It's an early start today; it could have been even earlier but I became fascinated by Jacob Rees-Mogg's twisted way of talking on the BBC Breakfast show.
I have known people like him all my life- I think we all have- who resort to quoting irrelevant historical platitudes, Latin catchphrases, technical terminology or whatever they think will derail the critical process of the person they are speaking to and allow them to avoid answering a question.
Coming from an educational perspective- I'd get sacked if I (a) refused to answer their question and (b) deliberately tried to confuse someone that I was teaching by one-upmanship and obscurity.
No wonder dictatorships try to destroy education.
Sometimes I imagine the ways this period of Tory confusion and destruction will be written about in history.
The lack of ethics, accountability and social and economic responsibility will be pilloried, won't it?
I've got to page 15 out of God-only-knows-how-many in the revised manuscript. I'd thought I'd be researching the gaps now but the hot weather slowed my blood to a sludge. The nice thing has been the afternoon walks when the day's writing has reached it's conclusion (brains can only do this for a few hours before folding up their chairs and saying they've had enough).
It's been an odd summer. All the tumbled and scattered chess pieces inside me have realigned, and I'm not sure why; possibly a couple of years of solitude have resulted in some sort of emotional tidying up. I feel like now I've got a strong skeleton rather than floppy rubber bones: there is someone there inside me, instead of just reflections of other people that invade my being.
Now I have to work out what this person thinks, wants and believes and instead of being daunting, that is exciting.
There is a strange belief in this country (and maybe elsewhere) that people who studied the classics are Very Clever People. Probably based on their ability to regurgitate the words of Greeks who have been dead for over 2000 years. Any original thoughts? - probably not. Ability for wire up a plug or change a fuse? Probably not. I recall a certain 'National Treasure' being referred to as 'the stupid persons clever person' which is probably non-pc but quite appropriate.
ReplyDeleteBut I guess if you're stinking rich 3 years at uni reading books does prepare you for life. If you ever need the sink unblocked, or a lightbulb changed, you'll call in one of those ghastly comprehensive school oiks to do it