Between 22 April 1990 and 20 June 1993, actors Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie played the characters Jeeves and Wooster in a TV sit-com series of P. G. Wodehouse’s “Jeeves” stories (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeeves_and_Wooster).
The books offer a comical “take” on the life and times of a “man-about-town” and his valet in the UK of the mid 1920s. In other words, a century ago.
It was a world where one’s social class played a crucial role in how one’s life developed and what opportunities could be open to you and conversely, what opportunities would be closed to you!
Many readers will correctly accept that the UK of the 1920s is no more in the UK of the 2020s.
However: The idea that we live in a meritocracy where to paraphrase the late Dr. King, a man is judged by the content of his character and not the level of melanin in the epidermis – is simply NOT the case!
In 2026, the class structure and inter-alia the concomitant “institutionalised discrimination” it contained, whilst not having disappeared, has drastically retreated from general society and is now confined to a small number within certain social circles.
To assume that nothing has replaced it is wrong. What has replaced it is a hierarchy of disadvantage. This is a perception that persons possessing a particular characteristic are inherently disadvantaged and thus should receive assistance and that “sensitivity” should be exercised by the authorities and organs of the state when dealing with such persons.
Thus, if you happen to be a 2026 version of the fictional Bertram Wilberforce Wooster (a financially independent [no need to obtain employment], “white”, male, heterosexual, a public [private] school education) not only you are deemed to lack any form of inherent disadvantage, but in fact possess a privileged status. Possession of this privileged status will result in zero assistance and zero “sensitivity” being exercised by the authorities and organs of the state when dealing with such a person.
Of course, latter day Bertie Woosters are few and far between but there are millions of “white”, male, heterosexual, state school educated persons who would ascribe the label “working class” to themselves – and have that label applied to them by others. Such men used to make up the bulk of recruits to the British armed forces but the “powers-that-be”, obsessed with DEI (Diversity, Equality, Inclusion) have devised a recruitment strategy to favour other persons.
As of early 2026, the British Army operates 14 Archer 155mm wheeled self-propelled howitzers as an interim, active-service solution. The previous main 155mm platform, the AS-90, was largely gifted to Ukraine. The UK has also ordered 37 new Boxer-mounted RCH 155 systems, with development already underway to rebuild its long-range artillery fleet. The 155mm shell is a NATO-standard, large-scale artillery projectile used for high-explosive, long-range fire support, weighing around 100 lbs (45-47 kg).
FACT: Not many young women are capable of lifting and carrying 100 lbs (45-47 kg).