A failed assessment
Privilege, entitlement, and
omniscience are the qualities or virtues that former Eton master, John
Claughton, regretted he had failed to manage or curtail in his wards who have
now become leaders in many spheres of life, especially politics. [The
Independent: Boris Johnson and ‘entitled’ Tory Etonians have damaged Britain,
admits former Eton master: ‘I failed’]
In my view, I think the master is
still reading the script wrong, as privilege might come by circumstance beyond
our control, and what really matters is to recognise one’s privilege and then
use it to the benefit of others.
Entitlement is an interesting issue
that could be borne of an environment of privilege. To have entitlement is not
entirely wrong, but where it is exercised should be in the support of fairness,
justice, and what is right. Though entitlement is usually a vent of the supercilious, it could normally be seen in a negative rather than a positive light.
Omniscience, however, is definitely to
be tamed and trammelled by every means possible; the thought that you are unassailable
and infallible, incapable of error, all-knowing, and the master of the universe
with a God-like complex is dangerous, whatever the degree. It should never have been
fostered or helped to develop to the extent that such people should have power
or influence over others.
Of a man of no character
In that crop of the poshly-educated at
Eton College, come
many former Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom, and the one that excites the
greatest notoriety today is Boris Johnson, who exited the House of Commons last
Friday, pre-empting the sanction of the Privileges Committee that would have
recommended a 90-day suspension for misleading Parliament.
Boris Johnson would suggest he is a
man hard done by, but like many would say, despite his popularity, Boris does
things only for the sake of Boris and nothing more. Boris Johnson’s storied
career shows that he has no acquaintance with the truth or any semblance of it.
He is both a compulsive and a pathological liar who believes so assuredly
that he is a man of trust and candour.
Granted chance after chance
Delusional is what would be attempted
because, for all the jobs that he has risen to through various applications of meritocracy
and charm, he has several times been relieved of his positions because of a
lack of character, candour, values, and virtue.
That sense of omniscience seems to
have equipped him with daring impunity for which his privilege appears to
confer immunity from sanction or accountability. It is one exclusionary act of
nature that, rather than be schooled by the infractions and punishments of the
lower cadres, it is at the pinnacle of powers, prestige, and popularity that a
man has been held to full account for his dishonesty and missteps.
Duty and service tames us
Before we get to the lesson to be
learnt of men who throw caution to the wind, daring the whirlwind to a whistling
contest, anyone can attend Eton with privilege, entitlement, and omniscience. What Eton College has patently failed to do for more than a generation is imbue
its wards with a sense of responsibility, duty, and service to their fellow man.
A willingness to face up to their failings and be held accountable where
necessary, without questioning the fairness and justice of due process.
The lesson, it is always necessary for
such flawed men to be met with a catastrophe of their own making; each downfall
Boris Johnson has had has been by the hapless engineering of his own hand. His pomposity denies him the introspection necessary for self-awareness and self-correction.
What leaves one more baffled is the fact that to some, he can do no wrong, no
matter how wrong he is.
