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AIBU?

To think that Jamie Oliver is being ideological.

69 replies

Darkesteyes · 16/07/2013 00:20

This is probably old but Psychologies tweeted it and im quite disappointed in them for phrasing it in the inflammatory way that they did.
Its an article on how young people expect too much and people like Jamie Oliver has said that not enough young people are prepared to graft and do work experience and internships .
All very well for him to say but a lot of young people cant afford to work for no wages. A lot of them may have parents who have been hit by the economic crisis and/or on low wages or have a disabled parent at home.

www.psychologies.co.uk/work/are-the-youth-of-today-too-lazy-to-work.html

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outingmyselfprobably · 16/07/2013 00:32

Jamie Oliver is a very stupid man who got lucky. Just look at his comments on UKIP.

Why he feels the need to comment ok politics and youth issues, I have no idea. He should stick to cooking.

Kids today do better in exams, do fewer drugs, drink less and are generally achieving more than those before them.

Jamie Oliver should STFU.

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TabithaStephens · 16/07/2013 00:37

Doing better in exams means nothing if it can't be translated into the world of work.

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Darkesteyes · 16/07/2013 00:42

Id forgotten about the UKIP thing.
I did also see a comment that he only has 2 GCSEs himself.

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WafflyVersatile · 16/07/2013 00:43

'not enough employers are willing to pay people to work for them' is the correct response to that.

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Fraxinus · 16/07/2013 00:48

Yet teenagers are urged universally to demonstrate the intelligence and learning they have in those exams, as a ticket to the future. Then it turns out that it's their fault they can't get a job because they know nowt and need to work a whole lot harder.


As for Jamie Oliver, I heard he was a member of the EDL... Anyone know about this?

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WafflyVersatile · 16/07/2013 00:52

I suspect that is bollocks.

I also wouldn't put any store on his comments on UKIP in the form they appeared in a newspaper.

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Shellywelly1973 · 16/07/2013 00:52

Jamie Oliver is a posh brat. His mouth works faster then his brain.

You can't make a sweeping generalisation regarding a large proportion of the population!

I wonder if he'd do as well as he did, if he was young in 2013?

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SingingSands · 16/07/2013 00:55

At which point did Jamie Oliver change from being likeable Essex lad who cooked to being soundbite supremo of Britain? Was it before or after he made his first million bucks?

Simmer down Jamie and get back in the kitchen, can't wait to see how hardworking your own teens will turn out...

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Darkesteyes · 16/07/2013 00:55

YY Shelly He strikes me as the sort who has been happy to take advantage of the oppurtunities he has had and is one of those with the attitude of "If i can do it everyone can"

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YoniBottsBumgina · 16/07/2013 01:07

It's simplistic, but I don't think you can blame him for thinking it. It is extremely shortsighted and he probably hasn't thought about those who don't have the opportunities, or have them but can't take them.

It is definitely "If I can do it anyone can" - problem is that doesn't take into account that everyone is not you and not everybody finds the same things easy. What is taken for granted by one person is an extremely difficult, perhaps impossible, struggle for another.

I generally like Jamie but I don't think he's immune to being a bit shortsighted. Lots of people are.

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TabithaStephens · 16/07/2013 01:10

A lot more people could take advantage of opportunities offered to them. Obviously not everyone could be Jamie Oliver. But there is a real culture of fecklessless in this country, and it is harming us as a nation.

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WafflyVersatile · 16/07/2013 01:23

There is a real culture of blaming the poor for the sins of the rich in this country which is harming us as a nation.

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AudrinaAdare · 16/07/2013 01:28

I used to have a soft spot for J.O even with his budget food containing saffron or his fifteen minute meals if one employs a sous chef. Lost all patience with him when he showed his kitchen-garden bigger than Heathrow Airport.

I wonder if he would be so concerned if his many DD's follow the path his own missus has taken.

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ZingWidge · 16/07/2013 01:36

I don't like him anymore

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TabithaStephens · 16/07/2013 01:50

Blaming the poor for the sins of the rich? Who does that? All the hate I see is aimed at "banksters" and "fat cats".

I just think that more people need to fulfill their potential and not be content to coast along in life, particularly when they expect other people to work on their behalf to subsidise them.

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Mimishimi · 16/07/2013 02:12

I think one of the problems is that more young people feel trapped by circumstances beyond their control into a life of nothing but low pay than they did previously.

