Episode 136, ‘A World Unmade’ with Peter Hitchens (Part II - A Revolution Betrayed)

The Panpsycast Philosophy Podcast

Jack Symes | Andrew Horton, Oliver Marley, and Rose de Castellane

Euthanasia, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Existentialism, Marxism, Kant, Ethics, Davidpapineau, Dennett, Marx, Evilgodchallenge, Cosmological, Mind, Consciousness, Courses, Nagasawa, Education, Johnstuartmill, Jeremybentham, Aristotle, Ocr, Camus, Josephfletcher, Conscience, Society & Culture, Kantianethics, Philosophy

4.8 • 604 Ratings

🗓️ 17 November 2024

⏱️ 33 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The Western world faces a tidal wave of secularisation, which shows no signs of receding. In the UK, Christian self-identification has plummeted – dropping, for example, from 72% in 2001 to 47% in 2021. The secularists argue that this trend reflects a shift towards an inclusive and intellectually progressive society; their critics, however, warn that the decline of faith erodes our moral foundations and frays our social ties. “The secular flood isn’t just about church attendance,” they say, “but strikes at the heart of our nation’s identity and stability.”

For many conservatives, nowhere is this betrayal of our values more evident than our education system. In the UK, the 1944 Education Act introduced free secondary education to all children for the first time – with grammar schools said to offer exceptional educations to our most talented students. Today, grammar schools are in decline, and the founding of new ones prohibited. It was argued that these schools favoured the middle classes and perpetuated social divisions; others, however, believe that closing these pathways has reduced educational and social opportunities. Like the Christian identity of the nation, grammar schools are at risk of being confined to history books.

In this episode, we’ll be speaking with Peter Hitchens – British journalist, author, and social critic – about what religious and educational changes mean for the soul of Britain. Together, we’ll explore whether this shift marks the dawn of a more inclusive era – or the washing away of a once Great Britain.

Links

Peter Hitchens, Mail Online: Blog

Peter Hitchens, The Spectator

Peter Hitchens, The Rage Against God (book)

Peter Hitchens, A Revolution Betrayed (book)

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Pan Pan Pan Pan Pan Pan Pan Pan Pan Pan Pan Pan Pan Pan Pan Pan Pan Pan
0:07.0	Scicast
0:08.0	Part Two, A Revolution Betrayed.
0:25.4	In the last installment of the podcast, we spoke about the decline of Christianity
0:28.7	and how this might impact the moral and cultural fabric of the country.
0:33.7	We're going to take a bit of a strong turn in this installment and discuss Peter's most
0:37.9	recent book, A Revolution Betrayed How Egalitarians Wrecked the British Education System.
0:44.4	As a former teacher and OLLI, a current head of department in a UK school, I think we can
0:50.2	both say we really enjoy the book and some of the ideas through there. The central thesis of which is something like grammar schools were good socially and educationally speaking.
1:01.4	I suppose lots of our audience won't know about the previous or even the existing UK education
1:06.8	system having so many American listeners. But very briefly, and basically this is my understanding
1:12.8	from Peter's text, so not my own research, but Peter's research, I don't go to stated by myself.
1:18.8	The 1944 Education Act in the UK introduced free secondary education for all children in England and
1:25.3	Wales, and it was a tripartite system categorizing schools into grammar, technical and secondary
1:30.6	modern schools.
1:32.0	Grammar schools were aimed at giving students who couldn't afford to go to the fee-paying
1:37.9	independent schools the opportunity to get that same top-tier education by passing the 11-plus exam, so an exam to see whether
1:46.3	you're cut out academically to go to the grammar school where you get the best teaching available
1:52.8	to you. At the peak of the 1960s, there were around 1,300 grammar schools across the UK,
1:59.8	and today there's about 200. In fact, according to the
2:03.6	current law passed by Labor in 1998, it's illegal to create new grammar schools. You sell
2:09.6	out like the history of the grammar schools in the large part of this book. Where did the grammar
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Jack Symes | Andrew Horton, Oliver Marley, and Rose de Castellane, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Jack Symes | Andrew Horton, Oliver Marley, and Rose de Castellane and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.