In the past there was no power in being ordinary. Ordinary people had no money and few prospects beyond selling their labour. They were generally flung on to the heap to fight wars, plough fields or to stoke the machine of industrial society. To be exceptional would be to escape this round and might either be admired and envied or hated by those who resented their own station.

It’s different now. Economics can focus on ordinariness because of the mass increase in wealth over the last fifty years. The average person now has disposable income his grandparents would never have thought possible. With economic kudos comes power. This gives rise to the celebration of ordinariness prevalent in the culture. The popularity of soaps, and reality television particularly Channel 4’s “Big Brother” are all fine examples and are meaningful in this context.

Is this a backward step for civilisation or just a harmless bi-product of the age?