"In the future, everyone will be anonymous for 15 minutes."

So the live shows of the world's most ridiculous singing competition are approaching their third week. I refer of course to The X factor. In a typically pathetic attempt to appeal to the country's desire for sensation, the producers included a dramatic twist in the first week. This twist saw the judges (Gary Barlow, the second best one from Destiny's Child, the girl who looks a bit like Cheryl Cole and the usual Irish secretly homosexual idiot) each have to dismiss one of their mentees! A particularly distressing event considering the three weeks they had known them. If this wasn't enough for us, they had chosen this week, to abandon the public vote! Presumably because ITV and Syco were still working out the glitches in the new technology they will employ this year to rig the competition.

I fully acknowledge that the opening paragraph gives the impression that I have nothing but disdain for the producers and judges of the show, and that is because I do. However, it is we, the public who are really to blame for all that is truly awful about this entire affair.

Could it be possible that we aren't all owed fame? Of course!

The vast majority of us are just not good enough for fame. It is a as simple as that. I understand that you may think that you have the voice of an angel, and moves that would captivate millions. I mean who hasn't belted out a ballad in the bathroom whilst dancing round naked in one sock, for an imaginary packed house at Wembley? But the sad fact is, in the real world this simply doesn't cut the mustard. If you take the talent route to fame, you need to be exceptional, which is extremely rare.

For those who lack exceptional abilities, another worrying avenue has opened up. If you are willing to make your entire existence on this planet available for sale you too can make it. The only condition being that you are an individual who is willing to constantly search for new ways in which to make your life more of a freak show. You need nothing more than to lead a life that is so weird and wonderful, so explosive, so unpredictable that it becomes marketable to the masses.  Gone are the days when those who achieved celebrity were mysterious, artistic geniuses whose work enriched and amazed and whose way of life inspired us. Now, a red setter with musical farts, a mother addicted to prescription flea treatment and a glass eye could be a star if it was enough of a slut.

Furthermore, people are now too shallow. If you are to be a celebrity then you have to have physical appeal, and sadly the  people of Britain are quite ugly. The amusing thing is that we are only ugly by our own standards. If we only decided that we would accept a few missing teeth as part of a winning smile, or that a moustache actually made a women look very distinguished we all might have more of a chance, and so might  X Factor entrants. Although,on reflection, superficiality may be a good thing if it serves to minimise the number of hopeless hopefuls who are inevitably exploited.

Finally it must be born in mind that we the public, comprise both the entrants,and the most powerful fifth member of the judging panel. It is we who ultimately decide which of this years pip-squeaks will be driven to depression, possible addiction and a life time of reality TV after winning this competition. I know that unemployment is at a seventeen year high, and prospects of improvement in the next few years are not great, but I ask you, next year and from now on can we not consider our thirst for talentless idiots quenched by the judging panel?

Lets just give it a rest, and give expanding our minds and our understanding of the world a try? Either that or lets have a nice cup of tea and a ginger nut.

"It's not what you know, it's who you know."

This is especially true with Politics. For someone like me, (make what you will of that statement) it's like getting into Fort Knox. I come from a working class family, my dad is an unskilled engineer, and my mum left school without any qualifications. I am the first person in my family to attend University. I have no connections, no money and I live 200 miles away from Westminster.


Unpaid internships are usually prerequisites to entering the world of politics, and unfortunately something which I can not do. They are already quite competitive, and only people who can afford to work for 3 months unpaid and live in one of the most expensive cities in the world need apply. 


If we take a look at the figures, 9 out of 10 MPs went to University, 3 out of 10 went to Oxbridge, and there are 20 ex Etonians in Government. 19 of those are Tory, one is a Liberal Democrat. Shockingly only 1 in 20 MPs are from a Blue Collar background. 


Despite the fact that only 7% of people in this country went to a Private School, 53% of the Conservative- Liberal Democrat Coalition went to Private School. 


