''Well, I would have thought that being bored stiff for three quarters of the time was an excellent preparation for working live.'' Excellently summed up, as always.
@@tachikomakusanagi3744 as a side note the original translation for this sentence is 1:23 Si tacuisses, philosophus mansissis If you were quiter, you would have remained a philosopher
the writers often met with MP's like we see in the show, bribed them with fine meals out. So most the episodes were based on true events. Theres a documentary on here about it where former MP's even said "we had a leak. They knew everything going on in westminster"
“We’re supposed to be preparing children for working life. 3/4 of the time they’re bored stiff” “Well I’d have thought been bored 3/4 of the time would be perfect preparation for working life” 😂😂 As funny and true today as it was 35 years ago
However now in 2021 we have smartphones and laptops to watch UA-cam whilst we are bored at work. In 1988 when this was made they did not have that option.
No it makes sense, No department would ever "return" money if they no longer had a use for it. That's an appalling suggestion. They all have a fixed budget and unless that changes they always get the amount promised regardless on what they spend it on.
@@Iason29 I new someone who was in an artillery militia regiment and yep, they would literally go out before fiscal year end and fire off their inventory of shells. Not even the rudiments of an exercise, just reducing inventory for the sake of doing so. And that's in the Canadian military which hardly over-funded.
I love YM and YPM; Jim's the guy who doesn't know what he's doing, Humphrey's the guy who knows what he would do if he could and Bernard's the one who helps steer the guy who doesn't know what he's doing because he knows being under the guy who doesn't know what he's doing's better than being under the guy who knows what he'd do if he could!
You would learn a lot more by simply watching Yes, Minister and Yes, Prime Minister series than studying Politics at any reputable university. Simply brilliant and timeless 👏👏👏👏👏
@@monarchist1838 my friend attends the LSE (Hacker's alma mater) and they played the Yes Minister clip where they discuss the role of government for a graduate level course
Latin for those who wish to learn it and the literal translations. Tempora Mutantur, nos et mutamur in illis. - Times change and we change with them. Si Tacuisses, philosophus mansisses. - If you had been silent, you would have remained a philosopher. Interestingly enough, although 'if you had been silent' is attributed to the 5th and 6th century philosopher Boethius, it is not a direct quote. It appears in his seminal work 'The consolations of philosophy', second book, prose seven. The quote in latin is as follows: "Iam tandem", inquit, "intellegis me esse philosophum?" Tum ille nimium mordaciter: "Intellexeram", inquit, "si tacuisses". This translates as, "Now, at last," he said, "do you know me to be a philosopher?" Then he (someone else) with excessive venom replied, "I would have, had you remained silent." This is probably from whence the quote came. The context is a short parable told by Boethius of two men, one of whom was falsely claiming to be a philosopher in order to seek fame and reputation (instead of true virtue). The other man saw through the ruse and sought to prove his companion a deceiver by attacking him with vicious insults. If the so-called philosopher bore them with patience and meekness, then he was a real philosopher. The poser did actually bare the vitriol for awhile, but soon enough asked in exasperation, "Do you finally see now that I'm a philosopher?" To which, of course, his friend replied. "I would have, had you remained silent." Si tacuisses, philosophus mansisses is a nice, witty summarisation of the incident, if not Boethius' original words.
Since when has silence been a virtue, or the truth been a secret. To speak out against evil, and to speak up for good is true philosophy, in my opinion. I am not schooled or versed in Latin, nor do I want to be, but I can clearly gather and grasp the gist and the meaning of these phrases by just listening to them. Does not make them true. If anything at all that quote from Boethius, though not by Sir Nigel Hawthorne declares his own ignorance. If he were a true philosopher by his own definition, he should have remained quiet, and resisted the urge to voice this wisdom and to quip. Could any of us who agree with this falsely extolled Boethius character possibly be virtuous ? Was Boethius himself virtuous by his own definition of virtue ? Si tacuisses, philosophus mansisses applies only to him.There is the gospel, which is both the first word and the last word of god for you which is; "You will always eat your own word and you will always keep your own word. Your word is your only food and your word is your only bond."
"Tempora Mutantur, nos et mutamur in illis" Very true, indeed. When I was a boy, this was one of the Latin phrases that almost every educated person knew: it had virtually crossed the language barrier to become part of English. Not any more. Mind you, one doesn't meet many Ancient Romans these days: time and effort would be better spent learning modern languages, notably Chinese, Japanese, Russian, and Arabic.
"I should have thought being bored stiff 3/4ths of the time was an excellent preparation for working life" and "we raised it to keep teenagers off the job market and hold down the unemployment figures" are a decent chunk of the actual truth, along with free daycare for kids too young to work.
A question was asked recently in the editorial of one of Australia's major daily newspapers....." What would Sir Humphrey have thought about it ? " Almost every Australian of a certain age , knew to whom the editor was referring. Never tire of watching re-runs, thanks to UA-cam. Les Griffiths
Jim argues for teaching Latin when he, like many of us, only knows a few words and phrases. To prove the point Humphrey responds in Latin. It cracked me up.
Germany, a few years ago: far right politican Björn Höcke publicly demanded more German poems being taught in German schools. A student newspaper interviewed him a few days later and asked "What's your favorite German poem?" no response :)
@@quineloe It seems Hocke was just posturing. However, while my education regretably lacked music and art education I think those should be taught.We can know the value of something even if we haven't experienced personally. For Jim, his view the teaching of Latin is similar to when people think some past era had some special quality that they think is missing today.
@@michaelbayer5094The thing ther was, German poems are taught in school a lot. Señor Höcke was probably just out to fetch chalk that lesson, like he was during history class.
This clip is painfully true. The whole education systém is a joke. Having worked in The system for 10 years and been to school, university and technical colleges they are not there for the students, they are there for political reasons. I love education but I detest The system.
@anderson _"Today it's used by the modern left to create people in the first world willing to vote for the same old ideas that made starving slaves of the people in the 2nd world."_ If you really believe this bullshit you just wrote, you are mentally crippled, especially considering the strength of liberal and conservative forces in western politics.