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WafflyVersatile · 16/07/2013 02:17

you must be fucking blind if you can't see the propaganda designed to make everyone hate people for being poor. Benefit bills being blamed for the state of the country's finances.

There are not enough jobs for everyone who has no work. That's not the fault of the unemployed. I don't know anyone on benefits who coasts along. Also everyone I know who is on benefits has earned money which went towards paying the benefit bill at that time.

I've never claimed benefits but i'm happy for my taxes to go on benefits. I'm not happy for it to pay Tesco's staff bill while they exploit the unemployed on workfare schemes.

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DioneTheDiabolist · 16/07/2013 02:18

It's almost as though Jamie thinks that anyone who is hard working and passionate can make 100million quid before they're 40. Just as he did.

This is not true. Financial, familial support, a favorable economy and a huge amount of luck got him to where he is today. But the reality is that not everyone can be that lucky.

I think that he is forgetting a lot, taking credit for too much and absolutely not being realistic. TV producers don't turn up in everyone's workplace talent spotting and they don't take on all the talent they do see.

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Damnautocorrect · 16/07/2013 02:26

He is an employer though? So surely able to have his own views and opinions on the people he is meeting? Wether or not we agree is another thing entirely obviously!

I do feel we've diminished skills and trades and put academia too high up with a 'one size fits all attitude'. For some young people uni and degrees are not the way forward but training in a job is.

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AnnaFiveTowns · 16/07/2013 05:17

Well said Waffly. Spot on there.

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AnnaFiveTowns · 16/07/2013 05:21

Agree with you, Dionne, too.

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MidniteScribbler · 16/07/2013 06:08

I can somewhat see his point. A good friend of mine is trying to recruit a junior for receptionist job. Pays above award wages and will pay for the person to get a nationally recognised qualification on the job. No interest. He simply cannot find anyone at all. He's really frustrated. The last person he put on left after she decided that making coffee for a client was beneath her. When I was coming out of school, those sort of jobs would have had queues around the block.

I do wonder if there is a culture where some younger people (and some older ones!) expect everything handed to them. We hear so much now about children not being allowed to fail, no more awards for achievement lest we ruin the self esteem of other students, no more real drive for competition in some aspects of their lives. What's wrong with telling young people that they're going to have to fight for what they want in life, work hard, get some dirt under their fingernails and get beaten down a few times? It's a fact. When did people become so fragile that giving them the simple truth about life became taboo?

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oohdaddypig · 16/07/2013 06:12

Didn't see the comment but based on recent experience (office) I would agree there is a tendency to feel certain work is beneath you based on some entering employment these days. I have definitely seen it and it annoys the heck out of me.

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oohdaddypig · 16/07/2013 06:19

I agree midnite. Kids don't seem to be allowed to fail when young now eg school sports days etc and I think a hard lesson of life is that you have to work hard and still that's not enough sometimes.

I don't think we are setting up our kids to know how to pick themselves up after a disappointment.

Not everyone can succeed like Jamie Oliver but everyone can do the best they can in each situation. There is an expectation of it being handed to you that we didn't all have.

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exoticfruits · 16/07/2013 06:33

I don't know where you live to not get a junior receptionist - where I live you would have too many applicants to read them all!
My DS was unable to get a simple job in a coffee shop or stacking shelves- just too many people wanting them. A new shop opened with 53 vacancies - counting everything - office staff, warehouse, shop floor etc and 360 people applied.
DS has just got a job at his correct level but it took 13 months and every job he applied for had competition of over 100 people.
Our coffee shops, supermarkets etc are staffed by graduates who can't get jobs and they are not useless or work shy - they are desperate to work.

I would have loved DS to get work experience or an internship but we simply couldn't afford to keep him in the places he would have needed to go- e.g London. They are for the rich and that is why universities have stopped advertising them.

There are not enough jobs. When I was at school you could easily get a Saturday job- you wandered up the High Street asking and eventually someone had a vacancy- they asked you which school and you started. I didn't even know what a CV was! DS had a CV from 16yrs. For a part time shop job at Christmas he had a group interview where they had initiative type tests and those who did the best got a personal interview. I don't know how many applied, but 30 were at the first interview and there were 2 jobs. He tried to get a Saturday job at Pizza Hut- when he phoned up to find out why he hadn't heard they had 100 applicants.

I think that we are failing an entire generation and I get really angry when people make out that the young don't want to work or can't work hard enough and would love Jamie Oliver to tell me how my DS could have afforded to work with no wages. Hmm

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