[Archived] The General Election 2015

[thenodrog]

This is the point I was trying to make a few posts back. It's the neo-liberal compact: we will give you a standard of living above what you need but you, in turn, are not expected to challenge the grounds upon which wealth is unequally distributed.

Schools and education generally plays a vital part in this mirage of a meritocratic society. They promote the idea that education is about getting certificates to get jobs. This is true but only partly because this exam-oriented view of education leaves out questioning and criticism. We churn out mainly docile individuals who believe in the meritocratic view of you get what you deserve. That cements into place the status quo, those at the top benefit especially because they can set the terms of the debate: what counts as education, work, the 'citizen' (and therefore the 'non-citizen'). Those at the bottom can be blamed for their status. (See the debate on immigration further up the thread.) And are. Look at UKIP and how they drove the Conservative train.

It's FFP for society. The government is the FA and the education system its arms-length proxy. There is still a chance of promotion, the boundaries are porous. This keeps people thinking they can break through into the big time. Some do. But for the majority, they will stay pretty much where they are. FUP.

You can see this in terms of health. The NHS was meant to equalise access to health care. Yet seventy years later, what is the biggest determinant of longevity? Income. Still. Even access to health intervention for all improvements in technology has made hardly any difference to that fact. (Sorry can't back it up with an exact reference but I have read up on it.) The NHS is just one big sticking plaster.

I recommend Guy Standing 'The Precariat'.

Look at the election results. People don't appear to want big change. Most people are happy with their tellies and mobile phones...

http://www.manifestingyourtruedestiny.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/END-OF-TIMES.jpg

I'd like to see the stats for that extrapolated alongside levels of educational / IQ rather than simply income.

BTW "This is the point I was trying to make a few posts back." You don't make it your points all that easy to understand tbh mark.

[thenodrog]

Surprised no one's mentioned it but there is an interesting scrap about to develop as Nicola Sturgeon sharpens her claws for her first test of strength against her sworn enemies the conservative party. Scottish MP's right to vote on English matters and the daft Fox hunting issue. Cameron needs to put fox hunting on the back burner and apply his whips to focus the party on the main job in hand..... Kill Nic!

[Lancs Rover]

Surprised no one's mentioned it but there is an interesting scrap about to develop as Nicola Sturgeon sharpens her claws for her first test of strength against her sworn enemies the conservative party. Scottish MP's right to vote on English matters and the daft Fox hunting issue. Cameron needs to put fox hunting on the back burner and apply his whips to focus the party on the main job in hand..... Kill Nic!

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/a-25-year-gap-between-the-life-expectancy-of-rich-and-poor-londoners-is-a-further-indictment-of-our-unequal-society-9061888.html

This wasn't the article I was thinking of originally but there are loads more out there.

[thenodrog]

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/a-25-year-gap-between-the-life-expectancy-of-rich-and-poor-londoners-is-a-further-indictment-of-our-unequal-society-9061888.html

This wasn't the article I was thinking of originally but there are loads more out there.

If Ben Marshall reads that he's gone!

I think you quoted the wrong post there but never mind. imo there are far more factors. Fags and booze are one thing but I'd like to see stats on who eats convenience foods and ready made meals. Placing health before profit is hardly what the short term managerial policies of the supermarkets take into serious account is it? Odd thing is that such foods are massively expensive compared with feeding a family from the basic raw mats.

[Al]

Surprised no one's mentioned it but there is an interesting scrap about to develop as Nicola Sturgeon sharpens her claws for her first test of strength against her sworn enemies the conservative party. Scottish MP's right to vote on English matters and the daft Fox hunting issue. Cameron needs to put fox hunting on the back burner and apply his whips to focus the party on the main job in hand..... Kill Nic!

Sturgeon and the rest of the SNP need to keep their noses out of English affairs. They want to have their own laws in Scotland so keep out of English only affairs. (whether or not one agrees with fox hunting).

[Biddy]

Looks like they have ditched the fox hunt vote now until Autumn....after they bring in English votes for English laws.

To be honest, I'm glad the SNP stepped in with this as I personally don't want to see fox hunting coming back. A lot of my desire to see this defeated is the fact the Government have tried to take the earliest opportunity to squeeze pointless crap like this through whilst there are MUCH bigger things to address with the UK. Utter waste of time.