@anderson So to you the centrist liberals are left-wing? One of the signs that the US American spectrum is shifted a good bit to the right. Most of the American press, note here that I am not American, is owned and controlled by the establishment. Said establishment is obviously mostly (neo)liberal with some conservative aspects, like most of the establishment in the western world. (Better question: How often do you hear people on CNN or MSNBC talk about seizing the means of production or arguing in favor of unions or democratized workplaces?! That would make them really left-wing.) I also recommend you reading/looking up "Manufacturing Consent". You calling the establishment elites and their media "left-wing" doesn't make it true. It just shows that you are pretty far right and probably not very well educated on the various political movements and their goals, or atleast that you just whole-heartedly bought into the right-wing propaganda. Also... American "conservatives" (as a European I would rather call them neoliberal cryptofascists) usually tend to not argue with facts, science or thorough reasoning, but instead resort to things like strawmanning ("THE LEFT WANTS TO REMOVE GENDER AND DESTROY COUNTRIES! MIMIMI!") and missinformation ("BERNIES POLICIES WILL DOOM US! LOOK AT THE SOVIET UNION!", when in reality his policies are more in line with "social democracy") whereby which they also tend to showcase their extreme ignorance/lack of education. A lot of American conservatives also claim to be Christian and then turn around and defend "free market" abominations and wealthy people *despite* the Christian teachings. (i.e. the camel and the eye of a needle, etc.) The core of my argumentation is: If the American "conservatives" would actually be sane conservatives, by maybe looking towards people like Bismarck, then they probably would be better represented. At the moment they tend to be a puppet for the Koch Bros. and other interest groups, much like the establishment Democrats are puppets to Wall Street and high tech companies. (Changes seem to start occuring now though. So who knows if what I wrote here will still be valid in ~4 years.) I am not very hopeful that the "conservatives" in the US will understand these things anytime soon though, considering how much trouble I usually have explaining to them that, for instance, the German healthcare system first got created by the *conservative pragmatist* Bismarck. (In order to calm down the left-wing, which, together with other measures, worked extremely well considering that Germany was ruled by conservative forces for most of its history and currently still is.) Especially considering the higher profile politicians it's like they don't even possess much education on the philosophical and international background of their political movement. All they care about is the emotional appeal to conservatism and religious people in order to get votes, all the while they try to push through corrupted legislation tainted by the hands of lobbyists and lawyers of mulitnational corporations or your very own MIC.
I cannot belive how clever this show is by modern standards. Nor can I fathom why youtube started to recomend clips from it. But for once the algorithm did something right, I'll watch this series for sure.
@@thedukeofswellington1827 Hacker's was no recognisable UK party. White rosette at the election result count, party HQ was a mash of other party HQ names, but no, he'd not be part of the Establishment. Former editor of "Reform" so his journalist background would probably make him sceptical of the party Grandees of whichever persuasion.
The irony is that Yes Prime Minister was designed as a satire of the civil service, but the more I watch the more I find myself agreeing with Sir Humphrey.
@@elta6241 I understand the series. May be I was not clear, Likes of Sir Humphrey used to run things but not anymore unfortunately. Now a days, civil service have lost most of its power thanks to Thatcher and the country now is run by likes of Sir Desmond and Jim Hacker. I wish things go back to the old ways.
So the school leaving age was increased to 16 to keep teenagers out of the work force and bolster unemployment figures? And for years I thought that the reason was to increase the general level of education of young people. How naive I was.
It's also the reason why those spending 3 years at £9,000/yr to study Cheese Appreciation at the University of Little Dunny on the Wold are magically not counted in the unemployment figures.
It's more of a case that with an ageing population we can keep people in schools longer while still keeping roughly the same fraction of the population working.
Amazing show, well written and acted. Even to the day (Aug 2019) it is so funny, even when I watched the whole series nearly 4 times and I will watch it again after some time, this show will never ever die out. It is stay on top no matter what. RIP for the actors. They brought the characters to life. Good on them.
The beauty of the watching this show on youtube is that the wit and humour in the comment section is an additional incentive to keep coming back. In honour of this being a British show, I refuse to let the auto spellcheck ruin it even though I am in the US
And through out the world the voting age was set down to 18 to increase the voter pool for corrupt politicians without merit and target the most vulnerable ages that are more prone to propaganda as scientifically they are still in the development phase, whereas people that young are often incapable of making serious political decision so young, unless it is an exceptional society with an excellent education system, meaning teenagers with characters like adults, which is rare. I can't remember exactly but i think in Ancient Greece for example the voting age was much higher for that reason. People should vote when they are 21 or 22 at least. Its weird cause I think in the US they force people not to drink unless they are 21, so the government gives the message, you are not mature enough to consume alcohol responsibly but you can responsibly determine the country's political future, doesn't make sense.
@@Iason29 it's one of those weird contradictions... you can join the military at 17, vote at 18, and drink at 21... is it all arbitrary? Yes and no. You have to have young people in the military. It's physically demanding and you need people who are trainable. Raising the age on that is impractical (unless every other country does the same, which they wouldn't). Drinking at 21 actually makes a lot of sense when you consider how stupid and reckless sober teenagers can be! And lowering the voting age to 18 at least makes it seem that as a society you're trying to be a truly democratic as possible by allowing as many as is reasonable to participate... So really, they all make sense when taken separately. It's when you list them together that it seems to go out the window! "What the heck? I can vote and get shot at in some dessert, but heaven forbid I crack open a beer with a friend?!"
@@Iason29 the drinking age being 21 in the US has to do with the federal government withholding highway funding to states that didn't raise the minimum age to that number. A few states, like Wisconsin, held out until the 1980s. The drinking age of 21 is not based on sound scientific knowledge, just the lobbying efforts of groups like Mothers Against Drunk Driving. At any rate, it's not the government's job to "give people the message" of when they are responsible enough to drink. In any case, the drinking age is rarely enforced. Most college students have fake IDs and know which bars accept them. In cities with public transport like NYC, drunk driving is of little concern. Most universities have "safe ride" shuttles that pick up students from local hangouts, including bars.
