Thinker For Hire - Modern Prologue

Christ knows why I didn't think of it before, I've been blogging for well over a year now but I never thought to upload the stuff I'd written over the last years from before I owned a computer to 2001.

I started writing 'Thinker For Hire', my 'book' back in 1997. I had left University, done a bit of teaching and then had a spell doing consultancy work for unemployment statisticians! It was at that time I came up with the title Thinker For Hire, I was unemployed but still young and idealistic with the hope that somehow what life may hold for me would be something challenging and rewarding. In those months I went thru' the mindless sloth and for the first time voluntarily routined myself. During which was included my sitting down and writing stuff, whatever I felt like, just my take on the world. I wrote a fair few pages in those months. I have not read it since and I am quite interested to know how my style of writing may have changed since then as well as the nature and depth of my socio-political beliefs.

I will transcribe the first parts at another time, initially I am going to upload the stuff that has been done since I had a computer. Most of this is from 1999 onwards, I think. It is passionate but disjointed, fragments of thought formed from things that I'd heard or seen.

A little while after that I went quiet for a while with a brief attempt to get a diary going in 2002. It wasn't until January this year that I discovered blogging and since then my writing has developed a regularity even if not an amelioration in quality!

So this is 'Red Baron - The Early Years' - judge for yourselves (Written 6th May 2005)

The Manifesto - Sept. 2001

Education

Education must be accepted as a right for all. It is not and must never be used as a privilege for any section of society. If we start with the premise that every child has the right to primary and secondary education of the highest calibre that the state can provide. When it comes to tertiary education this should take the form of Universities, Technical Colleges and Vocational Training Centres. The crucial point is to reject the previous bias in favour of academic achievement and see all forms of education and from that every vocation as equally important in the forming of a benevolent and just society. Tertiary education should be the domain of all. Should it be necessary to limit in any way the number of participants on a particular course at an institution it should be done so based on the acceptance of those with the greatest aptitude for the course in question. An applicant’s background, elements such as financial status, geographical location, parents etc. should not be taken into account.


Society

The fundamental basis of an equal and just society is its education. Students must be taught that everyone can succeed by working together and that this is the natural scheme of things. Many of the teachings of religions have similar philosophy at their cores and this is a head start in that many people already know these teachings literarily speaking, it is often the interpretation that has bastardised the principles. Society must be based on mutual respect, understanding, interest and tolerance. These rights must be for all people in the state and should extend to any living creatures where possible, it is an anathema to have protective rights for humans and yet treat animals with a different set of rules. Animal cruelty should be no more acceptable than violence against humans in a civilised society. Offenders must be severely punished for who can definitively state with impunity that it is one mind set to harm an animal but takes another to harm a human. Certain acts of animal cruelty are so incomprehensible that one thinks they cannot be carried out by the sane. The cause is more deeply rooted in a lack of community and civilisation, other people are aware of these crimes and those who commit them but there silence is a tacit acceptance of what they have done. Often in the case of animals the cruelty is carried out by the young and these is deemed by some to be high spirits or exuberance. This is however to miss the point that these youths are potential dangers and need to be stopped. An example must be set otherwise subconsciously they believe these actions are acceptable. The State must take a stand and lay down the guidelines of what constitutes acceptable conduct and those who will not conform will be removed until they are willing or able to do so.


Culture

All cultures are to be studied and welcomed as they promote the idea that humans are all different, these differences should be presented as interesting and what makes up the facets of humans as a species. Bigotry must be eradicated and no one type of culture or section of society should be promoted above another.

