Faking It Again

One of the cultural changes that has happened in Britain over the past 30 years has been the deregulation of business and looser state control that occurred in the 1980’s. On the one hand it temporarily boosted an ‘enterprise culture’ but in partnership with a greater deregulation also saw an increase in the “I can do that” cowboy culture element and aspirational individuals intent on claiming dubious qualification to achieve a required lifestyle. I suppose in some ways it caused a bastardised meritocracy which enabled an element of fakery into the enterprise economy.

Regulation
When I lived in Australia it was hard to do anything without filling in forms in triplicate. You couldn’t advertise in the Yellow Pages without registering as a business with the government ,given approval and a registration number. Whilst in the UK anybody can literally place an advert in the Yellow pages or online and launch themselves into business.

More TV Fakery
Channel 4 has launched an investigation into the qualifications of child care guru Claire Verity . Channel 4 have received confirmation from the body that awarded her claimed qualifications that they have no records of her attendance. Claire Verity’s clients have included Sting, Claudia Schiffer and Mick Jagger.
She has been accused of child bullying with her advocacy of parenting techniques that include leaving babies to cry, limiting ‘cuddles’ to no more than 10 minutes a day and leaving children outside ‘to air’.

Guru’s a Plenty
A while ago TV diet Guru ‘Doctor’ Gillian McKeith ,who sternly advises people to change their diet by examining their faeces, was found to have achieved her dubious doctorate via an uncredited US mail order service. She has since dropped the Doctor from her name but continues to her be employed using her diet claims despite the sullying of her professional qualifications.

 

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