Most MPs were born with a silver spoon in there mouth. Even Ed and David Miliband who proudly talk about their attendance at comprehensive schools had a head start, their father was Ralph Miliband for Christ's sake! They grew up having Labour veteran and champion of the NHS Tony Benn round for tea. Hardly a 'normal' upbringing. For some people a dinner with Tony Benn would be a dream come true, well mine at least. That is to say nothing of the practical benefits which such esteemed contacts would surely provide.  


What I find most laughable is Thatcher's (I refuse to call her 'Mrs Thatcher' or indeed 'Lady Thatcher') rhetoric that "Class is dead" and anyone can rise to the top through hard work and effort. Obviously there are  exceptions, for example former Home Secretary Alan Johnson who started as a Post Man, but they are just that, exceptions. They certainly aren't the rule. I have worked hard throughout my whole educational career, I may not be the best or have the most experience, but does that necessarily mean I don't deserve it? That I shouldn't be given a chance? Because I know that I could and I would do an excellent job. Working alongside an MP is my dream job after all. 


With a freeze on recruitment in the public sector, it seems the only chance a graduate like me has of getting a seat in Whitehall is through the extremely competitive and difficult civil service fast stream. Prospective employers will spend a great deal of money on books and reaources to swat up on their maths and verbal reasoning in the hope they may just make it past the online tests. Then if they manage to make it through these they then face grueling assessment centres and interviews. Not to say that it's not all worth it because of course it is. £24,000 starting annual salary, benefits including pensions, flexible hours and options of career breaks later in working life. Not to mention advising ministers and making policy to help shape Britain. It's just an extremely difficult process, in an already difficult graduate jobs market. Do not take this to mean that I am critical of the necessary rigors of the recruitment process for such posts, my grievance is with the fact that in practical terms it may serve to further enforce the divide between rich and poor. There is no equality of opportunity here in supposedly 'Great Britain'. 


This means that while this inequality continues Parliament can only be seen as unrepresentative of the people. This in turn has extreme effects on Britain. It furthers the gap between rich and poor which has already been mentioned. The majority of MP's cannot relate to an everyday Briton's life. They've never had to struggle or choose between warmth and food as so many of us will be doing this winter. How can such an unrepresentative Parliament be allowed. How is this fair? How is it fair for the people they are representing and the people who want to be involved but have limited resources?

It could be argued that the fact that so many Members of Parliament attended the top universities in the country is a good thing. It is difficult to argue against that point. However, what must be argued and fought against in the most relentless of fashions is the socioeconomic factors, and inequalities in the education system which forces many young people to choose against studying a degree level even if they managed to have made it to the stage where they have the relevant qualifications to meet the entry requirements. With the withdrawal rather than reform of the EMA and the increase in tuition fees the number of young people choosing against higher study is destined to increase dramatically. While these trends continue we will continue to be out true representation and democracy in Britain in 2011.

In Pursuit Of Happiness

Happiness, happiness, happiness, surely that is the ultimate goal of human existence. But is it unattainable, is true happiness the unrealisable dream?

It seems that the greatest obstacles to achieving contentment, are what we consider to be the best routes to it. Society, Government and the media in the 21^st Century pedal an apparently undeniable truth that certain passages to happiness are money, social status and a ‘good’ career (whatever that is).  I am sure you don’t need me to tell you that this couldn’t be further from the truth. 


The well known sayings ‘money isn’t everything’ and ‘money can’t buy you happiness’ are losing more of their truth every day. Today for example, it is close to impossible for the ordinary Briton to do anything without considering the financial implications. Is it a surprise therefore that whilst money is so scarce, boredom is rife? You need only take into consideration the fact that nowadays, large numbers of young people take to the streets to simply hang around. This is a phenomenon especially well known in impoverished areas. The most common explanation for this new leisure time activity is simply that ’there is nothing else to do’. Why is there nothing to do? There is nothing to do because they have little to no disposable income with which to get involved in leisure activities. 


