CalibrationAgnieszka MlickaRuskin Sschool of Fine AartNothing in the cultural world polarises opinion so much as the debate over the value of modern art. Iis it a deep and insightful reinterpretation of an artistic tradition or merely pretentiousand posturing? Aagnieszka Mlicka’s exhibition cannot be said to have resolved this apparently unsolvable debate, but her work does provide several interesting perspectives and demonstrates clear potential.The exhibition was staged, aptly enough, at the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Aart, whose entry hall provided a fine display space for this small collection of works, although if the artist hopes to find a larger audience a more public and spacious venue may be needed.These works are designed to serve as a distillation of the core of finalist fine-art student Aagnieszka Mlicka’s essential artistic philosophy. This philosophy is expounded from the very beginning of the exhibit in the transparent invitation cards and the montage of transparencies which greet the visitor. These reflect the artist’s avowed interest in layering effects, question reality and meaning, and evoke her fascination with structure which plays a key role in the almost architectural style of some of her works.This style is effectively exploited in order to create feelings of entrapment and social confinement. This is most effectively evoked in her drawing of a female figure, trapped within the intermeshing buildings of a nondescript city, epitomising the confining and enclosing effect of the web of society. Ppowerful as this image is, the image of the social animal as a caged beast is, ironically, something of a tradition in modern art, which perhaps rather undermines the originality. Mlicka’s architectural vision of her art is expanded in her effort to incorporate the fabric of the gallery into her display.Mlicka has also added interest to her work by including the ideas board on which her ideas are born and developed; she thus provides an insight into the artistic process. However the quality of her future exhibits would be much improved by the inclusion of some form of written description or discussion of the artist’s ideas and philosophy. The experience of viewing the display would also be enhanced by an attempt to give an obvious and instructive structure to the arrangementof the pieces.Overall I do feel that despite these minor problems this was a well organised and conceived first event which effectively conveyed the artistic vision. Ssome parts of Mlicka’s exhibit are extremely interesting with great potential and it is to be hoped that with consideration expansion and maturing she will succeed in forging her own unique and dynamic style.ARCHIVE: 6th week MT 2005

several days ago I was talking to an old friend of mine, and as we were catching up, he asked the question, “So, what are you listening to these days?” “Uumm, well, really liking Barry White at the moment, Al Green, you know…” The disdain in his voice was almost tangible, and immediately he began sending me mp3s by bands I’d never heard of, in what Ii can only imagine was a last-ditch effort to save my soul from the seductive clutches of commercialsoul music.Back in the day when I was a raging music snob, probably took a similar attitude to others, but now I can’t help but think they were probably having more fun dancinground their rooms than was. Music is the most obvious example, but to a lesser extent, the same idea applies to other art forms: cinema, literature, theatre. Ssnobbery, however,still thrives and there seems to be no good reason for it.It seems strange to me that people so often reject things that are considered popular and limit themselves to what is obscure or little-known. Pperhaps it is the idea that what everyone likes must be inferior and dumbed down, in order to appeal to the lowest commondenominator. Pperhaps it is a need to make oneself feel superior by identifying with things that can only be enjoyed among a select minority. This elitist mindset is all very well, but it ignores quite a few important factors in the way our culture is working. For a start, the standards of popular entertainment are getting higher and higher. Ccinema is perhaps the best example of this trend.While I fully acknowledge the need for the subtlety, intelligence and depth that is often more readily available in films or music that would not necessarily appeal to the mass of the population, sometimes, like the mass of the population, Ii just want to be entertained. That is not to say am a fan of the formulaic approach, the “let’s put lots of gratuitous sex and explosions in this film; that’ll keep ‘em quiet” approach. I’m not sure many people are fans of this any more. The average cinema audience really does have a lot more intelligence than film-makers these days give us credit for and it shows most clearly in the way in which formulaic films in this vein are attracting declining audiences. Take this summer’s War of the Worlds, which was a decided flop, even with Tom Cruise in the starring role. Iit looks like the originality of Ssteven Sspielberg’s vision evaporated quite some time ago and audiences have recognised this. The household status of his name alone is no longer enough to draw people in.So it seems that there is a majority vote in favour of being entertained by something that at least gives the impression of having been made with a modicum of intelligent thought. Iit is not just the connoisseurs in the audience who are unfulfilled by the rampant shallowness on display from certain purveyors of mass arts. The most recent example of a film achieving both subtlety and popularity as part of this more intelligent entertainment