"I once had to write an essay on 'How true to life is Yes, Minister'", he recalled. "I think I wrote… that it wasn't true to life. I can tell you, as prime minister, it is true to life." - David Cameron
Unfortunately, decentralized armies become subject to the whims of local authorities and become much more difficult to coordinate. See the lackluster performance of militias during the Independence and Slaver wars.
This is so true. In Sweden a couple of decades ago the schools were handed down from being a state (i.e. centralised) responsibility to being a municipal (i.e. decentralised) responsibility. The results? Schools became worse and the inequality between schools skyrocketed. Rich municipalities got good schools, poor ones got bad schools. Go figure.
In the UK there is a trend to having schools run themselves independent municipal or central state control. On the whole it kinda works, but most people agree that its not the change in ownership that makes it better but the change in management with a renewed focus.
@@changer_of_ways_999 dunno about that, look at the US. they have turned their education system into a finely tuned machine to keep the poor in their place.
“Has it ever struck you that life is all memory, except for the one present moment that goes by you so quick you hardly catch it going?”― Tennessee Williams..................
One of the Greatest shows ever! I never get bored of it, I watched it hundreds of times and up to now I never get bored! Amazing and it is great, I loved it when Bernard put the note book and pen in the PM face, it just does not get any funnier than that and I laugh ever time! Too bad it was for only 5 seasons and nearly 6 episodes per season- for both.
1:50 "What's the use of it? I can't even call upon it in conversation with the Prime Minister of Great Britain." Brilliant toff's insult I could imagine Little Moggie emulating back in the day. Deserving of more laughs.
I learned arithmetic / math in public school well enough that I can round questions like that off. 3947 divided by 73 can be roughly rounded off to 4000 divided by 80, which is 50. (The exact answer is 54.07) Not exact, but, as the saying goes, 'close enough for government work',
I must say, what Sir Humphrey says towards the end of the video about why education is bad, is essentially the current view of the Conservatives and it makes me laugh just thinking about it. This proves Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister are still relevant and still highlight Westminster's political attitudes 30 years later!
to call this "british humour" is like calling the greatest avocado you ever tasted in decades living in a country, as "the country's avocados". The brilliance of that program has never occurred again before or since.
BWWAAAAhahahhahahaa.... Sir Humphrey Appleby : Si tacuisses, philosophus mansisses. James Hacker: What does that mean? Sir Humphrey Appleby: If you'd kept your mouth shut, we might have thought you were clever.
A lot of people say that Americans don't 'get' this humor. However, I couldn't stop laughing when the pencil and paper immediately appeared, right after the PM said that he would need them.
Information Please Since I am unsure as to whether you are taking the piss or being serious, let me respond to your statement. So, all those who live in the US are flag-waving, beer swilling dolts, eh? There is no room for people who are ashamed of the superficiality of their society, people or culture? Moreover, Americans are so ignorant that they don't even know their own history? They are in denial about what where they came from, and what this country was founded upon? Wow, you must have been around some real wankers.
@@gregb6469 America is the master of the sitcom AND stand-up comedy. Plenty of great comedy writers and comedians. Don't look at Hollyweird hacks like Adam Sandler and "comedic actors".
> What is American humor supposed to be, The Three Stooges doing slapstick? Some foul-mouthed stand-up comic? American humour is brash, coarse, and obvious. British humour is subtle.
In the 90s my teachers used to tell we wouldn't always be carrying a calculator around with us. They told me that my poor handwriting would mean I would be unable to get a job; now all job applications are done online or via electronic documents.
2:44 - In 1974. the new Yugoslav constitution allowed each constituent republic to have its own state security service (supposedly subordinate to the federal state security service). It is actually a testament to the country's motto - "Brotherhood and unity" that the inevitable civil war and break-up started 17 years later rather than just 3 weeks...
Its not uncommon for federal states to have some local paramilitary security force in the various 'states'. The US has the National Guard. Of course the US these days tends to exert a lot more direct control over the state National Guards than the yugoslav state did over its own equivalent. Intetestingly these forces almost always end up in conflict with the central government in times of internal crisis be it economic or political.
Having gone to school in the 60s / 70s and had a very mixed education, I was pleased by the standard of education my kids got in the last two decades. Both mine and theirs were state schools. One noticeable difference was they didn't get beaten by perverted sadists and kids didn't get mocked for cheap laughs by awful teachers. If you have seen the "another brick in the wall" video you will know what I mean.
I got beaten by my teachers and parents since I was kid with no focus. D too mu g energy... at school in Eastern Europe they turned me into a hard working, driven, competitive guy with respect for the law, a good job in business consulting and really high salary in Japan. If I were to be educated by today's teachers I would be given ADD drugs, therapy, told I'm special and it's my parents fault, be told I'm entitled to everything... I would probably take a BD in Humanities to explore my creativity... And find a minimum job as a barista while complaining on SNS about how life in unfair to woke people like me 🤣
3947 doesn't divide perfectly by 73 it gives 54 to the nearest integer, sure we could use decimals but it's got quite a long read out I don't think he'd be expecting.
I started school before the appearance of calculators, and am grateful to be able to do basic arithmetic in my head. Can be useful when people try to overcharge you. Jim makes a valid point.
Actually it's not. The reason the military is controlled by the Government is because before local barons raised their own militias and that led to the many civil wars that Britain has had over the centuries. Education works similar, if you give more power to local councils for education the jobs market would crash again as qualifications would mean different things in different areas of the country and mean less than they already do.
That is the biggest issue with decentralized, localized small governments which some people are proud of spewing as the superior forms of government. On the other hand, a single centralized command meant that one group of idiots could easily slow down its progress, destroy its quality by beauracracy, laziness and disillusionmeny and kick out potential talents who could be a rival to its misguided leadership. In many cases, I hate centralized command, but having one healthcare insurance, one education system, one military meant that the population can focus on improving that single organization instead of gambling with many.
