Tuesday, 26 November 2024
Pool
The other day, Mrs H and I were discussing how common it is to hear that such and such a person has an unpleasant parent, wife, husband or whatever. Not people we know, but people we hear about just outside our social periphery. Ordinary people who are said to be habitually spiteful, mean, oafish, selfish or otherwise unpleasant to know.
Not a huge number of people when compared to the number of people we hear of as opposed to knowing them. People mentioned casually during social chat, slightly beyond the outer reaches of our social world.
It does suggest that the pool of ghastly people who see themselves as MPs or in government bossing other people around – well it may be quite a large pool.
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7 comments:
I think it very likely that the nasties will gravitate towards certain areas, just as they will return to certain topics. There was work done a few years ago that concluded that psychopaths, for example, were more likely to seek out jobs in the police, army, politics, and the Church. Knowing the C of E very well, I can't deny that the last one seems correct and insightful.
Jared O'Mara was an interesting case, if you remember his stellar career as an MP. An autistic stupid foul-mouthed criminal and habitual liar. He just happened to be working class, so couldn't get away with it.
I agree; they may not constitute a large number when spread through the general population but it is inevitable that areas of concentration develop as soon as one of these people is in a position to hire or fire.
One of the main problems is that they almost certainly consider themselves to be particularly shining examples of reasonable and altruistic behaviour so the higher echelons of any organisation with a welfare or public benefit remit (not just politics but the NHS, education, charities, trade unions etc) provide the perfect breeding ground for a large pool - or possibly effluent pond - of them.
There was a spell when we knew of neighbours who were widely referred to by nicknames. Some were a little cruel e.g. Mrs Rednose. Some were amusing e.g. The Drunken Lawyer.
And one can accidentally drown in a pool, e.g. Obama’s chef.
If there was no benefit to being an MP there wouldn't be so many narcissists and careerists competing to be one.
An American explains why he's left the Dem party. Key quotation: "There is no counter-vailing force to the power of the public unions in the Democratic Party."
https://josephklein.substack.com/p/not-a-democrat
Sam - I do remember Jared O'Mara, at least the toad showed us how low the standard of candidate selection can be. I'll be interested to hear what you think of the next Archbishop of Canterbury.
Macheath - I agree, not a huge percentage, but as you say, enough to foul up any organisation with a welfare or public benefit remit if they gravitate towards it. Yes - an effluent pool is a better description.
dearieme - we called one of our former neighbours "Wiggy" because the poor quality of his wig was visible from the other side of the road. Another chap we called "Lemon" because he always looked as if he was sucking one.
James - yes, wasn't that rotten luck for a chap who could swim?
DJ - and it isn't only the money of course. It's a public stage, a way to make contacts, a potential career boost and so on.
dearieme - interesting, the first comment made the point -
"I read it all the way through -- and appreciated the insights. I support unions, too. But you ask the right question: If unions are meant to counter the excesses of capital, then what are public employee unions opposing -- the public?"
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