Industry

All industries which provide services essential to daily life need to be nationalised so as to be under the control of the state. These industries include transport (railways, buses, planes, shipping), telecom, power and fuel(electricity, gas and oil and renewable sources) council services such as refuse collection and disposal, the post office and the Media (Press, Television, Radio). In addition to this, any industry which is used by the public and where safety is a factor also needs to be under the control of the state. There are fundamental reasons that these industries need to be controlled by a state rather than a corporate body or an individual the main one is the obvious failure of a corporate body to think ethically. If a company is beholden to its shareholders who in turn are beholden only to greed then profit becomes the be all and end all of production, worker exploitation becomes necessary to cut costs and siphon more profit to stop investors from defecting to other more lucrative enterprises. Profit and safety do not mix as an organisation will never take a safety measure if there is a cheaper option. Thus we can see with the privatisation of the railways what happens when a public service is put into the open market and left to rot. Companies are not interested in rail links being a vital service from A to B, they are interested in getting as few people as possible paying as large an amount as possible. Since the railways were privatised in Britain, the number of passengers has dropped, as have safety standards but the fares have risen as have company profits as have the number of fatal accidents. Critics may say that the system before privatisation was not much better and this is partially true, but mainly attributable to a sustained lack of investment and proper management by a disinterested government. In Britain the Clapham Rail disaster under British Rail was the worst that most could remember and should have told us that there were some serious problems that needed addressing, flogging off the system to avoid having to pay into it and make it somebody else’s problem was a catastrophically short-sighted and ill-advised action and it has directly led to 3 major rail tragedies within 5 years. As a consequence of this the state no longer has control of one of the potentially most environmentally friendly and safest methods of travel. This must be addressed. Private transportation is to be discouraged excepting necessary journeys. Public transportation such as trams, trolley-buses and gas buses which are good for keeping those nonessential private vehicles off the road need to be given priority funding. Essential road users, the emergency services, parents transporting children where public transport may not be applicable, and disabled people should be given permits to travel, the rest of road users who cannot justify the private vehicle over public transport should pay high prices for fuel and road tax, and this money should be directly subsidising increasing development in public transport. The use of large lorries and transporters should be superseded by rail transportation and any large vehicles which cannot justify their existence should pay prohibitive levies so as to be priced out of the market. 
As an interim provision, the state must set up incentives for companies to use rail for distribution and transportation, this must be seen as the only viable alternative.




Business

Ultimately the same theories need to be applied to business as to society as a whole. Reinvestment should be the key objective rather than profit and greed. Workers are not subordinate to managers they simply perform a different function. Middle Managers will be where possible elected by the workers having already done the job for a period. Upper management should be chosen for their managerial capabilities but must in every case enter the firm at the working level and perform the same function as the workers for a minimum specified period, so that they may best understand the potential problems that the workforce may encounter. Should the ‘Manager-in-waiting’ be unable to carry out the task competently a minder should be assigned, as this period should make the manager respect the skills of the workforce. A financial discrepancy should not be between manager and worker. Salaries should be set based on experience in doing the job and also necessity of financial aid such as domestic circumstances. Those with dependants should be helped 




Sport

Sport should be seen by society and participants as an excellent leisure activity and way to improve the morale of those around you. Sports personalities should have salaries based on the same criteria as other industrial workers. Sports events should be available to all those who wish to spectate and any goods that are sold as accessories should be kept to a minimum and prices should be affordable. The idea that sports personalities are icons or should be paid more should be actively discouraged. Sports clubs and associations should be given budgets by the state. The larger clubs should be given a larger budget on the proviso that they are responsible for smaller clubs and youth organisations in their areas. Should they fail to do so their budgets will be cut to the level of other clubs in the area. All sports clubs are to be given equal weighting no one sport is to be considered more or less worthy than another and likewise participants will treat each other with equal respect. Areas should be given the facilities of as many differing sports as resources and interests allow.


Health

It should be everybody’s right to expect the state to provide healthcare from birth until death. Private hospitals and staff should be re-nationalised in order to stop the inequality and the current two-tier health service. The money to sustain the health service must be provided from taxes. There should be no geographical discrepancy in healthcare and all persons regardless of status have the right to be treated for their ailments as quickly and efficiently as possible. Obviously there is a medical hierarchy of disease in the sense of seriousness and this must be considered. Should there be a need to prioritise the most serious ailments must be dealt with first. Surgery such as cosmetic surgery for nonessential reasons, vanity etc. is to be actively discouraged. It is the responsibility of doctors and health professionals to err on the side of caution and ensure that diagnosis and treatment is of the highest order. 


Family

The family is the closest knit group of humans and the emotional bonds it builds up cannot be broken by the state. Likewise there is no way to artificially manufacture these emotions in humans. Families, if nurtured can provide an excellent home for the new generation and it is the state’s responsibility to ensure that not only is the family adequately supported but that this support is flexible enough to adapt based on the needs of both children and parents. Some parents want to stay at home to look after their children and this should be encouraged by the state, for both mothers and fathers. The job of looking after a child and house whether by a father or mother should be given equal weighting with other forms of work. The state should keep a watchful eye on progress but should not intervene unless absolutely necessary and the welfare of the child is at stake. Should both parents wish to go back to work after the birth of their child, this should also be considered an acceptable option and the state should have a network of facilities to allow parents to do this such as approved childcare and job-share schemes. Companies should be encouraged by the state to take a flexible line with parents and job sharing schemes, state certified crèches, work experience programs should be given state backing.


