Sir Humphrey Appleby on the Proper Function of Government

When I first saw this series, I laughed at what I perceived as its hilarious absurdity. Now, I wish the US government could come just 10% of the way to being as legitimate as that depicted here.

Believing in two or more contradictory things at the same time is a staple of the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four - there it is called doublethink - and it is also a staple of Marxian regimes, like Soviet Russia, Mao's China and Biden's Amerika.

Imagine turning the concept of:

"I was just following orders"

into comedy.

Lol
I resigned on the basis of principles 😂

To watch this episode is way more lecturous than dozens of hours listen to political experts!

Humor is totally the bad guy😮

Genius show..

I just love how Hacker brings Sir Humphrey & Bernard along with him...

The ending of the last series of
'Yes Minister' when Sir H says..

'Yes...

Prime Minister'

Brought a lump to my throat

This is perfect no emotion just do your job

In the 80's the show was required viewing for an intro British PoliSci course at the University of Toronto. That's how accurate it was.

A superb series - and 100% accurate then, and today. And probably in the future.

"Will I end up in a moral vacuum?" Stark question by Bernard, the conscience at the end of the table.

Watching in 2023.... Nothing changes 😢

What I love about this scene is Humphrey's position seems unreasonable the start (mainly because of how dismissive he is of morality) but his logic comes through at end. Govenrment servants' job is not to dictate policy but carry them out to the best of their abilities set by the politcians, who are elected and representatives of the people.

The thing here is... the PM is the tyrant ready to abuse the people.
All in the name of, in the earnest belief of, "doing good."

Anarchy is the absence of government.
"Government's job is preventing anarchy."
Government's job is self-preservation.

It's so tidy and true.

British comedies are learned grownups in a sea of immature toddlers!

"those who require leaders are not qualified to choose them"

And in 2023 we wonder why Britain, a nation that once ruled the world, cannot solve the illegal migrant problem!

Humphrey is right. People kill each other for power and resources and they will fight with whatever they can get. The sale of weapons does not empower terrorists actually they are already empowered by the breakdown and corruption of their societies. By selling weapons to those who wish to use them we have an influence over their use. Not enough that we can tell the customer who to kill but just enough to say who not to kill.

The sale of weapons makes room in the warehouse for more weapons, weapons make the world a dangerous place, dictatorships crumble at the sight of danger and democracy flourishes under mutually assured nuclear annihalation.

Should Hacker have looked into it, he would've discovered they were in fact NATO sponsored terrorists - the so called 'stay behind armies' of Operation Gladio. There was a real danger of Italy going red, the Italian communist party was the largest such party in the West, and peaked at ~35% of the vote in 1976. Gladio sought to discredit them through a series of false-flag terror attacks.

YM-YPM isn't a comedy - it's a serious work masterfully acted with moments of comedy. This debate on morality, politics and status quo is gold. We know that Hacker is right, but Humphrey has a point.

i would have sacked the xxxx onthe spot

"We are talking about Good and Evil!"
"Ah, Church of England problem."

Yup that's it stability preventing chaos

Somebody in the UK govt of the last few years somehow thought this was a training and howto video. Explains it all, really.

"Never set up an inquiry unless you know what its findings are in advance" .. Looks like Canada did just that after the Emergencies Act with their own appointed commission.

This show taugh a young me, that:

- a politicians job is to change policy.

- a civil servants job is to stop them.

Mockery turned out to be very effective in discrediting and ruining public goods.

Yes just following orders absolute loyalty had such a happily ever after ending for the Nazis during Nuremberg.

''ahh, church of England problem'' 😆

This should be incorporated in basic induction for all civil (public) servants. You’re not there to be an activist: that’s for the politicians. Mixing the roles of governance (Jim Hacker) and executive (Sir Humphrey) is not a good idea. Giving political activists power over the day to day running of government is setting up political commissars to impose arbitrary rule.

A permanent civil service is necessary for reasons of continuity, institutional memory and efficiency. It’s also necessary for effective, inter-departmental communication.

GOVERNMENT - Govern = To Control, Ment = Mind. So the purpose of Government is to Control Your Mind. Without a Mind a Human is just a sack of skin and bones. Entertainment - Enter = To go in, Tain = To Hold, Ment = Mind. So we have: 'To go in and hold the Mind' which is what is happening when you watch this video. The same thing happens in Politics and Elections. You are made to believe it is all Real and Honest and Truthful when in fact it is all just Theatre to hold your Mind. Voting is a SCAM and your Vote is Meaningless and Worthless as they put into power whomever they please. Even if it wasn't a SCAM then what are your choices: The RED Devil or The Deep BLUE sea. Not much of a choice even if you had one!

One of the sort of scenes I liked most about Yes Minister, especially over Yes Prime Minister, where the validity of Humphrey's outlooks were demonstrated as opposed to either Hacker being right or Humphrey clearly being in the wrong and out of control.

I wish I could personally walk up to Appleby and punch him in the face, repeatedly, until his nose was broken. I say this with nothing but the utmost affection for his actor, who is genuinely incredible. His is a certain obnoxiousness that is at once completely untouchable due to his position and yet so incredibly fragile if he is to lose even a tiny morsel of that same position. What a fucked up world we live in where such people are so deeply ingrained in the way governments are run.

Sir Appleby is really a twentieth century Talleyrand

i find people on these treads to be intelligent and realistic. unlike the expectations of society and the presst oday. nothing like this could exist today.

Loved this show. Right on the money.

This is such a good scene, it both utterly condemns Sir Humphry (literally) but also redeems him that his "moral vacuum" is a natural product of the circumstance as the only alternative to lunacy.

Love it. It's a shame they no longer do these . Wish they had a rerun. Just love Sir Humphrey 😁

There is simply nobody alive, who could reproduce the brilliance of this extraordinary documentary....I mean..........................programme.
Les Griffiths

this is exactly how the Canadian government seems to be functioning right now

There is nothing more funny than real life, although Yes minister was genius comedic writing, it perfectly show cases the sclerotic Civil Service.

Weirdly cropped

Lawful Neutral vs Lawful Good!

Probably the greatest scene from the entire series! It says so much on so many issues!!!

I agree with everything Sir Appelby says here

the ironic thing is later our Minister here, does everything he can to worm out of doing the right thing when he realizes it end his career, by his own standards he too is a moral vacuum, at least Humphrey was honest about it