is Sserenity. This movie has all the ingredients of a popular film: loveably roguish heroes, suitably nasty enemies, a righteous cause, explosions, the odd bit of sex, and all this, of course, played out by unfeasibly attractive people. Yet it is also original, stylish and witty, without being remotely pretentious or inaccessible. surprisingly, there are a lot of films like this.After all, there’s a reason why, for instance, popular music is popular. Wwhy should popularity in itself be a sign of poor quality? The Beatles went from being one of the most innovative and influential bands of the twentieth century to being one of the most popular. Eeven if it was a valid argument, if popularity these days somehow did add up to poor quality, how do fans of obscure bands explain the fact that they are all too likely to go off a group the minute mass media and a wider audience start to express interest in them? The fact is that obscure artists, genres and subcultures tend to come out into the light of day eventually and when they do this we should not take it to entail a loss of their integrity.The mainstream consciousness is constantly absorbing new or minor aspects of our culture and other people’s cultures. Iit is not a bad thing. Think how the punk movement of the Sseventies has influenced an ever-widening circle of musicians in the past thirty years. Ssimilarly, consider how film noir emerged from hard-boiled Ddepression era pulp fiction to bring us some of the classic films of the Forties and inspire contemporary cinema like Ssin Ccity and the latest incarnation of Batman, or how anime has broken out of Japan and brought us, among other things, the increasingly popular films of Hhayao Miyazaki. If these genres had not grown and adapted themselves to the mass market, imagine how much we would be missing. None of the new wave of indie-punk bands, no bleak, violent crime thrillers, and no oversized cartoon castles wandering around the countryside.This process is the way in which our culture grows, evolves, and is enriched. Ssince the advent of digital video in the early Nineties, independent cinema has gone from being, in the Eeighties, a fairly shoddy affair producing the odd stroke of genius, to being a well-financedindustry that regularly rivals the major studios and incorporates hugely diverse styles to bring us more and more better quality, original films with ever expanding audiences. Ccult cinema is fast becoming mainstream: Garden State, Napoleon Dynamite and Donnie Darko spring to mind, and with every film like this that attracts large audiences the bar is raised for other new releases to show that they too can offer something truly engaging and worthwhile.The drift towards higher expectations for innovation and creativity in films can only be a good sign. Aand the principle applies elsewhere: the more new music that surfaces from the underground and gains a fan base, the more varied and interesting popular music will become, and conversely, everything that is popular today has its roots in something that was once excitingly new and innovative. Yes, even Barry Wwhite.Besides, if you are a fan of something, if you love a band, a director, or an author, why wouldn’t you want other people to appreciate it and accept that their lives were being improved by this new appreciation? This attitude can be found most frequently among fans of things that no longer, because of changes in fashion, attract the enthusiasm they once did. Jazz fans, for example, nearly always welcome new devotees to their genre. My long-time favourite band has recently started gaining a sizeable fan base in this country, and while Ii certainly do feel the sting of no longer being superior to everyone who hadn’t heard of them, it comforts me to think of all those people whose lives are undoubtedly enriched by the owning of their albums.It should be perfectly clear that am not anywhere near advocating the abandonment of non-mainstream culture; rather, would like to see more credit given to the increasing quality of what is being made for mass audiences, an acknowledgementthat popular does not equal rubbish.It is often due to the influence that ‘alternative’ culture has on what the masses take in that we see welcome expansions and innovations taking place in the art world. Sso there is clearly no value in art snobbery, in dismissing mass arts, or in desperately seeking to keep art that is indie or underground as the preserve of an elite audience. Eeither way, the result is a reduction in our own potential enjoyment and in cultural growth.So perhaps instead, we should celebrate when people start liking our favourite obscure bands. Let’s go and watch some blockbusters and let’s enjoy the guilty pleasure that commercial soul music, to take just one example, has to offer. Let us recognise that it probably had its origins in something it’s okay to like, and, well, it might turn out to be fun.ARCHIVE: 6th week MT 2005

