I know my dad (a miner and then a docker) pushed all of us to try our best to get qualifications. A lot of people who did hard manual work tried to inspire their children to get good grades to enable them to get an easier life. Perhaps, with the decimation of the big heavy industry, the same isn't happening these days?

'Lies to the masses as are like fly's to mollasses...they want more and more and more'

Good point my father worked on building sites my mum was a cleaner / canteen cook. Neither of them wanted us kids to follow in their footsteps. My parents dream was for us to work in offices and own our homes (we do). However even though I grew up on a good council estate (white) my family was the exception not the rule. Most of my friends ended up in dead end menial jobs. I was no smarter than them but I had ambition.

As a teenager I joined the largest bank in the world who mainly recruited from Oxbridge. These folks were smarter and better educated then I was. I mentioned this to my best friend whose family came from Nigeria "how can we compete against these people". Well we can work harder than they can was his response. He was right never underestimate the value to an employer of a hard worker. In time we became bosses and that still held true, give me a hard-working reliable person rather than the brilliant maverick lone wolf type.

Back to the comment about heavy industry I cannot prove it but I think the poster is right. Somewhere in the 1980's was the death of the aspirational working class. Maybe this was because whole areas found themselves unemployed. My father is typical labour "bloody government, bloody rich, them and us" but he turned that anger into pushing us kids to become the thing he despised. I suspect a lot of fathers did not want their kids going down the pits and so pushed them to better themselves. Today I suppose some might say what is the point of ambition if there are no jobs even though that is not true.

Edited by Badger11 (22 Jun 2018 3.41pm)

One more point

Low IQ response.

It's not your fault that you're a bit dim. But it's unfortunate for the rest of us.

'Who are you and how did you get in here? I'm a locksmith. And, I'm a locksmith.' (Leslie Nielsen)

How the F#ck do you know that?

Human nature has no boundaries!

Irresponsible bankers do however, and are heavily into the surge in upskirting now plaguing the UK.

Possibly and they’re to some extent to blame for economic problems but they’re not responsible for poor family values passed down generations or no mark men who think knocking up another young girl who isn’t much of a catch is something to be proud of, or poor behaviour, attendance or performance at school.

COYP