“What is wrong with people nowadays? Why do they all seem to think they are qualified to do things far beyond their technical capabilities? This is all to do with the learning culture in schools. It is a consequence of the child-centred system which admits no failure and tells people they can all be pop stars, High Court judges, brilliant TV presenters or even infinitely more competent heads of state without ever putting in the necessary effort or having abilities. It’s social utopianism which believes humanity can be genetically and socially re-engineered to contradict the lessons of history.”
— Prince Charles
“As the need to proclaim oneself as an individal becomes more urgent, it is no longer sufficient to simply be a deacon or an account executive. One must, always, be more than what one is, constantly reinventing, constantly announcing. Once, it was enough to be recognized in your community to be somebody in your own small town or neighbourhood. Those days are over… people now crave a different sort of authenticity. Increasingly, we are submitting ourselves to a different sort of authority — the mercurial world of fabricated, mass-produced, instantaneous stardom.”
— Hal Niedzviecki, Hello, I’m Special