Quote Originally Posted by Philipvs Vallindervs Calicvla View Post
Nothing at all, and Eton is a very fine school. People who complain about Public schools are really complaining that they can't afford a good education for their children without paying for it.

The disgusting thing is that they want to drag those who can pay down to the level of the poorest, rather than raising the quality of state education.
The problem is not social envy. Britons are quite accepting of difference in talent.

No, the problem is social mobility. Class, not talent or a willingness to work hard is the deciding factor in the UK.
Talented Swedes who work hard progress in life, manage a better life for their children. Talented, hard working Britons will remain poor.* Then have to suffer insults for it from their social 'superiors' - brats with half their brains but twice as wealthy parents. Or, possibly even worse, suffer insults from self-delusional people who suffer from the widespread syndrome of 'I am really one class higher up than by any objective measurement of my social position'.


A central theme of the report is the profound, lifelong negative impact that being born poor, and into a disadvantaged social class, has on a child. These inequalities accumulate over the life cycle, the report concludes. Social class has a big impact on children's school readiness at the age of three, but continues to drag children back through school and beyond.


"The evidence we have looked at shows the long arm of people's origins in shaping their life chances, stretching through life stages, literally from cradle to grave. Differences in wealth in particular are associated with opportunities such as the ability to buy houses in the catchment areas of the best schools or to afford private education, with advantages for children that continue through and beyond education.

*Disclaimer against the inevitable 'I am / I know some people who...': social mobility as a general statistic, not anecdotal. Social mobility, today's major report learned again, is exceedingly low in Britain. The continent has meritocracies, especially the North. Britain is a class society. It has regressed since Thatcher back to the level of the beginning of the 20th century.