A tawdry addition to a tawdry system

So the British Empire Medal is to be resurrected despite John Major's attempt to bury it as an outdated relic of our bad old class conscious society that once stratified individuals (and communities) according to their perceived value and status. (The reality is of course that Britain may be relatively less 'class conscious', but check out the private school system, dippy Prince Charlie's veto of parliamentary legislation affecting his Duchy, a system of elite universities centred around the Oxbridge colleges, the House of Lords, not speaking to the Queen until spoken to, the makeup of the current Cabinet, and so so and so forth.)  A medal intended to serve as as a a 'gong' for  those who lacked the necessary rank to attain an MBE or Knighthood will be reborn to reward members of Cameron's 'Big Society'.  And the depressing thing is that many people will welcome this tawdry addition to our tawdry 'honours system'. But how less relevant to the woes - economic, social, political - that beset Britain in 2011 could it be to create yet more flummery, another little bit of political patronage to seduce the naive and unwary and bind them to a vision of Britain that is one part medieval feudalism, one part Victorian fantasy and invention, and one part communal delusion.  If Cameron genuinely wanted to reward deserving members of his Big Society why not just toss them a Knighthood or a seat in the House of Lords, a serious and hearty reward for services rendered, rather than this ' vile little scrap of nothingness from the master's table'.  
Oh, and 'what could be less relevant' when Britain is mired in unemployment, high inflation, falling living standards, savage public sector cuts, and etc?  What about the startling news that the law on royal primogeniture is about to be changed to allow the oldest child, regardless of gender, to become monarch.  Whoopee!  Another big step forward for common sense and female enfranchisement.  Mary Beard excoriates this absolute bloody nonsense far better than I could, so check out her blog 'A Don's Life'.