Youth Opportunities

Some people have the strangest ideas about the purposes of private companies. Their primary legal and moral purpose is to make a profit for their shareholders, and the present religious orthodoxy dictates that there should be as few restraints as possible on their opportunity to fulfil this unimpeachably virtuous function. Nevertheless, even after more than four decades of ever-increasing national zeal in the service of that holy doctrine, there remain a few who are still capable of wondering why, for instance, private companies in charge of children in care should put the interests of their investors above those of the merchandise. Certain stiff-necked and recalcitrant elements have even gone so far as to suggest that the spectacle of companies taking cash-strapped councils for every penny in return for substandard services might indicate some sort of flaw in the sublime perfection of market forces. The British solution, of course, will be to get the children into the labour market as fast as possible (the National Johnson's commitment to the environment will surely soon endow us with a healthy demand for chimney-sweeps) so that they can start earning enough to buy shares in their own accommodation and improve conditions for themselves.