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Kind of reminds me of the Yes, Minister episode "The Compassionate Society" Bernard: In fact, there are only 342 administrative staff at the hospital. The othe

Kind of reminds me of the Yes, Minister episode "The Compassionate Society" Bernard: In fact, there are only 342 administrative staff at the hospital. The other 170 are porters, cleaners, laundry workers, cooks, etc. Hacker: And medical staff? Bernard: Oh, none of them. Hacker: None? Bernard: No! Hacker: We are talking about St Edward's Hospital? Bernard: Yes. It's brand-new and fully-staffed. Unfortunately, there were cutbacks, so there was no money for medical services. Hacker: A hospital with over 500 non-medical staff and no patients?

hedora 2y ago
In the US, it’s similar, except there are still patients. You might think I am kidding: I remember going in once for something minor. The receptionist, admissions nurse, doctor, and blood draw nurse all had “volunteer” badges on, and the company running the building proudly claimed it was a non-profit. The only person without a volunteer badge processed my credit card payment. They billed my insurance 500% the national average for some routine bloodwork.
- ta988 2y ago
  And the volunteers were probably trying to get some hours to be finally accepted in a program...
FredPret 2y ago
That show - and Yes, Prime Minister - is a triumph
- labster 2y ago
  Yes, Minister is amazingly relevant and fresh for a TV show from the last century. Human nature rarely changes, and bureacracy changes even more rarely.
  - FredPret 2y ago
    In the unlikely event that someone who enjoyed Yes Minister is unaware of Blackadder, that's another good one.
  - jacobolus 2y ago
    It's a very funny show with crisp writing and nice comedic delivery by good actors, and there are plenty of characters to recognize from any large institution including public ones, but on the whole it's basically superficial Thatcherite propaganda made by people who aren't trying to convey real understanding of the systems they're criticizing or consider the context or alternatives. A real Chesterton's fence situation. You can see where a few decades of the same soundbyte-driven antisocial mentality has landed the UK; Brexit is the coup de grâce.
    - kstenerud 2y ago
      Of course they're not considering the context or alternatives. They're holding up a mirror; nothing more. This is a comedy show, not a political science thesis. In fact, they went to great lengths to avoid making the show content partisan. It was ridiculing the system, not any parties in particular. I fail to see in what way this is a Chesterton's fence situation... They're not recommending any course of action at all; merely showing what a mess politics can be.
      - jacobolus 2y ago
        The ridicule is (well written) cheap laughs from a mostly Thatcherite direction. The same ostensible critique of "the system" (i.e. the British civil service) was a cornerstone of Thatcher's whole career and political movement. They didn't need to specify parties, and it's no surprise why it was Thatcher's favorite show. It's a similar mindset as Reagan's "The nine most terrifying words in the English language are 'I'm from the government and I’m here to help.'" Sure, folks should have some healthy skepticism of unsolicited offers from anyone including the government, but adopted literally this mindset is totally corrosive to a functioning society. It's almost a human universal that existing complex systems are frustrating to ideologues who don't yet understand how anything works but have big dreams of radical transformation to match their own imagination and are then confronted by push-back from many directions. Criticizing complex systems is easy: they're always full of apparent (and real) inefficiencies, inconsistencies, etc. Understanding how they function and how they came about is a lot harder, requiring a capacity for nuance, humility, and years of effort. In practice those slogans and jokes turned out to be smokescreen for a massive grift, privatizing previously public institutions and resources to the benefit of a few close buddies, shredding labor rights, institutionalizing more overt and personally profitable forms of corruption, dismantling or undermining all sorts of systems set up to protect people from harm, and generally undermining the social fabric for the benefit of the wealthy. By all means, watch and enjoy the show. Just don't take it too literally or base your public policy on it.
- MattPalmer1086 2y ago
  They are brilliant. Been rewatching all of them with my son over the last few months. Funny, great characters, and nice observations on the nature of power and people. Still amazingly relevant.

hedora 2y ago

In the US, it’s similar, except there are still patients. You might think I am kidding: I remember going in once for something minor. The receptionist, admissions nurse, doctor, and blood draw nurse all had “volunteer” badges on, and the company running the building proudly claimed it was a non-profit. The only person without a volunteer badge processed my credit card payment. They billed my insurance 500% the national average for some routine bloodwork.

ta988 2y ago
And the volunteers were probably trying to get some hours to be finally accepted in a program...

FredPret 2y ago

That show - and Yes, Prime Minister - is a triumph

labster 2y ago
Yes, Minister is amazingly relevant and fresh for a TV show from the last century. Human nature rarely changes, and bureacracy changes even more rarely.
- FredPret 2y ago
  In the unlikely event that someone who enjoyed Yes Minister is unaware of Blackadder, that's another good one.
- jacobolus 2y ago
  It's a very funny show with crisp writing and nice comedic delivery by good actors, and there are plenty of characters to recognize from any large institution including public ones, but on the whole it's basically superficial Thatcherite propaganda made by people who aren't trying to convey real understanding of the systems they're criticizing or consider the context or alternatives. A real Chesterton's fence situation. You can see where a few decades of the same soundbyte-driven antisocial mentality has landed the UK; Brexit is the coup de grâce.
  - kstenerud 2y ago
    Of course they're not considering the context or alternatives. They're holding up a mirror; nothing more. This is a comedy show, not a political science thesis. In fact, they went to great lengths to avoid making the show content partisan. It was ridiculing the system, not any parties in particular. I fail to see in what way this is a Chesterton's fence situation... They're not recommending any course of action at all; merely showing what a mess politics can be.
    - jacobolus 2y ago
      The ridicule is (well written) cheap laughs from a mostly Thatcherite direction. The same ostensible critique of "the system" (i.e. the British civil service) was a cornerstone of Thatcher's whole career and political movement. They didn't need to specify parties, and it's no surprise why it was Thatcher's favorite show. It's a similar mindset as Reagan's "The nine most terrifying words in the English language are 'I'm from the government and I’m here to help.'" Sure, folks should have some healthy skepticism of unsolicited offers from anyone including the government, but adopted literally this mindset is totally corrosive to a functioning society. It's almost a human universal that existing complex systems are frustrating to ideologues who don't yet understand how anything works but have big dreams of radical transformation to match their own imagination and are then confronted by push-back from many directions. Criticizing complex systems is easy: they're always full of apparent (and real) inefficiencies, inconsistencies, etc. Understanding how they function and how they came about is a lot harder, requiring a capacity for nuance, humility, and years of effort. In practice those slogans and jokes turned out to be smokescreen for a massive grift, privatizing previously public institutions and resources to the benefit of a few close buddies, shredding labor rights, institutionalizing more overt and personally profitable forms of corruption, dismantling or undermining all sorts of systems set up to protect people from harm, and generally undermining the social fabric for the benefit of the wealthy. By all means, watch and enjoy the show. Just don't take it too literally or base your public policy on it.
MattPalmer1086 2y ago
They are brilliant. Been rewatching all of them with my son over the last few months. Funny, great characters, and nice observations on the nature of power and people. Still amazingly relevant.