I like the national education service idea, just pegged to teachers and not schools. After all, NHS is pegged to doctors, not hospitals. The nurses (teachers aids) can help keep discipline so the teachers can actually teach. Also, why does each teacher need to write their own lesson plans? Doctors don't have to write their own surgical procedures.
I dont know about other countries but whenever I watch these videos of YM and YPM I always get a sense that they might be talking about my country. Everything sounds the same, the structure of civil service in India is quite similar.
''Well, I would have thought that being bored stiff for three quarters of the time was an excellent preparation for working live.'' Excellently summed up, as always.
*life
That’s what I told my pupils
I'm genuinely wondering what happens in the other 1/4 of the time
@@tachikomakusanagi3744 as a side note the original translation for this sentence is 1:23
Si tacuisses, philosophus mansissis
If you were quiter, you would have remained a philosopher
My sons teacher recently told me he has to come in to school even when he’s I’ll as it’s good preparation for the world of work.
"Half of them are your enemies anyway and the other half are the sort of friends that make you prefer your enemies."
-Perfect
An even better one, concerning The House: One's opponents sit opposite, one's enemies sit behind...
@@marsvltor2 As Thatcher, Major, May, McDonald and many others can attest to.
@@vinaynk I just made a note of it. Absolutely witty!
Worth memorising. Humphery is so delightfully droll and dry.
That kinda describes society in general
"That's easy none, they'd spend it all on conventional weapons."
Pretty much summed on military spending with that one line.
Accurate commentary on Africans too.
But nukes work much faster normal bombs are to slow!
@@tim19962 look up hydrogen bomb. All the power of atom and none of the fallout. Vapourise your enemies AND be green at the same time!
It sums up all branches of governments. Spending that extra money on anything but the military would be misappropriation of funds.
@@jakubmike5657 Effeciency and progress is ours once more, now that we have the neutron bomb!
Classic British comedy. The standard of writing here is excellent.
Standards have obviously fallen a great deal.
@@zoopyjoobles Nowadays it's all about juvenile, puerile and substandard American humour.
Can you recommend me some of this standard, I can't find any except fawlty towers and some episodes of monty python....
@@warnpassion
American comedy can definitely be funny.
ARUNABHA LAHIRI The Thin Blue Line
That “go away Bernard” kills me every time
They way Bernard puts the pad right in Thacker's face rather than just to hand is brilliant comic awareness
The older I get the more I'm convinced that this is a documentary.
The Prime Minister of Australia thought it was
Literally came here after David Icke mentioned it in his interview with Londonreal and talked about it’s accuracy
@cologne Rect sunt tibe valde, frater ... you're so right, brother!
Many a true word was spoken in jest.
the writers often met with MP's like we see in the show, bribed them with fine meals out. So most the episodes were based on true events. Theres a documentary on here about it where former MP's even said "we had a leak. They knew everything going on in westminster"
“We’re supposed to be preparing children for working life. 3/4 of the time they’re bored stiff”
“Well I’d have thought been bored 3/4 of the time would be perfect preparation for working life”
😂😂 As funny and true today as it was 35 years ago
However now in 2021 we have smartphones and laptops to watch UA-cam whilst we are bored at work. In 1988 when this was made they did not have that option.
''That's easy, none. They'd spend it all on conventional weapons.'' Somehow, he always manages to sum up reality in just a few sentences...
No it makes sense, No department would ever "return" money if they no longer had a use for it. That's an appalling suggestion. They all have a fixed budget and unless that changes they always get the amount promised regardless on what they spend it on.
@@Iason29 I new someone who was in an artillery militia regiment and yep, they would literally go out before fiscal year end and fire off their inventory of shells. Not even the rudiments of an exercise, just reducing inventory for the sake of doing so. And that's in the Canadian military which hardly over-funded.
This show is still horrifyingly accurate even after 30 years.
More accurate actually, education 30 years ago were better...
In the US, our educational system has been increasingly federalized and the results haven't been better.
1980, more like 40 years. (Time flies doesn't it?)
@@Levelworm "...was better..." (But I think I see what you did there... :) )
@@cheeseburger12 and private schools cost exponentially more, on top of everything else, so what's the point?
'Half of them are your enemies and the other half are the sort of friends that would make you prefer your enemies...' classic!
I love YM and YPM;
Jim's the guy who doesn't know what he's doing, Humphrey's the guy who knows what he would do if he could and Bernard's the one who helps steer the guy who doesn't know what he's doing because he knows being under the guy who doesn't know what he's doing's better than being under the guy who knows what he'd do if he could!
god that exclamation mark at the end indeed confirms my suspicion of you losing breath reading that long passage out
@@jimmyfong2202 Well, I'm actually a qualified actor so I've better breath control
That's exactly the kind of statement Bernard Woolly would come up with. Sir Humphrey would be impressed with you.
Brilliant theory, says I...
True 2 the Bone!.
You would learn a lot more by simply watching Yes, Minister and Yes, Prime Minister series than studying Politics at any reputable university. Simply brilliant and timeless 👏👏👏👏👏
Are there any reputable universities left, then?
@@DieFlabbergast In first year of politics at my university the lecturer actually played clips of Yes Minister.
@@DieFlabbergast The two universities are no longer reputable?
It’s practically a free education in how government really works.
@@monarchist1838 my friend attends the LSE (Hacker's alma mater) and they played the Yes Minister clip where they discuss the role of government for a graduate level course
Latin for those who wish to learn it and the literal translations.
Tempora Mutantur, nos et mutamur in illis. - Times change and we change with them.
Si Tacuisses, philosophus mansisses. - If you had been silent, you would have remained a philosopher.
Interestingly enough, although 'if you had been silent' is attributed to the 5th and 6th century philosopher Boethius, it is not a direct quote. It appears in his seminal work 'The consolations of philosophy', second book, prose seven.
