There is a new elite in town; one whose way of being, thinking, and speaking appears to have become the norm. But who are these elites, what is their mission, and how have they come to dominate?
From having a general and collective sense of what is right and wrong (a culture), we now, Roy believes, have a new system of regulations, proscriptions, and bureaucratic procedures. The irony, he points out, is that with our ever-growing levels of and desire for personal freedom, we have the ever-expanding codification of social practices that shrinks inner spaces
Without a common culture, everything must be managed. Without a sense of self grounded in society, the fragile individual’s desire for ‘freedom’ comes with ever more explicit codes and forms of regulation.
Ironically, if somewhat predictably, the growth of expertise actually undermines professions and professionalism. As Philip K. Howard, the legal critic and author of The Death of Common Sense: How Law Is Suffocating America has observed in relation to the ever-expanding terrain of law as rules, codes and legal mechanism expand to manage relationships, the space for judgement, for professionals to use their expertise to assess and make decisions, is fundamentally undermined. Zero tolerance policies flourish and come to represent, in reality, zero discretion, with no capacity to think and use your common or professional sense to decide upon matters. As a result, the human capacity for negotiation, thought, and nuance is replaced by the soul-sapping response of ‘professionals’ saying that ‘we have a procedure’ or ‘we are simply following the policy’, and so ‘best practice’ replaces living, breathing professionalism.
As you say--one cannot just say something is right or wrong, one has to present evidence that it is wrong, a moral or spiritual judgement is replaced by what experts say. In my case the teaching of sex to 4/5 year olds.
Somewhat ironically a professor on the board said I (as a Headteacher) was being subjective when I opposed the proposed curriculum--there was I thinking that a little knowledge of the subject was helpful!
9 members of the board declined to support me--because the experts in the Department of Education knew better. I particularly liked the paras below
Lewis Carroll got there first🤭
Everything described here shows what happens when a society turns it's back on God.
Without a strong spiritual belief man becomes ridiculous. This is what we are seeing.
Maybe the ‘crisis’ is not really a crisis. Just a thought.
The previous posting explains this one.
From having a general and collective sense of what is right and wrong (a culture), we now, Roy believes, have a new system of regulations, proscriptions, and bureaucratic procedures. The irony, he points out, is that with our ever-growing levels of and desire for personal freedom, we have the ever-expanding codification of social practices that shrinks inner spaces
Without a common culture, everything must be managed. Without a sense of self grounded in society, the fragile individual’s desire for ‘freedom’ comes with ever more explicit codes and forms of regulation.
Ironically, if somewhat predictably, the growth of expertise actually undermines professions and professionalism. As Philip K. Howard, the legal critic and author of The Death of Common Sense: How Law Is Suffocating America has observed in relation to the ever-expanding terrain of law as rules, codes and legal mechanism expand to manage relationships, the space for judgement, for professionals to use their expertise to assess and make decisions, is fundamentally undermined. Zero tolerance policies flourish and come to represent, in reality, zero discretion, with no capacity to think and use your common or professional sense to decide upon matters. As a result, the human capacity for negotiation, thought, and nuance is replaced by the soul-sapping response of ‘professionals’ saying that ‘we have a procedure’ or ‘we are simply following the policy’, and so ‘best practice’ replaces living, breathing professionalism.
A pearl of an analysis.
As you say--one cannot just say something is right or wrong, one has to present evidence that it is wrong, a moral or spiritual judgement is replaced by what experts say. In my case the teaching of sex to 4/5 year olds.
Somewhat ironically a professor on the board said I (as a Headteacher) was being subjective when I opposed the proposed curriculum--there was I thinking that a little knowledge of the subject was helpful!
9 members of the board declined to support me--because the experts in the Department of Education knew better. I particularly liked the paras below