Perdido 03

Perdido 03

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Daily Mail Tells Unemployed Graduates To Work Like They're In A Concentration Camp

Such good advice from Dominique Jackson at the Daily Mail:

The Daily Mail has been embarrassed into deleting an offensive paragraph from an online contribution to its website.

A piece headlined Why our new legions of unemployed graduates need to adjust their expectations, by Dominique Jackson, contained this extraordinary paragraph:

"The German slogan 'Arbeit Macht Frei' is somewhat tainted by its connection with Nazi concentration camps, but its essential message, 'work sets you free' still has something serious to commend it.

There is dignity to be gained from any job, no matter how menial, and for young people at the start of their careers, there are valuable lessons to be learned from any form of employment, whether that is on the factory floor, on a supermarket till or in the contemporary hard labour camp of a merchant bank or law office."

This grotesque lapse in taste was removed from the article once its presence was revealed on the Twittersphere.

There was no mention of the deletion despite the fact that three (of the 29) commenters on the article - which was posted on 4 July - pointed out that it was entirely inappropriate.

One of them, gloworm, glos, wrote: "Somewhat tainted? By the deaths of considerably more than a million men, women and children? I understand the point you are making, but to write off a phrase like 'Arbeit Macht Frei' as somewhat tainted demonstrates such a complete lack of feeling for context that... Christ, words fail me."


What's the death of millions when we're talking about the dignity of work here?

There is nothing more important than the dignity of work.

Ugh.

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