The quote in latin is as follows: "Iam tandem", inquit, "intellegis me esse philosophum?" Tum ille nimium mordaciter: "Intellexeram", inquit, "si tacuisses". This translates as, "Now, at last," he said, "do you know me to be a philosopher?" Then he (someone else) with excessive venom replied, "I would have, had you remained silent."
This is probably from whence the quote came. The context is a short parable told by Boethius of two men, one of whom was falsely claiming to be a philosopher in order to seek fame and reputation (instead of true virtue). The other man saw through the ruse and sought to prove his companion a deceiver by attacking him with vicious insults. If the so-called philosopher bore them with patience and meekness, then he was a real philosopher. The poser did actually bare the vitriol for awhile, but soon enough asked in exasperation, "Do you finally see now that I'm a philosopher?" To which, of course, his friend replied. "I would have, had you remained silent."
Si tacuisses, philosophus mansisses is a nice, witty summarisation of the incident, if not Boethius' original words.
Sounds like something Bernard would say
I'm glad you cleared that up. I had been having sleepless nights.
Thank you.
Since when has silence been a virtue, or the truth been a secret. To speak out against evil, and to speak up for good is true philosophy, in my opinion. I am not schooled or versed in Latin, nor do I want to be, but I can clearly gather and grasp the gist and the meaning of these phrases by just listening to them. Does not make them true. If anything at all that quote from Boethius, though not by Sir Nigel Hawthorne declares his own ignorance. If he were a true philosopher by his own definition, he should have remained quiet, and resisted the urge to voice this wisdom and to quip. Could any of us who agree with this falsely extolled Boethius character possibly be virtuous ? Was Boethius himself virtuous by his own definition of virtue ? Si tacuisses, philosophus mansisses applies only to him.There is the gospel, which is both the first word and the last word of god for you which is; "You will always eat your own word and you will always keep your own word. Your word is your only food and your word is your only bond."
"Tempora Mutantur, nos et mutamur in illis" Very true, indeed. When I was a boy, this was one of the Latin phrases that almost every educated person knew: it had virtually crossed the language barrier to become part of English. Not any more. Mind you, one doesn't meet many Ancient Romans these days: time and effort would be better spent learning modern languages, notably Chinese, Japanese, Russian, and Arabic.
This show was razor-sharp. It seems hard to believe it was ever made.
Garth Evans Australia's AG in 1986 was asked do politicians watch the show? He replied "Yes but nobody laughs".
I LOL-ed when I read that :-)
Too busy taking notes, I'm sure.
"I should have thought being bored stiff 3/4ths of the time was an excellent preparation for working life" and "we raised it to keep teenagers off the job market and hold down the unemployment figures" are a decent chunk of the actual truth, along with free daycare for kids too young to work.
A question was asked recently in the editorial of one of Australia's major daily newspapers....." What would Sir Humphrey have thought about it ? " Almost every Australian of a certain age , knew to whom the editor was referring. Never tire of watching re-runs, thanks to UA-cam.
Les Griffiths
Simply the best sitcom ever made. A work of genius.
Jim argues for teaching Latin when he, like many of us, only knows a few words and phrases. To prove the point Humphrey responds in Latin. It cracked me up.
Germany, a few years ago: far right politican Björn Höcke publicly demanded more German poems being taught in German schools.
A student newspaper interviewed him a few days later and asked "What's your favorite German poem?"
no response :)
@@quineloe It seems Hocke was just posturing. However, while my education regretably lacked music and art education I think those should be taught.We can know the value of something even if we haven't experienced personally. For Jim, his view the teaching of Latin is similar to when people think some past era had some special quality that they think is missing today.
@@michaelbayer5094The thing ther was, German poems are taught in school a lot. Señor Höcke was probably just out to fetch chalk that lesson, like he was during history class.
he's merely graduate of LSE, basically half literate peasant in the eyes of the 2 Oxford grads there
This clip is painfully true. The whole education systém is a joke. Having worked in The system for 10 years and been to school, university and technical colleges they are not there for the students, they are there for political reasons. I love education but I detest The system.
One would call this ironic...
Ha ha ha...... from what I’ve heard then we Americans are dying in hell.
One thing that is wrong. Education has gotten more controlled by the top and it hasn't gotten better.
@anderson
_"Today it's used by the modern left to create people in the first world willing to vote for the same old ideas that made starving slaves of the people in the 2nd world."_
If you really believe this bullshit you just wrote, you are mentally crippled, especially considering the strength of liberal and conservative forces in western politics.
@anderson So to you the centrist liberals are left-wing? One of the signs that the US American spectrum is shifted a good bit to the right.
Most of the American press, note here that I am not American, is owned and controlled by the establishment. Said establishment is obviously mostly (neo)liberal with some conservative aspects, like most of the establishment in the western world. (Better question: How often do you hear people on CNN or MSNBC talk about seizing the means of production or arguing in favor of unions or democratized workplaces?! That would make them really left-wing.)
I also recommend you reading/looking up "Manufacturing Consent". You calling the establishment elites and their media "left-wing" doesn't make it true. It just shows that you are pretty far right and probably not very well educated on the various political movements and their goals, or atleast that you just whole-heartedly bought into the right-wing propaganda.
Also... American "conservatives" (as a European I would rather call them neoliberal cryptofascists) usually tend to not argue with facts, science or thorough reasoning, but instead resort to things like strawmanning ("THE LEFT WANTS TO REMOVE GENDER AND DESTROY COUNTRIES! MIMIMI!") and missinformation ("BERNIES POLICIES WILL DOOM US! LOOK AT THE SOVIET UNION!", when in reality his policies are more in line with "social democracy") whereby which they also tend to showcase their extreme ignorance/lack of education.
A lot of American conservatives also claim to be Christian and then turn around and defend "free market" abominations and wealthy people *despite* the Christian teachings. (i.e. the camel and the eye of a needle, etc.)
