Westminstenders: PreGrades (Minority Report comes to the UK)

[RedToothBrush]

In Aug 2020, London, DC's prototype 'PreGrades' launched from the education department stops plebs before they go to university, reducing the social mobility rate to zero percent. Social mobility is predicted using specialized mutated humans, called "Teachers", who "predict" grades by marking shit lots of course work and exams over a period of years. Would-be social climbers are knocked down in a computer algorithm which distorts reality and hits the disadvantaged hardest. Central government is on the verge of adopting the controversial program nationwide by applying it in all departments from the DWP, the Home Office, the Department of Health and the Department of Justice to predict benefit fraud, getting sick asylum seeking and crime before it occurs.

DC's vision of the future is based on excellence being genetically ingrained into the elite but he must sell this vision to the unsuspecting public in a series of public votes which rely on the idea of the 'undeserving'. Little do they know that they too will be the victims of this plan until a mysterious bug appears and only the wealthy and well connected are able to get hold of adequate PPE and they are no longer able to buy bog roll nor retire to Spain as they had previously and endless queues for pizza form near Kent.

The deprived I'm thinking of on benefits or NMW couldn't afford flash cars - sounds more like the lower mc or better off wc

When I was growing up, some people bought a TV and / or sofa on the never-never (HP) and spend many years paying off 4 x the price
or got into debt, had the goods taken away .... and still had to pay of their debt

Those who escaped, like me, went to Uni, lived v frugally with no going out etc and then did the same after qualifying, often for several years, to save to buy a property

I was early 40s before I would eat out, go out for coffee with a friend, buy any non-essential clothes or furniture
I was a total hermit.
I could have afforded it earlier, but I needed to have several months of savings - especially including mortgage payments - before I felt able to join in a "normal"social life

I think you mean Caledonian, not Hibernian...

You might just be right

Many "aspirational" Tories who are not doctrinaire will still be mightily pissed off over the exams debacle
Other Tories I see on MN are justifying the algorithm and slating the teachers

How many votes will be lost by the time the GE rolls round ?
many voters seem to have the memory of a drunken fruit fly

It depends whether your vote is based on judging who is best for the country and your family,
competence at running a country = in the UK atm voting for the least incompetent
or ideology / culture war

and most of all whethe you have been paying attention, or just fingers in the ears, going la-la-la

Although I suspect a Hibernian border poll is on the cards in the not too distant future.

you need a car to keep your job, your job doesn't pay enough to buy a car outright but does pay enough for a monthly payment. And you need the job to keep everything else together!

But you don't need a Lexus/Porsche/Tesla, surely.

AuldAlliance well I had a basic Ford, which was our only family car. It was reliable, it never ever let me down. And that is the thing - for a lot of people, having reliable transport means hanging on to a job. Getting an old banger risks making you unreliable at work and will bring unexpected big bills too. Being skint is not so far in the past for me that I don't remember how it feels.

If you live in an area with virtually no public transport (as I do), you don't get a lot of options.

Yes, a cheap but new car on finance can be the best available option, to expand the available jobs and keep jobs

It becomes extravagant if the car is flash and the payments are a struggle / prevent savings

I first had my own washing machine in my late 20s.
Now they are deemed essential in student houses.
I got a Microwave in my 30s
Now they are deemed essential in student houses.
En suite bathrooms used to be in posh hotels.
Now they are in halls of residence.
I rented a colour telly until I bought a second hand one in my 20's
Now people have a TV in every room

Perceptions of want and need have changed massively over the last 30 years

@ListeningQuietly

I first had my own washing machine in my late 20s. Now they are deemed essential in student houses. I got a Microwave in my 30s Now they are deemed essential in student houses. En suite bathrooms used to be in posh hotels. Now they are in halls of residence. I rented a colour telly until I bought a second hand one in my 20's Now people have a TV in every room

Perceptions of want and need have changed massively over the last 30 years

We weren't poor, but it wasn't until 1978 we got a (second hand) washing machine. Before that it was a weekly trip to the launderette.

We didn't get a colour TV (second hand) till 1976. And 1983 our first new one.

