There is some good news about, lost though it is amid floods of bad in these trying days…
History takes some strange turns. There is a tendency to forget how things were in the past as individuals and society move on from events and challenges that led us to where we are today.
I have been reminded by an exceptional article written by an old colleague with whom I worked on the Daily Express. The online article by Tom Brown for the Scottish Daily Record recalls that he started work on the same day that the Queen took the throne.
He reminds us that in 1952 rationing was still in force and Winston Churchill had returned as Prime Minister. In his article Tom describes social conditions that would horrify people today.
Curiously, those I have been socialising with lately have been remarking on how life and society have changed “since the war”. Events in Europe have reminded them of this, and maybe this is a benchmark time for change driven by world events.
That change is coming seems to be a unanimous point of view. Of course this is based on social chatter that is heard in bars and cafe’s. The dictionary definition of chatter is: “purposeless or foolish talk”.
At another level social media is increasingly being regarded as simply people with motives twittering. A dictionary definition of twitter is: ‘to talk lightly and rapidly, especially of trivial matters; chatter.’
Compared with the war years and the period immediately after life is good, notwithstanding the constant complaining and bitching that is the highlight of recent years.
The threat of war does seem to bring out the best in people. Those directly involved go down in history for their courage and bravery. The rest take stock and learn how to cope with historic turns of events.
In Western Europe and the United Kingdom it is no longer the norm for ordinary people to be living in slums with only communal bathrooms in the yard outside.
Back in those early post war years, as Tom points out, politicians were still shown respect. That is the reason I highlighted the definitions above.
- Does History Repeat Itself? asks Chris White.
- Divide and Conquer Rules, OK?
- Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose…!
Politicians are no longer shown respect. Their foolish actions and failures that have not changed from those of their predecessors have been exposed by modern media highlighting the need for drastic change.
One shared opinion that now unites the people I know is that the EU is a political failure. It is a direct result of failures to stop “the Moscow madman” coupled with a total lack of unity on what to do next.
Most people do not hesitate to describe Putin as a “lunatic” nor do they hesitate in describing former President Donald Trump, current President Joe Biden, and the UK’s beleaguered Prime Minister Boris Johnson in similar terms.
The names of politicians in Britain and those they know of in Europe in such a way are far too many to list. Politicians are a negative in society today.
I said that there is good news and just listening to ordinary people in the Corner Cafe and elsewhere it is clear that the general view of the public is that a political revolution is a possibility.
The Second World War inspired the social revolution that Tom describes and, as he says, the technology we use today was driven by wartime advances.
So what will come in the aftermath of Putin’s lunacy? Perhaps he will go down in history as the man who started a glorious revolution in Western Europe leading to Unity and true democracy in what we once called The Free World.
‘The Queen and I: The Way We Were’, by Tom Brown:
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/in-your-area/lanarkshire/the-queen-i-way-were-26203880
—————– Dateline: Corner Cafe, Deal, Kent February 26th 2022 —————
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