Imagine the smug feeling; you’ve finished your tutorials/essays/labs for the week and you’re sitting in your room basking in well-deserved contentment. Aweekend of debauchery inevitably featuring a sticky-carpeted Oxford nightclub no doubt awaits you. in fact you’re probably about to hit the pub in a minute for a few cheeky daytime pints. hold on just one second.As amusing as the world will seem in a semi-drunken haze as you stumble back to college a few hours later with the overdraft a few increments higher, there are other options. the city of Oxford, the city of ‘dreaming spires’, lies before you in all its glory. it might be ten years since your parents last dragged you round a myriad of castles, museums and stately homes hoping to improve your mind, while all the time you yearned to visit the joke shop, but ‘touristing’ in Oxford is an underrated and little-explored pastime. choose not to numb your intellect in front of vacuous television or dVds you’ve seen thousands of times. there is another option, which will give you numerous anecdotes for the conversation in the bar in the evening, as well as something constructive to say to your parents during the inevitable weekly phone conversation. Believe me, your mother will be impressed. Gaggles of tourists crowding the streets during the summer months can’t be wrong.So without further ado welcome to the tourists’ Oxford. You’re spoilt for choice when it comes to attractions, so in order to cut through the dross, here are a few recommendations. start your day with a brisk climb to a vantage point from which the city can be viewed as a god. essential for this kind of behaviour is one of those cold crisp days without a cloud in the sky; the view is spectacular. Often in an Oxford student the view also produces a kind of warm yet slightly self-satisfied feeling as, viewing the ancient college buildings, you can point out ‘home’ much to the excitement of the Japanese tourist standing beside you. there are three towers or spires in Oxford city centre: carfax, st Michael’s on cornmarket and Mary’s on the high street. While all of them give 360-degree panoramic views of the city, my particular favourite is Mary’s with its unrivalled outlook towards the camera. it is worth bearing in mind in your choice of tower that the saxon tower at st Michael’s is Oxford’s oldest building; quite an achievement in a city such as this.Next head up to Broad street for your original education in all things Oxford. the Oxford Story is a little pricey for the average student budget, but is the ubiquitous Oxford attraction. Also for those new to touristing as an activity this one’s just like a theme-park ride, complete with life-size plaster models illustrating scenes from Oxford past and present. The little train which takes you through these scenes creaks and groans on the steep inclines of the ride, but be assured you will make it to the end. at the beginning there is a short film detailing the brilliance of Oxford university, which inevitably brings out more superior pride in the Oxford student as they realise that this amazing stimulating university is in fact the one that they attend. In a swell of golden satisfaction head towards the jewel in the crown of Oxford’s libraries, the Old Bodleian. Of course, all Oxford students can enter the Bod free of charge and if the mood takes them even study there, but the daily tours can provide you with plenty of impressive information to regale friends with as you stumble towards the stack of books which need reading before that essay can be written. For the true bibliophile library experience, a visit to the duke humfrey’s Library is essential. Here, where the air is thick with centuries of dust and the books are chained to the walls, learning seeps through the very pores of the walls. standing in the should make you cleverer and if it doesn’t at least you can admire the ornate ceiling and the terribly intellectual people who actually need to read the manuscripts this library houses. tours of the Bodleian leave every hour from the divinity School and the tour guides are clearly absolutely passionate about their topic, which can’t help but rub off on even the most cynical anti-library tourist. in particular i’ve always liked the idea of the underground system of stacks of books, housing the Bodleian’s vast collection. my mind it’s just like the vaults of Gringott’s bank in harry potter, although Inever quite had the audacity to ask my tour guide whether it’s staffed by goblins. While you’re in the vicinity, it might well be an idea to have a little nose round the radcliffe camera if you haven‘t done so already in conjunction with your studies. although not open to the general public, the rad cam will be open to all Oxford students via the magic of a Bod card. the real joy in this pursuit is the jealous looks on the faces of tourists standing by in the square, forced to take measly pictures of the exterior of the building as you stroll merrily in. Be sure to get your bag checked for lighter fluid and food on entering; a sandwich packet can be a dangerous item in an enclosed library. points of interest include the staircase to the upper camera, the scene for the stairs to the divination classroom in harry potter, and the dome roof which, according to the testimony of an Oxford walking tour i once heard, opens up mechanically in the sunny weather. this, must stress, has yet to be proved and seems just a little unlikely. Leaving the rad cam make your way through the Bod to the Museum of the history of science. don’t scoff at the name, congratulate yourself on how intellectual you’re being and proudly ascend the steps (just avoid the displays of ancient compasses). top floor of the building is the earliest purpose-built museum in the world and was the original precursor to the ashmolean, but it is in the basement, the former university laboratories, where the real gems can be found. most remarkable article on display is one of albert einstein’s blackboards from his 1931 lectures, on which he outlines a relatively simple model to explain the apparent expansion of the universe. Naturally this goes entirely over my head, but it is difficult not to be impressed by the significance of the item and the personality of its one-time user. There is also a large collection of old cameras among which is one belonging to charles Lutwidge dodgson, better known as Lewis carroll. he was considered to be one of the best amateur photographers