The core of my argumentation is: If the American "conservatives" would actually be sane conservatives, by maybe looking towards people like Bismarck, then they probably would be better represented. At the moment they tend to be a puppet for the Koch Bros. and other interest groups, much like the establishment Democrats are puppets to Wall Street and high tech companies.
(Changes seem to start occuring now though. So who knows if what I wrote here will still be valid in ~4 years.)
I am not very hopeful that the "conservatives" in the US will understand these things anytime soon though, considering how much trouble I usually have explaining to them that, for instance, the German healthcare system first got created by the *conservative pragmatist* Bismarck. (In order to calm down the left-wing, which, together with other measures, worked extremely well considering that Germany was ruled by conservative forces for most of its history and currently still is.)
Especially considering the higher profile politicians it's like they don't even possess much education on the philosophical and international background of their political movement. All they care about is the emotional appeal to conservatism and religious people in order to get votes, all the while they try to push through corrupted legislation tainted by the hands of lobbyists and lawyers of mulitnational corporations or your very own MIC.
This writing is absolutely amazing
I cannot belive how clever this show is by modern standards. Nor can I fathom why youtube started to recomend clips from it. But for once the algorithm did something right, I'll watch this series for sure.
Such a timeless series. So many of the issues parodies are still relevant.
Humphrey had a strict classical education with Latin and he couldn't even use it in conversation with the Prime Minister.
Which makes it all the more funny that Humphrey is the one for modernization.
@R G 🤦🏻♂️
@@thedukeofswellington1827 Hacker's was no recognisable UK party. White rosette at the election result count, party HQ was a mash of other party HQ names, but no, he'd not be part of the Establishment. Former editor of "Reform" so his journalist background would probably make him sceptical of the party Grandees of whichever persuasion.
The irony is that Yes Prime Minister was designed as a satire of the civil service, but the more I watch the more I find myself agreeing with Sir Humphrey.
same
It isn't a satire of the Civil Service. It's a documentary.
I thought I was alone. The more I watch this, the more I prefer that Sir Humphrey run things instead of Hacker.
@@futurethinking You don't understand the series. Sir Humphrey does run things.
@@elta6241 I understand the series. May be I was not clear, Likes of Sir Humphrey used to run things but not anymore unfortunately. Now a days, civil service have lost most of its power thanks to Thatcher and the country now is run by likes of Sir Desmond and Jim Hacker. I wish things go back to the old ways.
So the school leaving age was increased to 16 to keep teenagers out of the work force and bolster unemployment figures? And for years I thought that the reason was to increase the general level of education of young people. How naive I was.
we all were before the internet my friend.
Its the same reason as to why it raised to 18 in 2015.
It's also the reason why those spending 3 years at £9,000/yr to study Cheese Appreciation at the University of Little Dunny on the Wold are magically not counted in the unemployment figures.
+lordsummerisle87 I wished I had heard about that degree or I would have chosen that
It's more of a case that with an ageing population we can keep people in schools longer while still keeping roughly the same fraction of the population working.
0:57 Bernard, I love you!!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Amazing show, well written and acted. Even to the day (Aug 2019) it is so funny, even when I watched the whole series nearly 4 times and I will watch it again after some time, this show will never ever die out. It is stay on top no matter what. RIP for the actors. They brought the characters to life. Good on them.
"Being bored stiff for three quarters of the time is excellent preparation for working life".
The beauty of the watching this show on youtube is that the wit and humour in the comment section is an additional incentive to keep coming back. In honour of this being a British show, I refuse to let the auto spellcheck ruin it even though I am in the US
2:09 - and a couple of years ago they raised it to 18 for the same reason
And with the same effects ..
And through out the world the voting age was set down to 18 to increase the voter pool for corrupt politicians without merit and target the most vulnerable ages that are more prone to propaganda as scientifically they are still in the development phase, whereas people that young are often incapable of making serious political decision so young, unless it is an exceptional society with an excellent education system, meaning teenagers with characters like adults, which is rare.
I can't remember exactly but i think in Ancient Greece for example the voting age was much higher for that reason. People should vote when they are 21 or 22 at least. Its weird cause I think in the US they force people not to drink unless they are 21, so the government gives the message, you are not mature enough to consume alcohol responsibly but you can responsibly determine the country's political future, doesn't make sense.
@@Iason29 it's one of those weird contradictions... you can join the military at 17, vote at 18, and drink at 21... is it all arbitrary? Yes and no.
You have to have young people in the military. It's physically demanding and you need people who are trainable. Raising the age on that is impractical (unless every other country does the same, which they wouldn't).
Drinking at 21 actually makes a lot of sense when you consider how stupid and reckless sober teenagers can be!
And lowering the voting age to 18 at least makes it seem that as a society you're trying to be a truly democratic as possible by allowing as many as is reasonable to participate...
So really, they all make sense when taken separately. It's when you list them together that it seems to go out the window!
"What the heck? I can vote and get shot at in some dessert, but heaven forbid I crack open a beer with a friend?!"
@@Iason29 the drinking age being 21 in the US has to do with the federal government withholding highway funding to states that didn't raise the minimum age to that number. A few states, like Wisconsin, held out until the 1980s.
The drinking age of 21 is not based on sound scientific knowledge, just the lobbying efforts of groups like Mothers Against Drunk Driving. At any rate, it's not the government's job to "give people the message" of when they are responsible enough to drink.
In any case, the drinking age is rarely enforced. Most college students have fake IDs and know which bars accept them. In cities with public transport like NYC, drunk driving is of little concern. Most universities have "safe ride" shuttles that pick up students from local hangouts, including bars.
"I once had to write an essay on 'How true to life is Yes, Minister'", he recalled. "I think I wrote… that it wasn't true to life. I can tell you, as prime minister, it is true to life."
- David Cameron
Especially how it portrays politicians
It's funny how many former Prime Ministers love the show. It definitely says something about the accuracy of it.
God this series is so spectacularly brilliant - every single clip is as true today as it was then
You see, in politics, nothing changes, just the people and parties.
" Nothing rewards mediocrity like the world of education." Aon.
