What is "The Establishment"?

[Robert]

It's a word that is gaining a lot of traction these days. The first time I heard it was by David Cameron, who said he was the victim of "an Establishment stitch-up" during the Coalition years.

If an Eton boy and Bullingdon Club member who became Tory PM sees himself outside the Establishment, who are they? The senior Civil Servants and the High Court perhaps?

 

[JaDed]

I guess they mean the capitalist corporate-government partnership where jobs are being outsourced or lost to immigrants.

 

[proud_pakistani]

In my opinion establishment is an entity or group of entities which have over time become so powerful that they can control or force upon certain regulations on government. For example in healthcare the big pharmaceutical companies control everything with respect to medicines and even when there are other researches (i.e natural) which can cure a disease they will shut it out as they are so powerful and have such a big say in how a country will operate. Same thing for oil companies. In Pakistan establishment refers to generally as the army or ISI as they have such major controlling interests in Pakistan. Anything that needs to be done in Pakistan must have the blessing of the army.

 

[Mamoon]

It's a convenient word to use because you can cover a lot of ground with it without point at specifics, even though it's definition is subjective and often vague.

Establishment is synonymous with status quo, and the people who are responsible for maintaining that status quo.

 

[Pakistanian]

Finally somebody asked the question.

The term "The establishment" is more of a recent fad in the west but in Pakistan it's been used for the last 70 years, over there they call the army the "establishment" and it's normally used by a bunch of "tough" anti-state political parties and journalists and people who think they're liberal, I've gotten sick of hearing this word all the time by Pakistani politicians and journalists. It's funny how they've claimed ownership of the term and believe "the establishment" is only what they think it is. In reality an establishment exists everywhere, every political party has an establishment, the status quo and then there's the media establishment but in Pakistan they almost exclusively pin that term on the military.

It's funny when on twitter people trying to act cool and show off how "brave" they are but talking about "the establishment".

 

[TalentSpotterPk]

In my country the answer is very simple.


3 Alphabets.

 

[Nostalgic]

In Pakistan, we even have a government entity called the Establishment Division. It was mentioned frequently, like when a bureaucrat is taken to task. News reports always said the bureaucrat "was asked to report to the Establishment Division."

Nothing much happened there. They would "report," as instructed, and then they would be made Officer on Special Duty, i.e. keep receiving salary and benefits whilst doing nothing. I always pictured it as a dreary government building at the end of a dead-end street, full of bored clerks sipping tea, chewing paan, swatting flies, and pretending to type when the Officers on Special Duty sauntered down the aisles on their way to lunch.

 

[MenInG]

Bit like what is the matrix!

 

[PetroDollars]

CIA, top tier media, The Big Banks and Corporations.

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

The news corps have the most power in the UK in my view. A good thing on the whole, but also dangerous when you have someone like Rupert Murdoch with his hands on the tiller.