Life lessons
One of the things that irritates me about the modern younger generations in the 21st Century is their now almost-universal sense of entitlement.
Much of the blame in my view can be laid at the door of the human race’s ever-advancing science and technology and specifically the all-pervasive social media culture that gives every spotty teenager the belief that, because they can vicariously ‘view’ – and even ‘join’ – the lives of rich and famous celebrities, they are but a hair’s breath away from becoming one themselves and living happily ever after.
I don’t know if any male Rusters ever read the Daily Mail or occasionally flick through the ‘female interest’ magazine shelves – cripes, I’ve got to be careful of being accused of being sexist here – but such publications are chock-full of gossip about the latest doings of supposed ‘stars’, ranging from the highly to zero talented … and it doesn’t actually matter which because these days virtually all that counts in the cause of achieving lasting material success is ‘being noticed’.
Cue references to supposed paparazzi-style images of celebrities ‘caught off-guard and/or in private relationship or other moments’ which in fact are carefully arranged and ‘set up’ by the celebrities’ well-paid management and/or PR people, a large part of whose duties are to keep their employer in the public eye.
By such ruses do the likes of Katie Price (formerly “Jordan”), Kerry Katona, Kelly Brook, Carol Vorderman, Ulrika Johnson, the Beckhams – not to mention innumerable football WAGs, reality TV and game show stars of both sexes, plus fading former high-profile individuals in media-friendly walks of life – extend their natural sell-by dates and thence eke out half-decent livings or sometimes far better.
And as for those spotty teenagers spending twelve hours per day glued to their computers and/or smartphones in their back-bedrooms posting images of themselves on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tik-Tok … and indeed the next ‘fad of the moment’ coming down the line … what’s not to like?
Whether you’re ugly, fat, bald, acne-ridden, skinny as a rake, devoid of boobs, Abs or buttocks … no worries at all.
You can have as many face-lifts, botox, implants, cosmetic surgery, new sets of teeth, change gender, hair transplants, nose-jobs as you want (or can afford) and overnight then look just like the celebrity you admire most – or indeed the one you admired most last week, or even the one the week before that.
And don’t worry about your talent, or lack of it. The only talent required is that of continually hatching new ways of getting yourself into the gossip columns.
The way I see it, there has always been a fundamental disconnect between what here I’d describe as “The Law Of The Jungle” – which (whether we like it or not) has governed the existence of most species on the Earth most of the time – and the dripping-wet, Millennial, “woke” generation, politically-correct, “every being that exists is entitled to be equal to every other” (regardless of talent, ambition, drive, hard work or any other motivational factor), lah-dee-dah, luvvie’, soft-left liberal, “save the planet” do-gooders’ view of the world which these days overwhelmingly dominates the airwaves, internet and indeed the ‘waking hours’ obsessions of media pundits and commentators everywhere, whether anyone else likes it or not.
A couple of examples.
Does anyone besides me find it ironic that one minute you can be exposed to the media rantings of some right-on, post-modern feminist with a bee in her bonnet about #MeToo, everyday male sexism, LGBTQ rights, female equality (with attendant demands for tokenism, quotas in boardrooms, or even ‘positive action’ in the promotion of diversity etc.) … and the next you may find the same individual billing and cooing over the Earth’s wonderfully-varied wildlife in which such species as lions, deer and silverback gorillas operate exclusively via dominant males and harem-style social cultures?
It’s the same with most human careers.
“The Law Of The Jungle” means that fairness is never more than a ‘nice to have’ when it comes to the nitty-gritty of business.
A while back there was a great hoo-hah on the BBC’s Countryfile series when Miriam O’Reilly, a forty-something female presenter, was ‘let go’ and then spend about the next two years pursuing an “age discrimination” claim with (to me) a surprising degree of success – not least in forcing the ‘liberal left’ BBC hierarchy onto the back foot and tying itself in knots.
My attitude to her gripe was “Do get a life, love”.
Whenever a television personality, or radio DJ, or children’s magazine programme presenter – irrespective of their talent or excellence – hits the big-time there’s an automatic in-built sell-by date coming down the line. Sooner or later there’s going to come a moment when those in power are going to want to ‘freshen up’ their presenting team and/or try someone else.
‘Enjoy it whilst you can’ is the way such animals should approach their careers. For a start, Miriam O’Reilly herself almost certainly landed her first job in front of the camera primarily because she was a good deal younger and more attractive than the lady she replaced.
Frustrating as it may be, competence – and/or skills that can only come from experience – barely came into consideration: if this was not the case, every television presenter worth their salt would have a forty-year career … and no youngster would ever get their break in the business!
In this past week we’ve learned that both the excellent but venerable chief ITV football commentator Clive Tyldesley and the incomparable heavyweight BBC political presenter/inquisitor Andrew Neil have unceremoniously been given the chop.
Furthermore, it was only about a month ago that the BBC’s Radio Five Live station announced what effectively amounted to a general clear-out of all its sports reporters/presenters over the age of about forty-five – many of them household names still at the peak of their powers – simply because it wished to change its target demographic audience to a younger generation.
“T’aint right, t’aint fair …” as that minor character in the Poldark television series used to say.
Of course it isn’t.
But it’s The Law Of The Jungle, folks.
And – for the most part – that’s what has made the world go around since the dawn of time, not some Western First World, “very comfortably off, thank you”, cack-handed, “who can shout the loudest”, politically-correct imposition of supposed equality and diversity standards.
Some of our idealistic 21st Century “woke” campaigners should remember, or possible even learn, that.
