Menu

Science
Articles
WeVent
Register
Sign in
Science Library Register Sign in
Register / Sign in

Content and learning library


> Student life >> Off campus
Weavee - Discover your career

It drives you Nutts (politicians, not cannabis)

Matthew Reeves on why there's no need to work hard - just become a politician
Student life
Off campus

It just so happens that I'm really not that fussed about which drug is number one in the charts right now. I don't care if cannabis is wrongly classified when compared to cigarettes and alcohol. I'm not going to chop up my Threshers loyalty card and start earning points with my dealer instead. But the recent sacking of the government's chief drugs advisor Professor David Nutt has left me somewhat dazed and confused.

Newspaper articles were all very similar. Most carried the headline "Nutt Sacked" (which sounds distinctly like a prep school prank or dining club initiation). They all mentioned the controversial recommendations made by the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) which Professor Nutt chaired. In May 2008 they opposed the decision of the last home secretary Jacqui Smith to move cannabis from class C to B.

It seems to me something of greater importance has been missed: the alternatives. Imagine, for a moment, that you are home secretary. If you were given tested and peer reviewed evidence proving that the current UK justice policy in relation to drugs was misinformed, what would you do? The obvious option would be to sponsor more research. What if all this research shows that alcohol is far more damaging than cannabis? You could do something radical like actually change your policy.

Or you could dismiss the results because you don't like them. Who is this David Nutt guy anyway? A neuropsychopharmacologist? What does he know? So he was educated at Cambridge, teaches at Oxford and set up a whole department in Bristol. He clearly knows nothing. Alan Johnson on the other hand left school at 15 and became a postman. This is where I start to find the world a bit confusing.

You can work hard all of your life and excel in your field. You can make scientific breakthroughs and conduct groundbreaking research. You've just got to convince the postman. If you want to succeed in business or become a leading medical scientist, you're going to need a degree. Probably two. It's going to take years of hard work. If, on the other hand you wish to become the home secretary you will need to prove your incompetence at a local level, make a few idle promises on issues that nobody really cares about and get voted in.

It seems startlingly easy to become a politician, so as you weigh up your options for graduate employment, why not consider the easy option. Why not give the learning a rest and just get high on power?

Click here to continue learning more >

Enhance your career

Courses to develop your skills
Professional Preferences >
Leadership Overview >
Leadership Styles >
Professional Attributes >
Work Styles >
Digital Fitness Readiness >
Science of Weavee >
Read more...

Develop yourself

Courses to help you manage challenges
About Weavee >
Personal Values >
What is openness?
What is conscientiousness?
What is extraversion?
What is agreeableness?
What is neuroticism?
Read more...

City Careers Advice

Insight from The Gateway Online
Accounting >
Law >
Banking >
Asset Management >
Technology >
Consulting >
Internships >
Read More...

This is a subscriber-only section

Join our career platform for free to get access to this section

Your personal development is important to us, please read the Terms, Conditions and Privacy Policies before registering
Many tools can measure our preferences and motivations, but they leave us saying “so what?” - squandering all the potential value and sunk costs - our tools help transform the way you appreciate yourself and others

For those with more questions...

Read more about us
Read more about Weavee
How is Weavee priced?
Read our press coverage
Contact us
Social Media

Copyright © Weavee LTD 2022, All Rights Reserved - Terms & Conditions of Website Use - Disclaimer