This is one of the reasons why we in the West are, generally speaking, not as smart at
quality as we could be – it is still looked upon in the corporate culture as a low-status activity
of sufficient unimportance to be entrusted to low-calibre people, to those unsuited to the
more rewarding and demanding jobs of financial jiggery-pokery or marketing
manipulativeness. This statement is not mere opinion; it is borne out by the most cursory
survey of the job advertisements in the ‘quality’ newspapers: see which jobs are held in
highest esteem as measured by salaries offered, note where quality comes in the pecking
order. In these ‘quality’ newspapers the prestigious positions (financial management being
the most highly regarded, presumably because it is assumed that anybody who can count
money correctly can also earn it for the company – a belief with no basis in reality) offer the
highest pay, plus a ‘quality’ motor car. Note the misuse of language here. What is a ‘quality’
car? One which fulfils its intended purpose. So, to an itinerant window-cleaner, a fuel-thrifty
Reliant Robin van with a roof-rack to carry ladders is a ‘quality’ car. To a successful rag-andbone
gatherer who is privately ashamed of his scavenging way of life, such a vehicle would
demean his self-image, so he buys a Rolls-Royce to park on the gravel drive in front of his
mansion. His is a different ‘intended purpose’ from the window-cleaner’s.