Jeremy Clarkson went on The One Show this week and joked that he’d shoot all the public sector workers who went on strike.
This ‘joke’ was agreed with BBC producers before the cameras began rolling. In context, it was actually a joke about BBC balance. BBC programmes are supposed to give both sides of the story, so after offering some jokey support for the strikers – “I think they’ve been fantastic. London today has just been empty. Everybody stayed at home, you can whizz about, restaurants are empty” – he flipped to “but we have to balance this though, because this is the BBC… Frankly, I’d have them all shot.”
When the presenter clarified that this was not the BBC’s view – it was Jeremy Clarkson’s personal view – Clarkson responded: “No it’s not!”
It was clearly a joke. Not a particularly funny joke admittedly, but Jeremy Clarkson isn’t a particularly funny guy. What can we do? (Shoot him?)
As Clarkson said the next day: “I expressed two different views. Which one do I apologise for? I am just making fun of the BBC’s need to be impartial. Not about strikers. I wasn’t saying that strikers should be shot.”
Where did all the offence come from, especially from people who weren’t even watching the programme?
I think most of us were outside our comfort zone on Wednesday. Public sector workers who felt down-trodden were flexing their muscles – they were doing their best to stand up for themselves, for their families and communities. But it didn’t have as much impact as many of them hoped. Many other people were strongly against them – publicly and privately belittling them without empathy. And that was epitomised by Jeremy Clarkson – an outspoken, belligerent beast and a personal friend of David Cameron. Many people directed their frustration and anger towards him.
We lose ourselves when we try to rationalise our experience. Ask someone to explain why the joke offended them and they’ll flounder, but that doesn’t mean the offence wasn’t genuine. People are scared at the moment. They’ve worked for years believing their future would work out as planned. Now reality has punctured the plan and they feel wounded. It’s unsettling. Budgets are black and white, but people exist in a kaleidoscope of hopes and dreams. Some are worried and unsettled. Their future is uncertain. They don’t know what to do.
It’s easy to round against Jeremy Clarkson but he’s a light entertainment star with a DVD to promote. The real issue is that our country is divided and many of the people we rely on feel very let down.
Think about those guys who clear away your rubbish each week or fortnight – do you know their names or how much they get paid? The whole country would soon stink without them but they’re mostly invisible unless they don’t turn up. We want nurses to be available for us immediately when we arrive at a hospital in need, but what thought do we give to the nurse who goes home and cries because she can’t see any way out of debt, and her kids need new shoes?
As soon as we meet the bin man or nurse personally – when we see them as real human beings – then our attitude towards them tends to change instantly. It’s horrible that they do so much for us and we do so little for them. We can see that when we’re willing to think about it. But of course it’s easier not to think about it, so we shift from experience to theory and say things like “they should be grateful to have a job at all”. The kaleidoscope is reduced to black and white, and then we don’t have to consider our role in their suffering.
When I work with clients, I think it’s important to acknowledge the guilt and shame we’ve tried to keep a lid on for so long. We all know that our actions in this part of the world are part of the reason people are starving in other countries. We know we’re damaging the environment. We know we could do more to help people less fortunate than ourselves.
When we refuse to feel our own guilt, we project it out into the world – onto people like Jeremy Clarkson. We cast them as the bad guys so we can feel good by contrast.
Trouble is, we look out into a world of bad guys and think that’s reality. Then we can’t do all we want because the world is so hostile and unfair.
If you’d like to explore how your own beliefs influence your experience of the world, and even hold you back from living the life you really want, I’d love to talk with you. My coaching page will be updated in the new year but please feel free to get in touch before then. You can e-mail me – hello@chrismorris.com – to chat or find out more.
