Listen free for 30 days
Listen with offer
-
The Social Distance Between Us
- How Remote Politics Wrecked Britain
- Narrated by: Darren McGarvey
- Length: 15 hrs and 29 mins
Failed to add items
Add to basket failed.
Add to wishlist failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
£0.00 for first 30 days
Buy Now for £12.99
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Summary
Brought to you by Penguin.
Britain is in a long-distance relationship with reality....
From poverty and policing, homelessness and overrun prisons to Grenfell and hostile environments, Britain has long been failing those who need our help the most. There is arguably one unifying theme that links all these afflictions: proximity. Proximity is how close we are to the action and how that affects how we assess, relate to and address whatever that action happens to be. Almost every job requires a level of experience and training with the notable exception of the most powerful people in the country—our political class.
So this is a book about the distance, whether geographical, economic, or cultural, between those who make decisions and the people on the receiving end of them. The distance between the affluent and the poor, how their interests and values diverge, and the assumptions they make about each other's experiences and intentions in the absence of any meaningful interaction. How even those with the noblest aims, inadvertently cause harm as a result of their social remoteness and fail to advance anybody's interests but their own misguided ones.
Could Britain's problem be, not that there is a lot of inequality, but that for generations, a small group of people, who know little about it, have been charged with discussing, debating, and sorting it out? At what point do we look for answers, not to the people who are hardest up, but the apparently educated and sophisticated, whose dominance of Britain's institutions has been virtually unbroken for centuries?
What listeners say about The Social Distance Between Us
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 22-05-23
A fantastic overview of the system
A great listen from an Author who is passionate, knowledgeable, honest and credible within the topic he writes. I’m not sure you can ask anymore from a writer of such an important topic. I enjoyed every, fascinating moment - highly recommended.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 12-07-22
Listen with intent
It is always hard to listen with real intent and an open mind but I would encourage anyone to listen all the way through - especially relevant is the spoken language as explained. Also listen to the end … I mean the very end including acknowledgments to gain insight into the many who have supported and to the tenderness of the credit given to others & the care for those who are written about.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Positive Person.
- 01-02-23
Sobering and convincing.
I'm a company director from a poor background - so well done me. Reading this has opened my eyes as to exactly how much of that success is down to pure luck, and that having gotten lucky the responsibilities that should come with that but which I've ignored.
Well, we'll see what I actually do about it as the immediate impact of this important book starts to fade. For now what I can say is that if I do nothing, then shame on me.
I strongly urge any of my fellow entrepreneurs to read this now. It's uncomfortable, necessary and may even make you a better boss.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 06-12-22
Listen learn change.
“What if poor people aren’t the problem?” I understand better now. Thank you Darren.
Exceptional thinking and narration. Some things you can’t un-think once thought.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Michael
- 10-01-23
I'm a big fan already...
I'm middle class, so have nothing but biases to lay down here. But for me this is an important book. A fascinating read for anyone with a class consciousness either established or burgeoning.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Steven Perrie-Clyde
- 27-06-23
The most impactful book I’ve read and listened too
It’s not often you read a book and feel like it speaks to your experiences in such a profound way.
Darren puts into words the experiences of the adults around me as I grew up, mostly insulated by my single mother and her determination to give us the best life we could have, growing up on benefits, fearing the police, and not getting the right sort of educational support in school to me I thought were normal.
Im 27 now, and only now looking back can I fully appreciate the work my mum put in, she really did do a great job insulating me from all those hardships and I’m now no longer poor, destitute or worrying.
It shouldn’t take a book for me to realise this, but in any case, I’m glad it did.
This is a book everyone should read if you live in Britain.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Fiona K
- 19-10-23
So impactful, a must read and pass on
Knowledgeable, and honest this needs to be read across all classes to reduce the social distance between us.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- iman
- 18-07-22
Should be read by all
As one that benefits from the current class divide in Britain, I found it really interesting how this book touched on concerns and observations I had over the last year, especially while working with the underprivileged who I serve in my professional capacity. Some uncomfortable truths are laid out for us to consider around our ways of thinking, entitlement and behaviours which have direct impact on those less fortunate than us.
I recommend this book for all, from every political persuasion and social and economical background.
It is time to look at our broken country and do something about it.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 23-12-22
Fantastic listen
Comprehensive and interesting insights into class impact on so many areas of life in the uk
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 16-11-23
Essential reading
Wow - what an amazing book and contribution to society. So well researched, eye opening, powerful and provocative. Everyone in Britain should read this!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!