Rights

In a society where the state is promoting equality it is vital that the state ensures that this is translated into all strata of society, discrimination intolerance and bigotry are to be stamped out and those that continue to discriminate will be treated the same way as those committing violent crimes against the person. There should be no differentiation between the handling of physical or psychological damage against an individual.

Government

This is always a tricky one how can one have a government in a state where everyone is supposed to be equal? This of course depends on how one envisages those doing the governing. If one perceives those who are involved in the government as no different from those doing other forms of work then it removes the view that there is an unequal relationship. Other options are for example to have a 2nd chamber which consists of people who are given time out from their jobs to serve. These positions should be like jury service, but optional, and tenure should be short-term such as 1 year. This would enable a wide cross-section of people to become involved in government on a day to day basis and should enable people to be interested in and empowered by government. 


Advertising

Advertising should serve one specific purpose, to inform about products available. This should take the form of providing product specifications, addressing who may need the product, and where it is available. Brand names should not be mentioned unless the product is to be the only one in its field. It would be nice if advertising could be made within these parameters and yet avoid being simply dour and bland, the difficulty is that if adverts become glossy or funny the product gets remembered, not for its usage or quality but its marketing. This gives an unfair slant to large wealthy companies advertising their products, whilst the smaller producer is unable to compete. Claims that are made in adverts must be substantiated before the advert is aired and a State advertising regulator must decide whether the content of the advert proposed is relevant, in the public interest and factually based. 


Exchange Rate

The exchange rate should be artificially set so as to stop currency speculation and also to allow ‘taxation’ of ‘hostile’ countries by raising of the value of the currency. Currency should only be sold/exchanged within the home country.



Taxation

Redistribution of wealth must be the long-term goal on a global scale until some form of parity exists to empower those in the former 3rd world. This can be achieved by a percentage of income taxation, say 1% for sake of argument, being spent on balancing the status of the population. When the redistribution has been achieved internally this 1% of tax can be used for overseas aid. If this were to be done by a large proportion of countries, it would greatly speed up the process of ‘harmonisation’. Overseas aid should be to set up the necessary infrastructure for basic facilities, utilities, public services etc. A good example must be set by the affluent countries on how to manage these facilities so that these are not simply set up to be exploited by non sympathetic parties. Charging for utilities such as water consumption and sewerage, electricity supply etc. is to be discontinued as soon as these utilities are re-nationalised. The upkeep of these utilities is to be the jurisdiction of the state and therefore to be paid for through taxation. This way those most able to pay will be doing so at an acceptable rate. Income tax should encompass all the basic necessities, utilities and public services that the state needs to fund. Other forms of taxation are to be discouraged and only used where absolutely necessary. This will mean that income tax will pay for what people as a collective need and take home pay will be purely the jurisdiction of the individual or family to pay for their requirements based on taste such as food, toys, decoration. Take home pay as it currently stands is deceptive as there are a multitude of bills which then need to be paid. The key point with regard to taxation is that it must be administered fairly and openly. Government spending, in all areas other than those involving national security should be published openly and where possible workers pay slips should include the percentages of income tax used for whichever purpose. People must be informed in detail about changes in taxation and rises must be openly justified. 


Housing

Housing should be under the control of the state, the right to be a private landlord will be abolished as will the right to home ownership. This must be brought across via education that if the state manages housing it should not be necessary to own a home and this will eliminate many of the inflated costs involved with moving into a home. Homes will be provided as needed by the occupants. All citizens have the right to a comfortable home, that definition being a living room, kitchen bathroom and bedroom per individual resident, this is to include couples so that if a child is born, accommodation is already on hand in terms of an extra bedroom and thus the necessity for immediate rehousing is negated.


Human Nature

Ambition is not a bad thing per sé, if citizens succeed in their personal or professional endeavours the whole of society benefits provided this success is not based on exploitation of others or purely at the expense of others. Actions which involve the furthering of the individual at the expense of the collective are to be discouraged and through education eliminated.