It is simply a disgrace that the only justification which is ever given  for providing government funded youth leisure facilities in such areas is that it may have some positive effect in terms of reducing crime levels. As if the reason that James and Phil deal drugs and steal cars, is that they haven’t got free access to a tennis court or a recording studio. There are many reasons why young people, and people in general commit criminal offences, it is impossible to come up with concrete explanations for every single crime, although it seems clear that in many cases four factors are common: money, the pursuit of status, unhappiness and boredom. Of course that is not say that there are not others, but, it would seem evident that if one’s life was not spent at the mercy of economic factors or the consumerist machine which inevitably drives us to want more than our current lot, perhaps happiness would be easier to come by? Forcing many young people to work in low wage jobs sets them up for a life time of low expectations, the devaluation of further education through the saturation of the Graduate Jobs Market has helped to strike another near fatal blow to a whole generation’s pursuit of happiness.
 
Is it possible to argue against the fact that sufficient food and a safe place to live are basic human rights? I would argue not. It is therefore outrageous and immoral that some people in Britain work long hours, for low wages, under unbelievable stress and fear, simply to feed and house themselves and their families. For many the only alternative is poverty and/or homelessness. Additionally, in recent years, there has been a worrying development of a suspicion of anyone who dares take benefits. This is an unhealthy and unhelpful stigma, especially where happiness is concerned. This suspicion of other working and middle class people, the majority of whom take only what they deserve, serves as a wedge which divides us all. These ‘scroungers’, like the terrorists, immigrants, murderers, paedophiles and rapists are the largely invisible villains who we are told are round every corner. The spreading of this fear, at its worst, divides people and strengthens, to use a cliché, ‘the establishment, and, at the very least it sells newspapers and keeps people distracted and apathetic. 

Those who do not work are deemed worse than those who make us.  Even if our millionaire and billionaire employers pay less tax than a basic employee. Retail for example is a field in which all employees are disposable. They are disposable regardless of their experience or dedication to the company. How can a person be happy in their lives if at work they fear constantly the looming threat of dismissal? Do not forget that this piece is concerned with happiness not what is right or wrong. As such I do admit that this piece deals in generalities and theory rather than practicalities.  


Many in Britain (mostly wise tabloid readers) will fly off the handle and shout me down with the fact that people are cheating the system whilst they work hard to pay for it. Whilst I understand their outrage and the unfairness to be found in certain isolated situations, could the unfairness not just as easily be the fact that system is failing? If someone claims benefits and is deemed worthy of them when in fact they are not, is the fault not with the system? Therefore rather than attaching stigma and suspicion to beneficiaries of benefits, a protest via the ballot box would be more appropriate. 


With roughly half of the population not voting at the last general election it is safe to assume that not everyone took their chance to do so.  In addition, I would respond to anyone who uses the ‘I pay my taxes’ cliché, with this simple statement: ‘If you don’t like paying your taxes, and the only evidence for your objections to how your tax money is spent is based on evidence from the tabloid press, then shut up or  relinquish your citizenship and leave the country.’ It is time that we realised that the enemies of our happiness are not in our neighbourhoods,.

Consumerism, the mass media and developments in new social media have had negative effects on  our happiness. They drive a constant desire to have more, to look better and to do better than others in our workplaces, schools and communities.  Facebook and Twitter allow everyone to follow, if you’ll pardon the expression, everyone’s lives. In this way we can never be free from comparison, whether it is we, or another party who find themselves conducting the comparison. Perhaps the great liberators, are perhaps not  so liberating at all. After all, how can we ever be free, if we feel that we can not live without something? How can we be happy if we cannot be free?

I suppose that in a rambling way I have touched upon a number of the causes of unhappiness, as well as barriers to happiness. There is no grand conclusion to be drawn at this juncture, other than as long as we are obsessed with having and not having, how our lives and lots compare to that of our neighbours, we will never achieve happiness. There is nothing  of consequence which can be done in terms of moving towards equality whilst the people of this country are scared of near invisible demons and bogeymen, because ultimately it is those things that prevent us from truly dealing with the real issues that need to be tackled in order for humanity to live in happiness.