Imagine living in the past, say sometime still in the modern era but pre-WW2; how soul destroying it must have been to have been held back socially, economically, politically, or career-wise because of traits such as being female, non-white, disabled, Jewish, the wrong sort of Christian, homosexual, born of humble stock or out of wedlock etc. Of course, such things can be conveniently overlooked when on a total war footing.
Just as we congratulated ourselves in the post-WW2 years for increasingly eradicating outmoded and irrational prejudices, as the C20th finally came to an end a whole new set of acceptable prejudices arose, multiplied, and have firmly taken root (like Japanese Knotweed, but not it seems as easy to eradicate).
What’s given with one hand is, as always, taken away with the other.
Consider someone (UK politics, business and entertainment is full of prime examples) who in 1914, or even much, much later, would have been persona non grata for entry into certain circles, and even if keeping certain unacceptable things quiet could then be in danger of exposure, social shaming and/or blackmail. In 2024 such an individual is rightly no longer persona non grata, but wrongly lauded because of irrelevant characteristics. The positive discrimination quota system now favours people who tick certain boxes, and indeed prioritises recruiting or promoting them over those with the necessary skills, aptitudes and suitability required.
Would it be possible for anyone in 2024 to be selected as a parliamentary candidate by a mainstream political party (I’m not counting Reform UK as mainstream here), or as a big-name company executive, local authority director etc. if during the selection process they eschewed the usual questions as to where they stood on the climate emergency, Net Zero, institutional racism, celebrating Pride or women with penises etc.? The list is endless, yet sadly all far too predictable. Furthermore, there is also now mission creep that places the demand for affiliations ever lower and lower down the recruitment/promotion pecking order.
There is no way out; say the wrong thing, hedge your bets with ambiguity or say that’s just completely irrelevant – WRONG! You’ll be shown the door pronto, and if you’re already within the organisation in some capacity you can kiss your chances of further advancement goodbye. There’s also the bonus that accidentally tipped-off colleagues and HR will take every opportunity to trip you up, out you as a despicable human being and again, via predictable internal investigations and disciplinary measures, show you the door with an ambiguously worded but highly nuanced reference.
It’s not even as though endorsing most, but not quite all, of the right things will help – fail to adequately enthuse with real or even really well-rehearsed fake passion on any one of the unquestionable things and you’re still doomed. Annoying as it was, the ‘glass half full/half empty’ obsession of C20th management now seems tame by comparison.
If this trend continues, and it shows absolutely no sign of lessening, then there will develop an underclass of individuals relegated to either a life of menial drudgery through lack of opportunity, or a stressful life of living a lie with the associated fear of inevitably being outed.
During the Covid debacle many excellent memes did the rounds on sceptical non-MSM. One particularly poignant one showed a little girl in muted colours (representing the meme viewer) against a black and white backdrop of Nazi soldiers herding armband wearing civilians. The text read: ‘If you ever wondered, if you, your family, or friends, would have complied in 1930’s Germany, now you know’. This was, of course, focused on mask wearing, social distancing, frequently testing or being jabbed, but now equally applies to holding the wrong views on all manner of things and facing the wrath of the enforcers, the herd (and their puppet masters).
Shocking current and recent examples abound, not just the clickbait MSM articles that are guaranteed to set the armchair warriors of both ‘far right’ and ‘far left’ into comment action and, as always, what better place to evidence the madness of clown world than our own TNC. For those who view TNC as a throwaway daily beacon of sanity (most days anyway), it’s also worth occasionally revisiting the articles archive (and relishing the sane comments). With this in mind, rather than providing links to MSM I highly recommend looking again at the following which demonstrate the way things are going:
Climate emergency – https://thenewconservative.co.uk/i-believe-in-climate-change/
Net Zero – https://thenewconservative.co.uk/the-net-zero-carbon-con/
Institutional Racism – https://thenewconservative.co.uk/britain-is-institutionally-racist-yeah-right/
Islamophobia – https://thenewconservative.co.uk/islamophobia-the-death-knell-for-free-speech/
Pro-Israel/Zionism – https://thenewconservative.co.uk/equality-before-the-law/
Transgenderism – https://thenewconservative.co.uk/trans-women-the-patriarchys-ultimate-victory/
Multiple Genders – https://thenewconservative.co.uk/no-there-really-arent-150-genders/
Gay Pride – https://thenewconservative.co.uk/2slgbtqia-whats-in-an-acronym/
Those not afraid to hold and vocalise wrong views either need to be very rich, powerful, thick-skinned, or prepared to suffer the consequences. To ensure that fewer and fewer people feel brave enough to go against the prevailing hymn sheet of correct opinions and responses, schools and universities now brainwash the young and impressionable by excessively using unrelated and biased material in teaching every subject. The powers that be, via a complacent and bought MSM, replicate by targeting those who still rely upon the truth being conveniently served up to them in print or on screen. Bombarded with this sort of propaganda it’s not surprising that independent thinking is no longer taught, nurtured, encouraged or even tolerated.
Freedom of speech? Freedom of thought? Don’t make me laugh, if I was just starting out I’d be stymied, and you would probably be too.
Martin Rispin has had a career in many different sectors, most lately in the fields of English Tourism and Heritage based Urban Regeneration. He now lives, retired, in Kingston upon Hull.
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Makes me so glad to be retired
The retired aren’t 100% immune either, look at the twaddle non-State pension providers (plus other companies that it’s unfortunately impossible to avoid) say about the way they invest and manage your money. Again there is only room for one correct opinion and if it loses you money, well….. we’re all doing our bit.
Excellent article.
Working in further education the first marker I laid down as a free thinker was refusing to come out on strike. A loud mouthed union rep came round to attempt to correct my thinking but I refused to be intimidated. And secondly, some time later, I was openly an active UKIP official in the locality of the college. They didn’t like that but they could do nothing as some members of staff were activists with the Labour Party. I found that if you stood up to these bullies they throw the towel in and leave you alone..
It takes quite a bit chutzpah to be a free thinker on the Right but it builds character and serves you well for all the sh*t that life throws at you.
Mirrors my experience exactly (except the UKIP bit). Once ‘bullied’ by an otherwise really pleasant leftie colleague, about refusing to strike, it became clear to me that it’s a pack mentality and therefore unable to comprehend that there are other far more effective ways of tackling grievances than all out strikes and loss of income.
The writer has no idea what life was like for working class men before and after WWII and he omits men completely from the list. My father had no option but to follow his father into the same job. That was a coal miner. Imagine what that was like. The one thing I remember about him was that he was determined that I would not follow him into the mines. Have you any idea what it was like before automation made it somewhat easier. There were no “baths” and no hot water or bathrooms at home. Miners had to travel in their filthy clothes, sometimes wet when they had been working in water. My father had to stand in a bowl in the kitchen to have a wash down when he got home. I imagine the writer never had a job like that and he doesn’t seem to have any knowledge about them.
Not sure how you reach that conclusion, except possibly as an omission from the list of the historically disadvantaged, as the article is predominantly about current ‘correct’ opinions and how holding or not holding these can open or limit opportunities.
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