However, it is VERY hypocritical for the SNP seen as how the "watered down" bill being put through would have only matched what Scotland currently allow (according to reports I've just read).

[Al]

It's not about fox hunting it's about the SNP interfering in English law and needs to be nipped in the bud. Sturgeon is an ambitious and very dangerous woman.

[jim mk2]

Sturgeon is a clever politician. She was successful in May because she crafted a clear, straight-talking, anti-austerity, anti-Tory message that the Scottish people could relate to. I only wish the English left were as bold. Good luck to her in tweaking the Tories tail by defeating any attempts to roll back the anti-fox hunting laws. Why this makes her "dangerous" (the knee-jerk, standard right wing press label for her) is beyond me.

[thenodrog]

Sturgeon is a clever politician. She was successful in May because she crafted a clear, straight-talking, anti-austerity, anti-Tory message that the Scottish people could relate to. I only wish the English left were as bold. Good luck to her in tweaking the Tories tail by defeating any attempts to roll back the anti-fox hunting laws. Why this makes her "dangerous" (the knee-jerk, standard right wing press label for her) is beyond me.

She wants to break up the union....... or have you overlooked that? Bit of a union man aren't you? 'United we stand divided we fall' and all that jazz.

[Al]

It's just another ploy to split the Scottish from the rest of Britain and put a wedge between England and Scotland. That's why she is so dangerous. She just wants a separate Scotland with her at the helm. Trouble is that a lot of the Scottish and the extreme left wing Socialists will support her.

[Mike E]

Silly comment.

QEGS entrance exam was tough. I assume you failed it.

QEGS was full of kids from all backgrounds - including poor ones. But they were intelligent.

QEGS has always has been.the best school in the area.

Not since around 2009 (my last year). Westholme and CRG overtook with Canon Slade not that far behind. Not checked since, mind.

[Gav]

Should we move on to parents moving into the more attractive postcodes so the kids can qualify for certain schools?

Absolutely disgusting, another example of poorer kids missing out, but at a working class level.

[yoda]

Should we move on to parents moving into the more attractive postcodes so the kids can qualify for certain schools?

Absolutely disgusting, another example of poorer kids missing out, but at a working class level.

The price you pay for a free country

[Tom]

Should we move on to parents moving into the more attractive postcodes so the kids can qualify for certain schools?

Absolutely disgusting, another example of poorer kids missing out, but at a working class level.

When we moved from Rishton we were keen to move here because we like the area and my wife's salon is here but also because we know the school (St Pauls Feniscowles) and like it and wanted our son to get in there.

Not a thing wrong with that surely we all have reasons for moving, we aren't doing anyone out of anything in doing that.

[Gav]

When we moved from Rishton we were keen to move here because we like the area and my wife's salon is here but also because we know the school (St Pauls Feniscowles) and like it and wanted our son to get in there.

Not a thing wrong with that surely we all have reasons for moving, we aren't doing anyone out of anything in doing that.

If you move because of the school its a disgrace in my opinion Tom.

If your child is good enough they'll thrive in whatever school they attend, its snobbery for the working classes, disgusting.

[yoda]

If you move because of the school its a disgrace in my opinion Tom.

If your child is good enough they'll thrive in whatever school they attend, its snobbery for the working classes, disgusting.

What if you move because the hospital is crap

[Gav]

What if you move because the hospital is crap

Hospitals aren't cr@p, most of its media driven nonsense. I'd never move post code for a better hospital, but I can understand people moving for access to drugs, cancer drugs etc that depend on post code/local authority funding.

The school stuff really winds me up and it's become fashionable to say

'My child goes to xxxxx'

When everyone knows you're from the rougher parts of town, something you should proud off. Then we get the church attendance to get into Wilfred's or Bedes, pathetic, if your kids thick they'll continue to be thick at Wilfred's!

[yoda]

Hospitals aren't cr@p, most of its media driven nonsense. I'd never move post code for a better hospital, but I can understand people moving for access to drugs, cancer drugs etc that depend on post code/local authority funding.

