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Brooklyn Beckham a barista? It's real life, but not as we know it Brooklyn Beckham a barista? It's real life, but not as we know it
(35 minutes later)
When it comes to putting your children to work, celebrities have an odd affinity with families at the opposite end of the wealth spectrum. Children from poor families need to work in order to support their parent or parents, something that was brought into sharp relief when the education maintenance allowance was cut in 2010. Enriched 21st-century celebrity kids, meanwhile, are sent on to film sets and into music studios. The Jaden Smiths of this world are out there working hard for mom and pop, learning the value of a multi-million dollar three-picture deal, grafting hard for that cross-platform branding tie-in.When it comes to putting your children to work, celebrities have an odd affinity with families at the opposite end of the wealth spectrum. Children from poor families need to work in order to support their parent or parents, something that was brought into sharp relief when the education maintenance allowance was cut in 2010. Enriched 21st-century celebrity kids, meanwhile, are sent on to film sets and into music studios. The Jaden Smiths of this world are out there working hard for mom and pop, learning the value of a multi-million dollar three-picture deal, grafting hard for that cross-platform branding tie-in.
But whereas ordinary teenagers get jobs for a variety of reasons – money, independence, experience and so on – the children of the super-wealthy get them to exploit contacts or as a PR exercise. Which is why we shouldn't rush to pat David and Victoria Beckham on the back following the news that their 15-year-old son Brooklyn is apparently about to begin work in a west London coffee shop.But whereas ordinary teenagers get jobs for a variety of reasons – money, independence, experience and so on – the children of the super-wealthy get them to exploit contacts or as a PR exercise. Which is why we shouldn't rush to pat David and Victoria Beckham on the back following the news that their 15-year-old son Brooklyn is apparently about to begin work in a west London coffee shop.
There is a story about the Roman emperor Nero who, because he came to rule over the empire when he was only 17, was given two advisers to guide his way, the Stoic philosopher Seneca and the Praetorian guard Burrus. Both were meant to provide young Nero with sage counsel, and both did until they were deemed to have betrayed the emperor. Seneca was forced to commit suicide after apparently conspiring to assassinate Nero, and Burrus was poisoned after he lost his influence over the ruler who is best known for having most of his family killed, persecuting Christians and "fiddling while Rome burned" in a fire many Romans believed he started.There is a story about the Roman emperor Nero who, because he came to rule over the empire when he was only 17, was given two advisers to guide his way, the Stoic philosopher Seneca and the Praetorian guard Burrus. Both were meant to provide young Nero with sage counsel, and both did until they were deemed to have betrayed the emperor. Seneca was forced to commit suicide after apparently conspiring to assassinate Nero, and Burrus was poisoned after he lost his influence over the ruler who is best known for having most of his family killed, persecuting Christians and "fiddling while Rome burned" in a fire many Romans believed he started.
And now we have a modern day emperor in Café Nero. The point here is not that Brooklyn Beckham is a psychopath Roman ruler, but that it may already be too late for him, such is the rarefied oxygen he breathes. This is not his fault, and it's not really his parents' fault either. The overlords of our society are the super-rich, and when we congratulate them for being "normal" like us we are doing nothing more than faithfully serving the celebrity industrial complex by applauding an imagined "specialness". "Lo, here is Brooklyn, walking among us," we say to ourselves as we imagine him brilliantly fixing us a flat white. These people are not special, they are simply rich. And now we have a modern day emperor in Caffè Nero. The point here is not that Brooklyn Beckham is a psychopath Roman ruler, but that it may already be too late for him, such is the rarefied oxygen he breathes. This is not his fault, and it's not really his parents' fault either. The overlords of our society are the super-rich, and when we congratulate them for being "normal" like us we are doing nothing more than faithfully serving the celebrity industrial complex by applauding an imagined "specialness". "Lo, here is Brooklyn, walking among us," we say to ourselves as we imagine him brilliantly fixing us a flat white. These people are not special, they are simply rich.
I had some part-time jobs when I was a teenager – I worked on a sports course, I looked after a baby during the day while her mother was at work, and I worked in the kitchen of a pub – but at the end of the day I didn't go back to Beckingham Palace, I went back to my parents' house. My sense of normality came from my everyday life, of which weekend and holiday jobs were only a part. Yes, I worked with people who were considerably less fortunate than me. The fact that I worked with them did not mean that I understood how hard their life was.I had some part-time jobs when I was a teenager – I worked on a sports course, I looked after a baby during the day while her mother was at work, and I worked in the kitchen of a pub – but at the end of the day I didn't go back to Beckingham Palace, I went back to my parents' house. My sense of normality came from my everyday life, of which weekend and holiday jobs were only a part. Yes, I worked with people who were considerably less fortunate than me. The fact that I worked with them did not mean that I understood how hard their life was.
Of course, I was enriched by the jobs I had when I was a teenager. At the sports course I learned that the growing hysteria around paedophilia had led to a series of ridiculous and unenforceable rules being laid down that, if I had followed them, would have had me throwing six-year-old children off my back all day long. Looking after the baby, I learned how to change nappies and that a callow white youth will be given second glances when walking a Chinese toddler round a playground. In the kitchen, I learned how to sing Sting songs in Polish.Of course, I was enriched by the jobs I had when I was a teenager. At the sports course I learned that the growing hysteria around paedophilia had led to a series of ridiculous and unenforceable rules being laid down that, if I had followed them, would have had me throwing six-year-old children off my back all day long. Looking after the baby, I learned how to change nappies and that a callow white youth will be given second glances when walking a Chinese toddler round a playground. In the kitchen, I learned how to sing Sting songs in Polish.
It's all a rich tapestry, isn't it? And yet here I am using an innocent 15-year-old boy to make a point about how myopically obsessed our society has become with wealth. The real problem is that now that the job is in the public eye, it is divested of any "real life" significance and can only be lauded in a PR-contaminated world. The growing concentration of wealth into the hand of the few reinforces the unbridgeable gulf between us. Brooklyn, alas, is part of that.It's all a rich tapestry, isn't it? And yet here I am using an innocent 15-year-old boy to make a point about how myopically obsessed our society has become with wealth. The real problem is that now that the job is in the public eye, it is divested of any "real life" significance and can only be lauded in a PR-contaminated world. The growing concentration of wealth into the hand of the few reinforces the unbridgeable gulf between us. Brooklyn, alas, is part of that.