Ephemeral Optimism - The X Factor

The X Factor

Why do people enjoy The X Factor?

Every year, The X Factor returns to our screens seemingly with universal appeal, ubiquitously on TV screens up and down the country.  What appeals?

The more cultured amongst proclaim distain, but secretly admire.  Their yearning for 'highbrow' is, somewhat, served up by the BBC's Strictly - albeit highbrow in the loosest sense.

Yet, The X Factor offers something quite human - ephemeral optimism.  Tangible, emotional performances strike a chord in the goodness of people who harbor support for the underdog.  The passion to achieve, the drive to win and the openness and honesty of contestants is strong currency in a world ruled by professional incognito, bravado and masks.

The short lived opportunity for people to transcend reality by warming to those who bare all is welcomed by its audience.   A receptive highly tuned-in audience can calibrate natural compassion towards those on screen, bringing the atmosphere and tacit emotions of the performer into the home.

Everybody dreams, few actualize and put them into practice  - The X Factor temporarily suspends reality and allows people to transpose themselves into an alternative existence, it's the provision of this vehicle which makes The X Factor a special show.

Although not all people conceptualize the show in this way, they have a predilection for other attributes.  The deprecatory humor of deluded contestants is also of appeal, yet this only applies in the early stages of the show.  Towards the later stages the buffoons are weeded out leaving those with (license to be subjective) 'real talent' left.  The corollary, therefore, is that the relationship between contestant/viewer builds to a point where genuine affection is nurtured, and even bereavement manifests when the remaining contestants leave the show.

The longevity of The X Factor is proof that raw humanistic qualities have the power to captivate.

Two sorts of people exist, those that admit they like The X Factor, and those who don't.  Neither is better than the other, but where you fall in this dichotomy - and more importantly - why you are located on either side, is indicate of natural, social dispositions.

Happy to have a job? The reasons why we're not

If you were born in the 1980s you might well be forgiven for thinking that if you worked hard, studied hard, went to university you would be O.K.  Right?  Wrong, for most people this was a lie.  Now you've accumulated the debt (and the degree(s)) you're being pitted against each other to fight for poor wages, abysmal career opportunities and a future consisting of some of the longest working hours in Europe.  Was this what your parents expected when they drilled you with the idea of a good education?  No, probably not.  So who’s to blame?

Firstly, the government, and their insatiable appetite for deregulation and their obsession with The City.  They kindly opened the door for a select handful to make millions, if not billions, through their neoliberal economic policies which carved a Grand Canyon divide between the rich and the poor.  They were tripping over themselves to lay down the red carpet for lower interest rates, and in doing so built the strong pound that suffocated British manufacturing exports and at the same time outsourced public sector jobs.  With the overwhelming majority of National Income disseminated amongst the top few there’s less pie to go around.  Less money equals fewer jobs, which means less spending, which results in a recession.

Secondly, blame the innate avaricious tendencies by those who have the power to employ.  We are living through an age where there are more skilled people than skilled jobs.  Since 1980 the labour force in the OECD has quintupled.  So, by nature of supply and demand, wages, along with opportunities, are decreasing.  Unfortunately this has been pounced upon by employers who are seeking to pay as little as possible (mostly minimum wage, £6.19 per hour) for skilled, educated, bright people.  This pathetic remuneration is somewhat short of the £7.40 per hour stated to be the minimum for a ‘living-wage’ by UNISON, 2010.  There is no justification for not meeting the living wage other than to raise profit margins.  The perfect storm has been created in which businesses can flourish; labour costs are low and access to educated people has never been cheaper. 

So if you’re looking for someone to blame for your bleak career outlook, the unanswered job applications, the low wages, the lack of career progression and the job agency spelling tests that mock your degree(s) then start at around 1980 and you’re in the right place.  Since that decade the elite have been carefully crafting and manipulating society so it fits them like a snuggly glove, the rest of us, have to be ‘happy’ that we have a job. 

To finish with, it’s also worth noting we’ve had a Conservative Government, a Labour Government and a Conservative/Liberal Government in that time, so it doesn’t matter who was in power, the elite will always be able to protect themselves.