There was a worldwide day of action yesterday, apparently. This morning's news, if I heard it right, tells me that 500 people spent the night outside - was in St Paul's Cathedral? - while the internet says that 70 people were arrested in and around Wall Street. The protest was described as being against corporate greed; capitalist greed was another term used in something I read/heard. I'm going to take a wild guess, and suggest that earlier drafts of those reports might have tried such terms as: banks; the banking bail-outs; bankers' bonuses; politicians; politics in general; the people who got us into this mess; the people who not only got us into this mess but haven't resigned in shame.
And the people who got into this mess, while fiddling their expenses, who not only haven't resigned but have the cheek to be lecturing us on the "hard choices" we face. This in a week, perhaps longer than a week, dominated by reports of how difficult it is for young graduates (and others) to find jobs. Perhaps politicians should hire more researchers; perhaps banks should expand their graduate-trainee schemes. Although - no, not that. Anything but that. You work somewhere, you absorb the mindset. We may need warriors, as Ruth suggests under the heading 'Celebrate Men!', but we don't need more bankers and politicians.
To the graduates, I wonder if it would be helpful to say: don't just be what you are; be what you could be; be what you want to be. Way back in a previous life, I interviewed graduates for entry-level jobs in media. I remember those searches through piles of CVs, looking for some spark of something more than the standard education and qualifications (every CV had all that). Perhaps these days, in the context of media, my interview question would be: why haven't you set up a blog, website, online news, YouTube TV station? Why aren't you already active in the media?
Is that helpful? I wonder. Maybe I could have spent last night outside the cathedral, objecting against all the human incompetence of today; maybe I could have been there for this point in all the historical cycles. Maybe - who knows? - maybe this time, with all our globalisation, we'll find the solution that Wat Tyler was looking for in 1381. Maybe the point is that we're all here for this one.
And the people who got into this mess, while fiddling their expenses, who not only haven't resigned but have the cheek to be lecturing us on the "hard choices" we face. This in a week, perhaps longer than a week, dominated by reports of how difficult it is for young graduates (and others) to find jobs. Perhaps politicians should hire more researchers; perhaps banks should expand their graduate-trainee schemes. Although - no, not that. Anything but that. You work somewhere, you absorb the mindset. We may need warriors, as Ruth suggests under the heading 'Celebrate Men!', but we don't need more bankers and politicians.
To the graduates, I wonder if it would be helpful to say: don't just be what you are; be what you could be; be what you want to be. Way back in a previous life, I interviewed graduates for entry-level jobs in media. I remember those searches through piles of CVs, looking for some spark of something more than the standard education and qualifications (every CV had all that). Perhaps these days, in the context of media, my interview question would be: why haven't you set up a blog, website, online news, YouTube TV station? Why aren't you already active in the media?
Is that helpful? I wonder. Maybe I could have spent last night outside the cathedral, objecting against all the human incompetence of today; maybe I could have been there for this point in all the historical cycles. Maybe - who knows? - maybe this time, with all our globalisation, we'll find the solution that Wat Tyler was looking for in 1381. Maybe the point is that we're all here for this one.