The recent spat about bonuses in the Royal Bank of Scotland has revealed an unfortunate and deep-rooted malaise in modern society.
Threatened with the loss of 1.
5billion pounds of bonus money this Christmas, (how would they manage without it?) banking bosses countered with the threat of leaving RBS and finding jobs elsewhere, leaving the nationalised bank to near certain failure as a result.
Taxpayers' money is at risk.
The fact this was used as an argument for being paid ludicrously high bonuses is a measure of the level to which we have sunk.
Where is the spirit of Dunkirk? Where is the creed of dying for one's country? These days, people are not even prepared to forego an unnecessary income hike to help their country.
The only march to Waterloo you are likely to see is the one to Starbucks next to Waterloo tube for a latte and a breakfast muffin.
Yet look at the outcry that greeted the industrial action by Royal Mail workers recently, genuinely fearful for the security of their jobs.
It seems it is okay for one set of workers to hold the government to ransom but not another.
Is this indicative of that old-fashioned class snobbery in the UK? A shame if it is.
Britain will never be a modern nation until its population is united.
For Britain to become a genuine meritocracy, everyone must be treated the same way, bankers and road sweepers alike (no offense to road sweepers intended - I could have cited any number of valuable social services which are traditionally undervalued!) If a road sweeper fails to keep his road swept, his job is on the line.
Surely the same should apply to bankers who fail to bank.
Otherwise what is the point? Rewarding failure is a sure way to the next global market implosion.
Have we learned nothing from the last two years? How edifying it would be to see people taking responsibility again not only for their own actions but for the state of the nation.
Self-sacrifice was the founding spirit of the British empire.
In the modern world of greed and corruption, perhaps that notion is finally gone.
Threatened with the loss of 1.
5billion pounds of bonus money this Christmas, (how would they manage without it?) banking bosses countered with the threat of leaving RBS and finding jobs elsewhere, leaving the nationalised bank to near certain failure as a result.
Taxpayers' money is at risk.
The fact this was used as an argument for being paid ludicrously high bonuses is a measure of the level to which we have sunk.
Where is the spirit of Dunkirk? Where is the creed of dying for one's country? These days, people are not even prepared to forego an unnecessary income hike to help their country.
The only march to Waterloo you are likely to see is the one to Starbucks next to Waterloo tube for a latte and a breakfast muffin.
Yet look at the outcry that greeted the industrial action by Royal Mail workers recently, genuinely fearful for the security of their jobs.
It seems it is okay for one set of workers to hold the government to ransom but not another.
Is this indicative of that old-fashioned class snobbery in the UK? A shame if it is.
Britain will never be a modern nation until its population is united.
For Britain to become a genuine meritocracy, everyone must be treated the same way, bankers and road sweepers alike (no offense to road sweepers intended - I could have cited any number of valuable social services which are traditionally undervalued!) If a road sweeper fails to keep his road swept, his job is on the line.
Surely the same should apply to bankers who fail to bank.
Otherwise what is the point? Rewarding failure is a sure way to the next global market implosion.
Have we learned nothing from the last two years? How edifying it would be to see people taking responsibility again not only for their own actions but for the state of the nation.
Self-sacrifice was the founding spirit of the British empire.
In the modern world of greed and corruption, perhaps that notion is finally gone.
Source...