Members of the Concierge Class support and promote the interests of corporations and the wealthy: individualism, a small state and minimum regulation.
And in doing so, they harm society. Here are some of the effects:
1. They reduce the tax take, which means fewer doctors, police officers and teachers. Our children are educated less well, and lawlessness grows. Social housing is reduced, and the poor get poorer.
2. They keep Conservative governments in power. As a result, the laws get more restrictive. Trades union action is limited, which benefits the corporations. Protest marches get banned. Crony capitalism flourishes. People who criticise the government are labelled subversives.
3. Intolerance grows. There is hostility to immigrants, and less concern for poverty and inequality.
4. Redistribution falters. The rich pass their money on to their children and to the grandchildren. The poor stay stuck at the bottom, irrespective of how able or talented they are Social mobility stalls.
5. The state withers, as the government continues to reduce its engagement. There’s less social housing, fewer youth clubs, and meaner social benefits.
6. The UK retreats, or threatens to withdraw, from supranational groups such as the EU and the European Court of Justice. It fosters nationalism and limits the opportunities for the citizen to challenge the state.
And yet few in the Concierge Class recognise this. For them, the work they do seems far removed from its impact.
The Concierge Class is largely out of touch with the struggles of ordinary people. They live in a bubble of privilege, and have little understanding of the real world. As time goes by, people outside this magic circle grow to distrust social democracy, putting their faith instead in right-wing demagogues.
Each member of the Concierge Class is just one small cog in the wheel. The journalist who willingly acts as a voice for a right-wing politician, and the private school teacher who educates the children of the rich, they don’t see the damage this ultimately causes.