That said, there was always a brand new car parked on the road (and some **ing expensive ones) because DF worked for a motor dealer. It probably didn't do him any favours, but when he was fighting for planning permission to build a bigger garage, he turned up in one to show why 18ft wasn't enough, which was more expensive than any of the councillors cars (it also ran properly, not being British )

We never paid for driving lessons. And DM got a car "for free" as a result of some predictable bad mechanics from the dealer .

So it wasn't all bad. And we flew to Italy twice in the 70s to see family.

There was no internet in my uni halls and I only graduated 13 years ago. Times have changed very quickly.

Back in 1949 my late DM was very proud to own a copper boiler to do her washing in - complete with a 'posher' like an upturned colander on a long stick plus a separate mangle.

This system gave way to a proper washing machine in 1956 with a build in wringer. This finally gave up the ghost in about 1980 when they bought an automatic.

Stuff which is now deemed essential in student houses may be because the universities are trying to have good enough accommodation for the conference trade?

Pregrina
By student houses I mean private let

The ones that in my day were occupied by Rick and Vivian and Neil and Mike and had no running hot water
jeez some of those houses were scummy .... even the squats were cleaner

Perceptions of want and need have changed massively over the last 30 years

Ah yes, a dead Tory friend waxes lyrical about how people on UC these days don't know how to manage their money but they all have smart phones. There is no use pointing out to her that these days, the world has moved on and so much is only accessible via the internet, including govt. applications, that you have to have some means of accessing it. Ten years ago you would maybe go to the Library to access the internet but now Libraries are being shut down so that is no longer an option.

DD found this out when abroad in the far east and her smartphone packed up - 15 years earlier there had been internet cafes everywhere - but now they are gone because of the rise in smart phone ownership.

"Perceptions of want and need have changed massively over the last 30 years"

Indeed, but this can indeed increase fear of huge debt that is avoidable, such as uni fees

Uni fees are a debt usually larger than anything except buying property - which has the obvious immediate & huige benefit of providing accommodation that does not depend on LL whims.

Uni is a gamble, which is much more likely not to pay for itself if you are very deprived and isolated,
but which is usually a v good investment for the average mc and upper wc

It is a corollary of the fact that the poorest are much less likely to go for deferred gratification - because their experience is that any future reward may be snatched away

BigChoc
The thing with student debt is that it does not count as debt
for mortgages or any other borrowing.
The amount you repay is unrelated to the amount you borrow.
Therefore its not real debt.
So kids do not think of it as debt.

PCP loans are the next big mis selling scandal
but as they are a secured debt, the borrowers do not care
and the lenders just wanted to keep the car industry going

Point taken pointythings if someone is in a job where they have to have a car I get what you are saying there. I’m fortunate not to be in that position.

@BigChocFrenzy

It is a corollary of the fact that the poorest are much less likely to go for deferred gratification - because their experience is that any future reward may be snatched away

You mean they react exactly in line with other organisms in an unstable environment ?

If your future is uncertain you may as well shoot your genes as soon as possible rather than risk them never being propagated.

Re number of places at medical school: I always believed the numbers were kept low by the BMA. Controlling the supply helps to keep salaries up (the BMA may be the most effective trade union there is).

@ListeningQuietly UCAS has yet to give the universities the new grades. It is "hoping" to do so on Friday: twitter.com/ucas_online/status/1296028102204837889

TheMShip
The Scottish places have already been allocated.
Kids are not going to get their first choices
because there are not lecture theatre seats for them or beds to sleep in.
Govt can backpedal all they like now
but in many cases the damage has been done.

Icouldhavecheckedfirst medical school numbers are set by the Gov't as part of the D of Health's education of medics planning. See attached consultation doc for more detail
researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-7914/CBP-7914.pdf
BMA does not decide number of places.

Pollyanna is right - it’s the government’s decision.

The rationale is that it is far cheaper to buy in foreign doctors who have trained elsewhere than pay for their training here.

@TatianaBis

Pollyanna is right - it’s the government’s decision.

The rationale is that it is far cheaper to buy in foreign doctors who have trained elsewhere than pay for their training here.

plus the fact that they can't vote and will never see the tax and NI they've paid towards a pension or benefits they can't claim.

I am trying to keep away, as I am having a work crisis of epic proportions, but...
I just wanted to say, before I forget, JeSuisPoulet, that "No euphemism here at all but today he washed my dog" has had me chuckling since you posted it.