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The Social Distance Between Us
- How Remote Politics Wrecked Britain
- Narrated by: Darren McGarvey
- Length: 15 hrs and 29 mins
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Summary
Brought to you by Penguin.
Britain is in a long-distance relationship with reality....
From poverty and policing, homelessness and overrun prisons to Grenfell and hostile environments, Britain has long been failing those who need our help the most. There is arguably one unifying theme that links all these afflictions: proximity. Proximity is how close we are to the action and how that affects how we assess, relate to and address whatever that action happens to be. Almost every job requires a level of experience and training with the notable exception of the most powerful people in the country—our political class.
So this is a book about the distance, whether geographical, economic, or cultural, between those who make decisions and the people on the receiving end of them. The distance between the affluent and the poor, how their interests and values diverge, and the assumptions they make about each other's experiences and intentions in the absence of any meaningful interaction. How even those with the noblest aims, inadvertently cause harm as a result of their social remoteness and fail to advance anybody's interests but their own misguided ones.
Could Britain's problem be, not that there is a lot of inequality, but that for generations, a small group of people, who know little about it, have been charged with discussing, debating, and sorting it out? At what point do we look for answers, not to the people who are hardest up, but the apparently educated and sophisticated, whose dominance of Britain's institutions has been virtually unbroken for centuries?
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- Anonymous User
- 22-05-23
A fantastic overview of the system
A great listen from an Author who is passionate, knowledgeable, honest and credible within the topic he writes. I’m not sure you can ask anymore from a writer of such an important topic. I enjoyed every, fascinating moment - highly recommended.
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- Anonymous User
- 12-07-22
Listen with intent
It is always hard to listen with real intent and an open mind but I would encourage anyone to listen all the way through - especially relevant is the spoken language as explained. Also listen to the end … I mean the very end including acknowledgments to gain insight into the many who have supported and to the tenderness of the credit given to others & the care for those who are written about.
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- Positive Person.
- 01-02-23
Sobering and convincing.
I'm a company director from a poor background - so well done me. Reading this has opened my eyes as to exactly how much of that success is down to pure luck, and that having gotten lucky the responsibilities that should come with that but which I've ignored.
Well, we'll see what I actually do about it as the immediate impact of this important book starts to fade. For now what I can say is that if I do nothing, then shame on me.
I strongly urge any of my fellow entrepreneurs to read this now. It's uncomfortable, necessary and may even make you a better boss.
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- Anonymous User
- 06-12-22
Listen learn change.
“What if poor people aren’t the problem?” I understand better now. Thank you Darren.
Exceptional thinking and narration. Some things you can’t un-think once thought.
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- Michael
- 10-01-23
I'm a big fan already...
I'm middle class, so have nothing but biases to lay down here. But for me this is an important book. A fascinating read for anyone with a class consciousness either established or burgeoning.
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- Steven Perrie-Clyde
- 27-06-23
The most impactful book I’ve read and listened too
It’s not often you read a book and feel like it speaks to your experiences in such a profound way.
Darren puts into words the experiences of the adults around me as I grew up, mostly insulated by my single mother and her determination to give us the best life we could have, growing up on benefits, fearing the police, and not getting the right sort of educational support in school to me I thought were normal.
Im 27 now, and only now looking back can I fully appreciate the work my mum put in, she really did do a great job insulating me from all those hardships and I’m now no longer poor, destitute or worrying.
It shouldn’t take a book for me to realise this, but in any case, I’m glad it did.
This is a book everyone should read if you live in Britain.
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- Fiona K
- 19-10-23
So impactful, a must read and pass on
Knowledgeable, and honest this needs to be read across all classes to reduce the social distance between us.
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- Anonymous User
- 23-07-22
Excellent and timely evaluation of our society
Excellent and timely evaluation of the ills that face the UK. What the symptoms of these ills are and even a glimpse of how to solve them. Thank you Darren, this book is The Road to Wigan Pier of 21st century.
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- Book Lover
- 14-12-22
Very good
Really interesting. Very well read. And very true. Enjoyed immensely. Good use of a credit.
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- L. Campbell
- 12-10-22
Brilliant
A thorough and excellent analysis of the British class system. Makes for uncomfortable reading at times but is nevertheless spot on.
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