"Never in my life did I let school interfere with my education" - Mark Twain
Don't belive everything you hear on Internet - Abraham Lincoln
If you've got complaints and criticisms start with the guy in the mirror -- Jesus Christ
@@Cryptonymicus Great. If only this nebulous Jesus figure had actually said interesting things like that!
Evilsamar don’t be petty c#*ts - god... himself
@@jackburton5 Best cure for Christianity - read the Bible! (Mark Twain, paraphrased).
I really do want to see decentralized defense, in the hands of local municipal governments.
It'd be hilarious, and a very brief experiment.
Spot on, this weeks case study the US second amendments "organised militia."
We had it for a good few centuries - the local barons rose up in revolt about twice a week in a good year.
Unfortunately, decentralized armies become subject to the whims of local authorities and become much more difficult to coordinate. See the lackluster performance of militias during the Independence and Slaver wars.
You could say you had that in the age of City States. Of course they were always at war with each other.
what would be the point of that, nothing would be hilarious anyway because we are not under attack or even really at war.
I don't have words to describe how good this show is, might have to ask Sir Humphrey to describe it for me.
Be prepared to listen for half an hour to Humphrey tell you something anyone else could have said in five minutes.
@@danieldickson8591 The eloquence that Humphrey uses to camouflage what otherwise would be mere ramblings into speeches IS the comedy
This is so true. In Sweden a couple of decades ago the schools were handed down from being a state (i.e. centralised) responsibility to being a municipal (i.e. decentralised) responsibility. The results? Schools became worse and the inequality between schools skyrocketed. Rich municipalities got good schools, poor ones got bad schools. Go figure.
In the UK there is a trend to having schools run themselves independent municipal or central state control. On the whole it kinda works, but most people agree that its not the change in ownership that makes it better but the change in management with a renewed focus.
Be happy that you decentralized. Now you have at least some good schools.
Better to at least have some good schools and some bad schools than to have all mediocre schools.
@@changer_of_ways_999 dunno about that, look at the US. they have turned their education system into a finely tuned machine to keep the poor in their place.
@@changer_of_ways_999 Really showing your hatred of the common people there. "You just get a better school if you life in a rich neighborhood"
“Has it ever struck you that life is all memory, except for the one present moment that goes by you so quick you hardly catch it going?”― Tennessee Williams..................
Unbelievable stuff. So much truth presented in the form of a satire.
I love Sir Humprey's expression at 0:04
'Tempora mutantur, nos et mutamur in illis'
"Times change, and we change with them"
I love how Bernard hands the paper to Jim :)))
One of the Greatest shows ever! I never get bored of it, I watched it hundreds of times and up to now I never get bored! Amazing and it is great, I loved it when Bernard put the note book and pen in the PM face, it just does not get any funnier than that and I laugh ever time! Too bad it was for only 5 seasons and nearly 6 episodes per season- for both.
The actual arguments here are so spot on!!
1:50 "What's the use of it? I can't even call upon it in conversation with the Prime Minister of Great Britain." Brilliant toff's insult I could imagine Little Moggie emulating back in the day. Deserving of more laughs.
one word: masterpiece!!!
Three men who entertained this country in gentler times, sadly all gone.
Why is poor Bernard always being asked to "go away" ! He's so adorable. And the only one who can see through Sir Humphrey's mockery of the PM.
Bernard is junior to Sir Humphrey. This is how you treat the ones below you.
I love this show. This is the best political show ever made on tv.
Sheer brilliance, quality that will never be matched.
The bit at the end about defense is genius.
Go away, Bernard
He obeyed... 😭
This show as well as the video are wonderful.
And the end of this video is pure brillance.
Utterly, utterly brilliant and just as relevant today. What a wonderful show :)
si tacuisses, philosophus mansisses
If you had kept your silence, you would have stayed a philosopher
Adding it into my vocabulary
0:57 - love the timing
I learned arithmetic / math in public school well enough that I can round questions like that off. 3947 divided by 73 can be roughly rounded off to 4000 divided by 80, which is 50. (The exact answer is 54.07) Not exact, but, as the saying goes, 'close enough for government work',
I must say, what Sir Humphrey says towards the end of the video about why education is bad, is essentially the current view of the Conservatives and it makes me laugh just thinking about it. This proves Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister are still relevant and still highlight Westminster's political attitudes 30 years later!
God I love British humour.
to call this "british humour" is like calling the greatest avocado you ever tasted in decades living in a country, as "the country's avocados". The brilliance of that program has never occurred again before or since.
@@boliusabol822 It was a monumental achievement, to be sure.
"Never in my life did I let school interfere with my education" - Mark Twain
go away bernard please!
Clever British humour at its best.
Brilliant. How could they pack so much wit in every single sentence?
The best bit is humpy is right about everything
This short series is a great start to an education in politics, regardless of time or country.
👏👏👏Great comedy never ages.Tempere fugit 🐎🐎🐎🇭🇲🇺🇸
Many a True Word, Spoken in Jest.
One of the Best Comedy series √√
BWWAAAAhahahhahahaa....
Sir Humphrey Appleby : Si tacuisses, philosophus mansisses.
James Hacker: What does that mean?
Sir Humphrey Appleby: If you'd kept your mouth shut, we might have thought you were clever.
That is the only Latin sentence I speak XDDDDD
more accurately: if you had kept silent, you might have remained a wise man
I watch this and think Humphrey got it wrong.. He should have said “The more things change, the more they stay the same.”
Yes but that's of French origin. He wouldnt have leared french, he'd have learned latin and Greek instead. Which is exactly the point.
I took a latin course in university years ago so i could whip out excellent latin like this. That language was just too damned hard though.
A lot of people say that Americans don't 'get' this humor. However, I couldn't stop laughing when the pencil and paper immediately appeared, right after the PM said that he would need them.