The Media

The media cannot be independent, it is an anathema and this pretence should be dropped. The media must be controlled by the state for the purposes of the people. It must provide factual news reporting as well as consequential actions of events. Comment is to be encouraged from all sections of society but must be clearly labelled and, unless in a specialist publication, an alternative view should be provided. All sections of the media from paper, ink and news supply to reporters, distribution and the means to access must be controlled by the state. The State is to allow extensive criticism of its actions and is to justify its policies and plans accordingly. Investigative journalism is to be encouraged and interrogation of ministers will help hold the State to proper account. Journalists in this case are the representatives of the people, this is a responsible position and must be acknowledged as such. This criticism must be constructive ie part of a genuine effort to reform for the better. There should not be censorship as such, in that if something is not worthy of merit it can be easily refuted and should be done so in public. News selection is inevitable but emphasis must be placed on events which will affect the population first and foremost. 


Law and Order

Crimes against persons are not to be tolerated and those guilty of violent offences are to be placed in custody for mandatory sentences based on the severity of the crime. Wilful murderers will serve a lifetimes imprisonment in either penal or mental institution, the latter’s cases should only be reviewed if a cure for a medical condition can be categorically proven. Crimes against property are to be dealt with by the state but these are not as severe as those against the person. The State must decide why an individual has perpetrated a crime against property, wilful damage against amenities is to be punished by a temporary removal of the perpetrators right to certain leisure activities. These will be substituted by a period of community service based on the severity of the misdemeanour.


National Service

A period of national service is to be introduced for all persons following the end of their secondary education, regardless of gender. Suitable community work will be provided in their area, be it manual, clerical or such depending on the individual’s aptitudes where possible. Hospitals, transport systems, renovation work of public facilities are areas which could benefit from this injection of workers. All work will be paid the same amount and it is important that the education system stress how vital this period of work is both for the state and the individual. Should individuals have a preference for certain work, this should be accommodated where possible. Military service can be offered as an option should a standing army be in situ.


Defence

Defence is another grey area as a national army often leads to ambition of territorial gains acquired from ones neighbours. Should all states be agreed all national armies should be abolished and be replaced by a large UN force. Bases with these soldiers should be in every continent enough to keep the peace should it be necessary. Soldiers should be from other continents so as to have no vested interest in regional issues. The UN must be an empowered force and not an organisation that carries out the bidding of the larger nations. UN edicts should be binding and be enforced if necessary by force. However in the transitional phase where some states will remain in a capitalist structure whilst others transform it may be necessary to have an army to defend the country against the ambition of these capitalist countries. It is clear that decisions taken that displease the U.S. can lead to sanctions and military intervention and therefore any reforming state must first make the contingency plans to weather this storm until either they are able to gain complete self-sufficiency or there are enough like-minded states to order the reactionary nations, preferably within the framework of the U.N., to back-off.




Buzzwords

Progressive humanism
Utopianism
Modernist socialism
Socio-economic communism
Collectivism

Government - April 01

It is clear that the state must be the institution to make the laws, you cannot privatise the legislature. Why? Well, clearly if this process was in private hands the primary interests that would be served would be those of the controller. This would not be a helpful way to govern at least not for the majority of the population. Why is it then that there are those who imagine that one can privatise various public utilities and yet these will continue to serve the public interest?


With the state making the laws there are some factors that need to also be in place to safeguard the public good. Firstly it is important that laws being made are communicated properly, punctually and comprehensibly to the populous. The population should be given the chance to discuss the legislation and should certainly be made aware as far as possible when legislation is passed. The media is the natural apparatus to carry out this function, as if it is under the control of the state it will be able to best appraise the statutes and act as an interpreter to inform the people. At this point I am sure there are doubters who will presume that if the media is in state hands it will be bound to be biased toward that state and therefore cannot be relied upon to give an objective viewpoint or critique. I would draw the example of the BBC as part of debunking this whole argument. There are a handful of political interviewers who are well respected within the media sector and well feared by politicians, as they do not pull their punches calling ministers to account, most of these high-profile interviewers work for the BBC. As commercial television and media is beholden to its advertisers it can never be fully objective as there will always be a conflict of interest when it comes to an argument over corporate legislation. The BBC is not dependent on advertising revenue and is therefore able to afford its journalists more freedom to go ‘for the jugular’. Let us not assume that the BBC is independent, it is under state control and it would be foolish to imagine that at certain points the government has not exercised its influence in order to serve its purposes, however these occasions are, I would suggest, many fewer than in the private sector. The government of the day must be held directly accountable for its actions. If a law is proposed within a particular sector then the minister responsible for that brief must be obliged to give interview to the state media and be questioned most strongly to justify the policy, if the law is a good one, it should be easy to do so, if the law cannot be justified then perhaps it should be dropped or modified. Furthermore the same rules should govern a minister’s justification of his/her behaviour which should be subject to a stringent code of conduct. If a minister is proven to have violated this code in front of an extra-parliamentary standards committee then said minister should be dismissed forthwith and a replacement sought with immediate effect.