of the time, renowned especially for his photographs of children and in particular alice Liddell who would eventually be immortalised in the literature for which he is now better known.Having briefly absorbed some science in this visit, it’s then time to move on to the ashmolean itself, the Granddaddy of Oxford’s museums and by far the most imposing building. the ashmolean can be viewed by visitors as a calming, reassuring entity. it’s just so big and austere that somehow things couldn’t possibly go wrong where miniscule pieces of ancient history are meticulously preserved and labelled for all eternity. As a museum in this particular guide to touristing in Oxford, the ashmolean doesn’t really fit in. it would take a veritable lifetime to absorb everything on show and the speed with which people reach saturation point when it comes to ancient artefacts is relatively rapid. still, a quick look round one of the galleries is always rewarding. My special favourite is the Egyptian gallery; you simply cannot ask more from a museum than phallic statues and mummies. Finally then, with sore feet and bursting mind, head towards the Museum of Natural and the pitt rivers Museum. Both of these museums are housed within the same building just by the radcliffe science Library. the Museum of Natural History is fun in an eight-year-old ‘look at the big dinosaurs’ way. as well as marvelling at the enormity of a t-rex, you can also see the sad remains of the Oxford dodo which is now little more than a small, blackened bone. original Oxford skeleton disintegrated, but will live on in the imaginations of many in the works of Lewis carroll. the Oxford don used to bring Liddell and her sister to the museum on rainy afternoons and based many of the stories he told them around exhibits they had seen when out touristing with him. tale of the dodo was a particular favourite as it played on Carroll’s stammering when he pronounced his own real last name, ‘do-dodgson’. Moving on from the Natural history Museum, you can enter the rivers which is somewhat akin to entering an alternate universe. By far the most interesting museum in Oxford, the pitt rivers Museum is officially a museum of anthropology, made up of items donated by General augustus henry Lane Fox pitt rivers from his extensive travels around the world and then built upon over the years. the museum is dark, pokey and old-fashioned, but it’s also absolutely brilliant. the artefacts are arranged into cases, each under a different theme and supposedly showing the differing ways in which cultures attack problems. case entitled ‘treatment of the dead’ therefore shows how african tribes created death-rattles from human skulls, while in the upper amazon regions these heads were shrunken and worn in a ceremony to prove the killer’s manhood and avenge the deaths of relatives, a tradition, learnt to my surprise, which only died out in the 1960s. while we might all try to take the moral high ground and affect a kind of aversion to such practices, the overwhelming popularity of this particular exhibit testifies that our interest in the macabre is alive and well. in fact, at the height of their popularity in private collections and museums the demand for shrunken heads was such that many fakes were created, using sloths’ heads. these specific shrunken heads, or tsansta as the custom is known, are especially illustrious because of their appearance in the his dark Materials trilogy by philip pullman. Other disgusting and therefore compelling exhibits include fly-headed ballerinas, which consist of a tiny model of a ballerina with the head and thorax of a large fly mounted on the shoulders to constitute a head. the dinginess of the pitt rivers simply adds to its colonial charm and it is one of the few museums where the collection, its layout and ethos have become objects of curiosity just as much as the items themselves. And now, as the closing bell rings in the pitt rivers, you are ejected blinking into the late afternoon sunlight and can head to a bar, full of interesting facts with which to divert your friends. touristing in Oxford will never die because of the bus loads of foreign tourists who wish to experience the delights of such an auspicious seat of learning, but the student body should share more in the innumerable diversions afforded by the many attractions of Oxford.ARCHIVE: 6th week MT 2005

Where: Cafe Opium
When:Think hungover saturdays, when even after a lie-in toast seems like way too much to handle. it gets to 7pm and you realise you haven’t eaten anything all day apart from paracetamol. You want something fast, and Jamie Oliver has put you off certain fast food joints (as have their patrons), so what better than chinese to fill the rumbling gap?
What to eat: The list of main meals is extensive, and varies from meat to vegetarian, noodles to rice, soups to solid, and even the hilariously named ‘old school’ page filled with chow mein and sweet and sour dishes. For those who want to stray from the chinese-restaurant straight-and-narrow there’s a specials card which includes eel, among other items. The prawn satay was perfect, with plenty of large juicy prawns in a light satay sauce. The chicken with cashews, Hong Kong-style, hit the spot too. And how can you ever go wrong with any ginger and spring onion dish? Or (or a boy), have a ’starter’ in the form of a spring roll or chicken wings, all reasonably priced and well sized too. For those who have fancier food in mind, the duck wrap is delicious. Alternatively, order these to arrive with your meal, and bask in that heavenly moment when all the food has arrived and you can look upon your feast with eyes that are definitely bigger than your stomach.