The school stuff really winds me up and it's become fashionable to say

'My child goes to xxxxx'

When everyone knows you're from the rougher parts of town, something you should proud off. Then we get the church attendance to get into Wilfred's or Bedes, pathetic, if your kids thick they'll continue to be thick at Wilfred's!

Sorry I thought the Royal Blackburn was in a state of special needs,

The school thing has been around for decades, it is not new, you can't blame parents for wanting what they perceive as a better education for their children.

The performance list for schools must have some substance, or it is a waste of time.

ps

It's St Wilfrid's

[K-Hod]

I don't see an issue with moving nearer to the school you want your kid to go to, to me it's just a case if wanting the best for your family.

[Gav]

Sorry I thought the Royal Blackburn was in a state of special needs,

The school thing has been around for decades, it is not new, you can't blame parents for wanting what they perceive as a better education for their children.

The performance list for schools must have some substance, or it is a waste of time.

ps

It's St Wilfrid's

Touch wood I've not spent to much time on hospital but I and thousands of others have no problem using Blackburn Royal when required.

The school stuff is crap, snobbery.

I don't see an issue with moving nearer to the school you want your kid to go to, to me it's just a case if wanting the best for your family.

What about the families that can't afford to live where they grew up because people want to move near the best schools? So house prices shoot up due to outsiders moving in?

Pathetic, and before anyone asks, no it's never happened to me.

[Tom]

I respect your opinion Gav but disagree totally.

You move for a variety of reasons, work, amenities, neighbourhood, school etc and of course what you can afford.

We did have a preference of school, we wanted him to go there - where my wife went as she was brought up in Feni or St Charles in Rishton where I went. So when we were looking to move that played a part in the areas we mainly looked at. Interestingly enough St Paul's has had a poor Ofsted report a few years back.

You've just moved recently for work haven't you? Is that not in a way preventing someone from that local area getting a job?

What if I wanted to move to say Abersoch because it's a lovely little place by the sea, does that make it wrong because me moving there prevents a local buying the house I buy?

stretching your logic a bit leads us to nobody ever moving from where they were born

[Gav]

You like thousands of other have moved because of the school Tom, or at least thats one of the main reasons you moved to the area.

I've made my feelings known on the subject, its nothing persoanl, be it you or one of my best mates who decided he'd found the lord to get his kids in Wilfreds, its disgusting in my opinion.

As for me moving, has no bearing on this at all.

[Lancs Rover]

I respect your opinion Gav but disagree totally.

You move for a variety of reasons, work, amenities, neighbourhood, school etc and of course what you can afford.

We did have a preference of school, we wanted him to go there - where my wife went as she was brought up in Feni or St Charles in Rishton where I went. So when we were looking to move that played a part in the areas we mainly looked at. Interestingly enough St Paul's has had a poor Ofsted report a few years back.

You've just moved recently for work haven't you? Is that not in a way preventing someone from that local area getting a job?

What if I wanted to move to say Abersoch because it's a lovely little place by the sea, does that make it wrong because me moving there prevents a local buying the house I buy?

stretching your logic a bit leads us to nobody ever moving from where they were born

But what if lots of people started moving to Abersoch?

[ultrablue]

Is there any possible alternative to letting people move near to whatever school they want and letting the market decide the value of the house? Gav clearly doesn't like the idea, but it doesn't seem much more than a gut reaction.

Of course in the US they used to bus students to schools miles and miles away in order to desegregate them.

Hardly the same thing, but Clitheroe Grammar got students from Burnley, Blackburn, and everywhere in between when I was there.

[thenodrog]

I don't see an issue with moving nearer to the school you want your kid to go to, to me it's just a case if wanting the best for your family.

Indeed. Providing the best for your offspring is a completely natural human instinct and instincts quite naturally rule our actions. When I became a father i moved into the Ribble valley to get the kids out of blackburn and into a small village school. Always struggling financially in those days (as my wife and I agreed that she gave up work until the children left school ) I bought a house in a village that was desperately run down but cheap enough for my salary back then. They call it 'property with potential' these days. Gutted it back to bare brick walls and rebuilt it myself. Sold it 5 years later for 3x what i paid although im not pretending that wasnt partly down to the inflation in the housing market at that time. Bloody hard work but I'd do it all again rather than bring my kids up in the centre of blackburn.

The well-being of my family comes before silly and outdated political principles.