174. Education is meant to make a big difference, but it not always does

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It is possible of late to draw many parallels between the conduct of Donald Trump and Boris Johnson. They are both sketchy in the detail of policies they propose, giving the impression that these have been thought out and developed by someone else, they both show not only no compunction when lying, but practically a pathological need to do so, they both seem happy to go back on recently made commitments and ignore agreements built after strenuous and often precarious negotiations. They seem, in fact, determined to become rogue operators in the international order. What is striking is to realise that they have arrived at this common point by following such different paths and, particularly, different educations. Trump is as proudly ignorant of history and the classics as Boris is enthused, enthralled even, by them, modelling himself on them. This makes not an iota of difference. All that elitist, classical education is wasted in what matters most, which is the behaviour it informs 

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Location: Hereford, UK

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