Why: Much larger than its sister restaurant, café Orient, Opium still retains the as-it-is chinese fast food charm that chains like Noodlebar somehow lack. With a relatively large eating area compared to many restaurants on George street, café Opium has reassuring hustle and bustle within its black and red interior. Whether it’s because, like you and i, they have hangover hunger, they want bargain chinese food or because the sparkling chandelier lured them in with its magpie magnetism, the customers come in droves. Like in many other chinese restaurants and takeaways, there is a pretty fast turnover of diners, and on busy nights there’s a queue waiting for takeaways as punters know they won’t be waiting for long.Staff are in line with the atmosphere of the restaurant: friendly, unpretentious and there to serve you good food at reasonable speed. Ask them for help on the differences between hong Kong and peking style if necessary: they will be only too happy to help and give their own recommendations. So whether it’s a takeaway you’re after or some rapid eat-in munch, Opium is the place to go.ARCHIVE: 6th week MT 2005

Car on burning car symbolises the razing of French democracy to the ground, as violence flares across the republic. Last weekend saw the introduction of curfews by city authorities as part of the emergency legislation implemented by the French government. The fifty year old law was originally brought in as an attempt to counteract the guerrilla efforts during the algerian war of independence, but, as of last week, is now being used for the first time in mainland France.later, the British summer became unusually hot when the northern towns of Oldham, Bradford and Burnley were set ablaze after alleged provocation by the British National Front-inspired race riots.As well as allowing local authorities to put curfews into place, it has some potentially far more unsettling features. Measures can be imposed upon the whole country, restricting people’s movements in even completely unaffected areas. authorities have the power to assume control of the media. police are free to carry out raids on homes as they deem necessary. The latter was intended to act upon suspicion of stockpiling weapons, but is currently in use to freely search for suspected participants in the violence. it is now illegal to meet publicly with the perceived intention of causing disorder. This in practice could mean as little as peaceful protest.Firm and swift action may be needed, but the suspension of civil liberties may go unquestioned by parliament for up to twelve days. democracy is on hold. it is not without irony that France, which still prides itself on its revolutionary principles of liberté, égalité and fraternité and annually celebrates the storming of the Bastille, can dismiss liberté so quickly and show little concern towards the effects such action will have on any remaining sense of fraternité. admittedly, this violence seems to lack political purpose, but the revolution too was first and foremost an uprising against inequality. Britain, at least, seems more consistent. On 5 November, the majority of the population celebrated, once again, the prevention of an attack upon our democracy. in doing so, we ritualistically burned an effigy of our most notorious terrorist to the sound of shouts and cheers. keeping with such aggressive tradition, our government is responding to the risk of terrorism with excessive legislation. while for us fire and explosions mark the preservation of democracy, for France it marks its suspension.The first of the riots took place on the evening of 27 October in clichy-sous-Bois following the deaths of two boys. The teenagers had run into an electricity substation under the assumption that they were being chased by police after being found at the scene of a break-in. authorities have since denied this. Nevertheless, the belief spread that the police were to blame, helped by the silent march which took place two days later where marchers wore tops emblazoned with the slogan ‘dead for nothing’.Regardless of the specifics, the fuel for the fire has been mounting for a long time. Many of the post-war immigrants have never fully integrated into society and since the 1980s the hLMs (habitations à Loyer Modéré), state-provided accommodation, home to large groups from ethnic minorities, have become symbols of social exclusion. Visible monuments to separation between the inhabitants of the cités and the rest of society have also purportedly become the source of discrimination in job application. For years, stories have circulated of employers at interview, on sight of the address on the head of the form, informing applicants from HLMs that the position has already been filled. whether completely true or not, there are undoubtedly still racial tensions in the banlieues of cities throughout France. it could be argued that class provides the greatest social divisions, but the importance of cultural differences must not be ignored either. skin colour or religious symbolism, such as a headscarf, merely supplies a visual stimulus with which to pigeonhole people, typically as criminals and never victims.Hence, it was not with applause that the unsympathetic comments made on 25 October, two days prior to the first troubles, by interior Minister, Nicolas sarkozy, were met. His suggestion to take a "power hose" to areas with high crime was both insensitive and incendiary. after all, it has been his decision to substantially reduce the number of community police officers, only for them to have to return charging in full riot gear.Even François Massenet, secretary general of uNsa-police, the