Information Please Since I am unsure as to whether you are taking the piss or being serious, let me respond to your statement. So, all those who live in the US are flag-waving, beer swilling dolts, eh? There is no room for people who are ashamed of the superficiality of their society, people or culture? Moreover, Americans are so ignorant that they don't even know their own history? They are in denial about what where they came from, and what this country was founded upon? Wow, you must have been around some real wankers.
What is American humor supposed to be, The Three Stooges doing slapstick? Some foul-mouthed stand-up comic?
tzarbg123 the parrot sketch is taking the Mick out of shop keepers who blatantly sell bs
@@gregb6469 America is the master of the sitcom AND stand-up comedy. Plenty of great comedy writers and comedians. Don't look at Hollyweird hacks like Adam Sandler and "comedic actors".
> What is American humor supposed to be, The Three Stooges doing slapstick? Some foul-mouthed stand-up comic?
American humour is brash, coarse, and obvious. British humour is subtle.
"That's easy, none, they'd spend it all on conventional weapons."
Sir Humphrey knew what was what.
THEN: "What's the point of learning arithmetic? They all use electronic calculators today"
NOW: "Why can't I just Google it?"
In the 90s my teachers used to tell we wouldn't always be carrying a calculator around with us. They told me that my poor handwriting would mean I would be unable to get a job; now all job applications are done online or via electronic documents.
5 000 000 000/75 = 66 666 666.6666...
I love this coincidence
Humphrey was right, the calculator would give it periodic.. but I guess you could always round it up
Or as a fraction.
I'm doubtful it's a coincidence.
Iason29 No, in this case you would round down. You can’t save 2/3rds of a person.
@@fenhen you can if they are an amputee.
@58
That bit kills me
2:44 - In 1974. the new Yugoslav constitution allowed each constituent republic to have its own state security service (supposedly subordinate to the federal state security service). It is actually a testament to the country's motto - "Brotherhood and unity" that the inevitable civil war and break-up started 17 years later rather than just 3 weeks...
Its not uncommon for federal states to have some local paramilitary security force in the various 'states'. The US has the National Guard. Of course the US these days tends to exert a lot more direct control over the state National Guards than the yugoslav state did over its own equivalent. Intetestingly these forces almost always end up in conflict with the central government in times of internal crisis be it economic or political.
Having gone to school in the 60s / 70s and had a very mixed education, I was pleased by the standard of education my kids got in the last two decades. Both mine and theirs were state schools. One noticeable difference was they didn't get beaten by perverted sadists and kids didn't get mocked for cheap laughs by awful teachers. If you have seen the "another brick in the wall" video you will know what I mean.
I got beaten by my teachers and parents since I was kid with no focus. D too mu g energy... at school in Eastern Europe they turned me into a hard working, driven, competitive guy with respect for the law, a good job in business consulting and really high salary in Japan.
If I were to be educated by today's teachers I would be given ADD drugs, therapy, told I'm special and it's my parents fault, be told I'm entitled to everything... I would probably take a BD in Humanities to explore my creativity... And find a minimum job as a barista while complaining on SNS about how life in unfair to woke people like me 🤣
It is crazy how well this series aged.
This was written and directed by the same guy that did My Cousin Vinnie, such unbelievable talent!
INJECT THIS INTO MY HEART
Having worked with an MP I understand this wonderful comedy . So funny. I love Sir Humphrey.
Nothing much changes. Let the hilarious and tragic truth be told! Sublime comedy.
This programme was, I believe, first broadcast in 1988. Nothing that was mocked in the UK education system in this clip has changed.
An educated populace is the enemy of the capitalists with political power.
He's got a lot of points, there.
You've got a - literally - funny face. Thought you should know.
This is when British comedy was at its best...
This programme said everything right.
I thought Humphrey was going to mention the universities. Both of them.
I used to think Sir Humphrey was an honestly cynical man, but now I think he was just being cynically honest.
He knows how things are because he makes them how things are, and impossible to change against the interests he represents.
3947 doesn't divide perfectly by 73 it gives 54 to the nearest integer, sure we could use decimals but it's got quite a long read out I don't think he'd be expecting.
I started school before the appearance of calculators, and am grateful to be able to do basic arithmetic in my head. Can be useful when people try to overcharge you. Jim makes a valid point.
This whole series is sooooo true about the reality instead of idealism and PC
I went through three phases over the years watching this, that this was a comedy, then a documentary, finally I realized it's a horror.
That last line is perfect.
When the BBC produced some quality.
Brilliant series.
Actually it's not. The reason the military is controlled by the Government is because before local barons raised their own militias and that led to the many civil wars that Britain has had over the centuries.
Education works similar, if you give more power to local councils for education the jobs market would crash again as qualifications would mean different things in different areas of the country and mean less than they already do.
Two only - Roses and the ECW...
Hence the minimal value of the Walsh Baccalaureate.....
So instead they gave it to individual groups called "academies" and it has indeed proven to be a complete mess
That is the biggest issue with decentralized, localized small governments which some people are proud of spewing as the superior forms of government. On the other hand, a single centralized command meant that one group of idiots could easily slow down its progress, destroy its quality by beauracracy, laziness and disillusionmeny and kick out potential talents who could be a rival to its misguided leadership. In many cases, I hate centralized command, but having one healthcare insurance, one education system, one military meant that the population can focus on improving that single organization instead of gambling with many.
I like the national education service idea, just pegged to teachers and not schools. After all, NHS is pegged to doctors, not hospitals. The nurses (teachers aids) can help keep discipline so the teachers can actually teach.
Also, why does each teacher need to write their own lesson plans? Doctors don't have to write their own surgical procedures.
I dont know about other countries but whenever I watch these videos of YM and YPM I always get a sense that they might be talking about my country. Everything sounds the same, the structure of civil service in India is quite similar.
This isn't comedy, it's reality.
Garth Evans Australia's AG in 1986 was asked do politicians watch the show? He replied "Yes but nobody laughs".
Some would say reality is a comedy
This is so true, its scary.
The dialog is so wit and smooth.
*witty
@@heliotropezzz333 Second language pardon me.
@@osamaFXX Good for a second language 👌