So Lord Sugar (is he still our enterprise czar?) is working with junior apprentices because it is up to them and their generation to ‘rescue and revitalise’ our country. Surely it is a simple equation – more entrepreneurs, making more money, leads to a growing economy, more tax take and a better society. Hmm. Don’t expect much here about social justice, sustainable economics and steady state economies. This is a stack ’em and sell ’em business model with no need to worry about the long term.
If we can just breed a generation of Gordon Gekko’s; back-stabbing, blame-shifting, glory grabbing and profiteering then perhaps we can develop a tax base that will allow us to chip away at the national debt.
- Is this how to ‘revitalise and rescue’ our country?
- Is this how to encourage more people, young and old, (wouldn’t an intergenerational version of the apprentice be much more interesting?) to explore and develop their enterprising souls?
Methinks not.
Surely most decent folk would not choose willingly to enter such an environment?
Of course we know that the real world of enterprise is, by and large, nothing like this at all. It is full of decent people trying to create real value and provide goods and services to the long term mutual benefit of buyer and seller alike, without further shafting the planet and the prospects of future generations on the way.
If ‘The Apprentice’ were a ‘one off’ perhaps it would not be big deal – but nearly all enterprise portrayed in the media fits the backstabbing/profiteering stereotype. With PR like this it is no wonder that so many good people choose not to make their living and make their lives in enterprise.
And it is no wonder that many educators continue to maintain stiff resistance to the introduction of enterprise into the curriculum.