This also leads me to look at the whole setup of government. The bipartite system is not conducive to good government. It leads to the polarisation of politics into extremes and also means local issues are often swept underfoot for centralised political reasons. It is vital that if a person is to represent an area that they are standing for that area, they either come from or have been resident for some time in that area. It is an unacceptable practise for representatives to have multiple residences and to stand in an area in which they are not based. The state should provide apartments for the representatives when they are required for central governmental duties.


The Second Chamber
It appears to be a given in a democracy that one have a second chamber of the legislature. Let us for the moment proceed without questioning this, we must first establish what this chamber is for and then populate it with those best suited to serve out this purpose. Let us say that we wish to have a second chamber as a safeguard mechanism, an overseer of the acts of the first chamber. This would be by design a way of tempering politics and regulating the first chamber. If this is the case then obviously the first chamber must not have the appointment rights for its own regulator this must be done independently. One could say, why not let the people decide this and this idea has merit, but one must then be sure that the people are able to have a good choice of candidates. These candidates must be chosen from the people and therefore the best way to ensure competency is to educate the entire populous to have the ability to serve should they wish to do so. This is the volition approach; allow the people the ability and opportunity to help in the process of government. The other method is a more forceful one, a system similar to that of the UK Jury service be set up. This means that people would be called up to serve in the second chamber; this would be a mandatory service. There are pros and cons to both of these suggestions, the first is open to corruption and rigging to get certain people elected, apathy and disinterest in the voting procedure and a second chamber populated by people who may or may not be competent to carry out the job. It is my theory that the problem of corruption would be hard to tackle but not insurmountable if properly scrutinised, wages for those serving in the second chamber should not be an incentive as those interested in serving should be doing so for their interest in government and not in financial gain. The problem of apathy is something that would need to be tackled at an early age by education. If people are taught how there government works and how they can make a difference the procedure of government is likely to be of more interest to them. Apathy occurs where a person either does not understand the system or believes his/her input to have negligible impact. Competence is difficult to asses before someone takes up a post but if serving terms are short then it should have minimum impact should their suitability be called into question, besides it is important to give those interested a chance as they may have crucial input no matter how insignificant it may seem at the time. If people are educated as to how their government works they should be able to take more of an interest in it and it is therefore far more likely that they will be able to make a valuable contribution.

The second approach to the second chamber recruitment poses more problems. Whilst giving people social responsibility is a good thing and makes them feel part of the collective it is a fine line between this and making people feel press-ganged. The forced approach is also no guarantor for competence although under the conditions already outlined this should not be a major issue. However it is important that people feel they are willing participants in the collective and not herded into every facet of their lives by an omnipresent, omni-cogniscient state, as this would just be retreading the steps to totalitarianism.

Property – Right, Privilege or Theft? - April 01

This is a tricky one. People will feel that it is their right to choose how they live their lives and what they choose to spend their money on, and provided this does not infringe upon others they should be left in peace to get on with it. If one goes into depth though this is a difficult ethos to depend as how can one be sure that it does not infringe upon somebody else? I may feel buying a pair of brand name trainers is my prerogative with my money and I should be allowed to wear them. However if the company uses exploitative labour practises or child labour of any sort then the trainers are tainted with this morally indefensible action. Simply by buying the trainers I am offering tacit acceptance of the work practises and furthermore I am bolstering the company’s profits that they may continue to trade under such conditions. It is easy to say what I am doing is not harming anybody that I can see but those I cannot see may be a different matter. A man who lives alone in a large house with multiple bedrooms may see nothing wrong with what he is doing if the surrounding countryside contains sleepy little villages and pockets of affluence and comfort. If, however this mansion was right on the Strand in London, where large numbers of the homeless take shelter it would be considerably harder to reconcile with one’s conscience the size and wastage of the house. Now the man may say that he has worked hard to gain what he has achieved and therefore should be allowed to reap the rewards but who is to say what constitutes real work, does this man work harder than a single mother with children to feed? Does the affluent man deserve to be better remunerated because his job is a particular profession and he has more time to devote to his work than people with families. Why should those who sacrifice themselves to their work be treated better than those who may have other interests and a life outside of their job?

