flax's comment: 'pretentious twat" is succinct, accurate and appropriate.

Andy said...

I think the author is a little confused. He is mistaking the upper class toffs of yesterday for the working class chavs today up at Oxford/Cambridge. Both dropped litter and worse, one through arrogance, the other through ignorance. So, in a way, he is correct in stating that class structures are supported, not by tradition but by State interference. Hic! Cheers all.

Lynne at Counting Cats said...

The pretension could be worse. He could be channeling Morrisey. Or Bono. Or any of the self-righteous knobheads in the acting world.

JuliaM said...

"Hopefully. He/she will evolve and become better people. Not everyone makes it."

The omens aren't promising..

"He is mistaking the upper class toffs of yesterday for the working class chavs today up at Oxford/Cambridge."

Good point. A different breed entirely.

"The pretension could be worse. He could be channeling Morrisey. Or Bono. "

*shudders*