union for French expressed malaise over sarkozy’s comments, which he implied was a part-timer’s response. Too often have the French government responded to situations on a short-term, reactionist basis, rather than considering long-term plans for such enormous problems. But what democratic government is not guilty of the same?Riots are, of course, nothing new. in 1991 the beating of the african-american rodney King sparked race riots in Los angeles. Ten years Indeed, the recent violence has been compared to the events of May 1968, which spread throughout the population gaining support from all demographics. The increasing unrest over the last couple of weeks is, unlike the student revolts, unlikely to spread from its current lone demographic. while people of the same social class and ethnic background may show solidarity in not condemning the random acts of violence, there can be no such support in other areas of society, when it lacks a political or ideological focus. On the contrary, the acts have been solely an expression of anger. There is little political motivation behind beating elderly men to death or setting disabled women alight, although these are only isolated incidents and the far-right have been also been active attempting to incite further divisions along racial fault lines.There are uncanny parallels between the very real and very awful events of the previous weeks and the fictional ones of La haine. in Mathieu Kassovitz’s 1995 film, a boy dies after sustaining injuries while in police custody. rioting ensues and, ultimately, Vinz, the young Jewish protagonist, seeks his own retribution for the injustice. his anger, or hate, appears slightly self-indulgent, but is, symbolically, uncontrollable and indiscriminate; he does not seem to care who he hurts, employing an us-against-them mentality. The consequences are bloody and tragic. Police react with extreme force.Of course, a policeman’s job in such a situation is of inestimable difficulty and the fictional police are portrayed rather unsympathetically. It has, nevertheless, been alleged that police officers have referred to suspects as "dirty arabs" and told families of children thought to be involved in the violence, in their own homes, to "go home". This just goes to show what bubbles under the surface, even when tensions are not so high.So, while it remains difficult to discern protest from wanton destruction and aggression, which would seem to support the actions of the French administration, handing over more power to the police is not necessarily a sensible idea. The allegations against police, even if untrue, present more provocation. As one youth is quoted by Le parisien as saying, "More repression means more destruction."Immigrants who would once have been proud of their individual heritage now often refer to themselves just as Muslims, adopting religion, a potential source of radicalism, as the part of them that binds them with the largest number of people. Feelings of social isolation and hopelessness may lead some to extreme measures, partly because it creates an unbreakable solidarity between themselves and others like them.Media groups fail to agree on whether, as the Le Figaro reports, "tous se disent solidaires des violences urbaines de ces derniers jours" (‘everyone claims solidarity with the instances of urban violence in recent days’) or whether in fact, as patrick Sabatir of Libération stated, "most inhabitants of these ghettos do not approve of their [those involved] senseless destruction". continued to claim that, since there is no political motivation behind the actions of youths, the violence is purely "blind rage against injustice and inequality".When even French rappers, such as the social lyricist, shurik’N, disseminate awareness of the ever-present aggression within the cités, it beggars belief that the government are yet to act for the long-term. Not that it is likely that dominique de Villepin listens to rap music in between cabinet meetings, but this fact is, nonetheless, demonstrative of the administration’s ignorance of or, worse still, insensibility to the burgeoning social conflicts in their own country. in fact, it is completely deaf to such problems, as it collects no information about issues such as academic success or failure of distinct social or ethnic groups under the impression that they are preserving égalité. as such, it is impossible to know the full extent of the current divides between social groups and so even more difficult to solve them.Quite simply, the government have, for whatever reason, failed to move for preventative, or at least containing, actions. This is surely a fault of government. They have surely let down the people who they represent. Yet, this is sadly not the case. democracy, far from representing the people, represents only those who elect the government or, in fact, only those who will vote for them next time. with this in mind, long-term plans are rarely implemented. Moreover, social divides are maintained, as some groups will always be neglected by an elected government. even a Labour government, albeit a New Labour government, has increased the gap between rich and poor.So, while we might bandy about the idea of democracy as the route to social freedom, even invade a country or two on our crusade of ideals, let us stop for a moment, perhaps longer, and reflect on the limitations of the system we share with the rest of the western world. Of course, enjoy your personal freedoms, while the wheels of democracy still turn, but appreciate that they are driven by someone else, who can stamp on the brakes at any moment.ARCHIVE: 6th week MT 2005