The simple answer is that in the corporate world those with families or other interests cannot always be relied upon to give absolute loyalty to the company. If a worker’s child is ill and at the same time his/her company is in trouble it should be to the child that s/he runs to the assistance of. One must remember that most large and profitable companies under a capitalist system will make the most of exploiting their workers in pay, working hours and conditions if it is profitable for them to do so. The greater the greed of the shareholders the more the company must squeeze out of its resources. This materialism spills over to one’s private life, capitalism makes one strive for material wealth as it is by this that you are judged by your peers. Of course this is not a level playing field as we all start out at different points and with different advantages and disadvantages. For the poor it is a major effort and achievement surviving from week to week, any further amelioration of circumstance would be a bonus, for the rich life is very different, speculate to accumulate, money breeds money etc. etc.

So by the end of one’s life, one’s material possessions show neither how hard one may have worked nor how deserving one may be of them. A man born into poverty may die with a small house, modest savings and some domestic possessions to his name. This will have probably taken his whole life to amass and he will have to have worked hard for them. Another man born into a gentrified family may die with an extremely large house, some land, 2 cars and some ostentatious assets to his name, he may also have worked hard, but he may have had a privileged upbringing, private education, been funded through University, got a job through a friend of the family, come into money through inheritance, been bailed out by his parents when his first business venture went bust etc. etc. Who therefore is the more valuable? Well, neither really can claim to have been better or worse. The point is the rich man will have had many opportunities to succeed whilst the poor man will have had few, what is more the rich man will have many chances should things not go according to plan initially whilst the poor man must stake everything and take the risk as he may not get another chance.

The Collective - March 01

Anyone who thinks that humans are innately selfish beings should ask responsible parents whether this is the case. Society in Britain throughout the late 1980s, and the whole 1990s has trained individuals to be selfish and single-minded in pursuit of their goals. The conservative government at that time welcomed the materialism and the ‘Yuppie’ culture and nurtured the idea that the only way for the individual to succeed was at the expense of those around him. They were able to use business as a principle exponent of this in that for one business to thrive it must compete with and preferably conquer its rivals in the field. We were told that collectives did not work as human nature is to be selfish, thus there was supposedly nothing we could do about it, ‘…go with the flow, it’s the genetic choice.’ This of course does not take into consideration many factors, history, anthropology, nature and genetics. Humans may not be herd animals but they are also not solitary beings, natural instinct draws us toward small close-knit collective groups within larger but looser community structures. This makes sense for the protection and advancement of the species, it is easier to gather food and carry out reconnaissance when there are still those left to look after the old, infirm and the young. Humans also nurture their young far longer than most animals, it is true that the home-leaving age of 18 is a state –defined and arbitrary one, but most parents are happy to look after their children, provided they have the means to do so, until a mutually defined time where the child wishes to leave and the parents believe s/he can survive on his/her own. There are exceptions but many of these may be the result of external forces such as lack of facilities or peer pressure.

The lack of financial stability can pose a great threat to a family unit, ultimately resulting in its demise this may well not be the fault of either parents or children. It is however within the family that such pressures may best be combated and hence children in the late 20th and early 21st centuries are tending to stay within the family home for longer. This is something that the state must look very carefully at, it is a bad thing for children to be forced from the home because parents cannot afford to keep them, however it is also detrimental for children to be molly coddled and never to learn the value of things around them. It is beneficial for teenagers and early 20s to start to strike out on their own, knowing that they have the parental safety net behind them, this enables them to take risks that as individuals they would not necessarily be able to do. Traditionally University has been the ideal opportunity for youngsters to make their initial forays into the world at large, a gap year has been taken between secondary and tertiary education leaving time for travel or employment. Unfortunately a large section of society has now been denied this opportunity due to the current prohibitive financial demands of tertiary education. It cannot be stressed enough what damage this is doing to the fabric of society, as well as creating an educational elite from the existing financial one it is forcing many of the already under-privileged into employment, purely for financial survival, at an age when few can have had much of a chance to develop ideas and dreams of their prospective futures.