The Establishment by Owen Jones – review

‘If you were to pick up the book at random, you might be startled by the strong allegations. By the end, though, you’re left a little shellshocked’

At 31, Jones wields a considerable amount of power. With an Oxbridge background, a column in one of the most widely circulated newspapers in the UK, and his frequent encounters with eminent politicians, some have put it to him that he is part of that shadowy group, The Establishment. Jones would disagree. He insists that the Establishment is comprised not, in fact, of old public school boys pulling strings for each other, bound by the friendships cemented over caviar, cocaine and champagne. There is no denying that these men have prominent roles in the Establishment, but they are only part of the network of “powerful groups that need to protect their position in a democracy”. He elaborates on this, claiming that what unites these groups is their shared mentality. This mentality is best summed up, in his view, by the L’oreal slogan: “Because I’m worth it”. It is their belief that they deserve the power they have, as well as their obscene fortunes. In this book, Jones explains how they achieved the positions they hold, and what they’re doing with their power.

Perhaps wrongly, I read this book with an underlying attitude of complacency (something Jones probably wouldn’t condone). I’ve done my time in secondary school, I’ve been informed that Beyonce, Jay-Z and David Cameron meet to discuss their plan for world domination in the Illuminati boardroom every month. I was pretty sure Jones wasn’t going to tell me anything that I didn’t know about the rich and famous being in control, so all I cared about was how it concerned me. As it turns out, it does concern me. At 16 years old, my generation is probably going to be on the receiving end of the some of the worst Establishment actions in history- we’re going to be the ones dealing with a privatised NHS, a media which drip feeds us a hard right narrative, and politicians who kowtow to CEOs rather than the people they’re meant to represent. Sounds like a bad Guardian cartoon, right? Wrong. It’s a stark reality, forming before our eyes.

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