I think we look back to the days of our youth with nostalgic affection. Those were the days of optimism, possibility, idealism and passion. Those were days of love and opportunity. We stood on the threshold and looked forward to an endless array of wonderful things.
Now we are older and our life is mainly behind us. The future does not look so rosy.
But were things really better back then? No. I think not.
I was brought up in the post-war days and played on bomb-sites. The economy was rubbish. We had just come out of rationing. But the Labour Government had brought in the wonderful NHS, schooling was improving and they were fighting for a fair wage and better working conditions. They were clawing some social justice from the establishment.
What my generation had was vastly better than my Mum’s generation. She lived through real poverty with families living on starvation diets, sewn into clothes for winter, sharing shoes or having rags tied round their feet in the snow, having terrible education in classes of fifty plus and not being able to afford a doctor. There were large families where death was a regular visitor.
I grew up in much better conditions than that. We had the NHS, antibiotics, class sizes under thirty, refrigerators, a black and white telly, but there were no fitted carpets, telephones or central heating.
Now we have better wages, a whole range of luxury goods – fridges, washing machines, computers, colour TVs, dishwashers, mobile phones, entertainment systems, cameras, and a thousand more. My house is crammed with devices and stuff. I can travel abroad and buy experiences.
I think we take it for granted. I think we have selective memory.
The past was not really so great. The future is looking bright. Not all politicians are greedy, selfish bastards with their snouts in the trough. Some are idealists who are still looking for ways to make life better.
Perhaps it is time to be more optimistic? After the megalomania of Trump and the establishment loving Tories there might be a new age with idealistic politicians who will dump the establishment and forge a better world.
Where we are is pretty good. I think we should appreciate it more. It was hard fought for.
What like MacDonnell who has always been IRA and has always wanted the end of the Monarchy along with Corbyn and the House of Lords. Now we have MacDonnell who states “Leave OUR Queen alone” when the news broke about her investments abroad and the taxes she does not pay. “Leaver our Queen alone”, this coming from a man so anti the Monarchy. Excuse me but does this not stink of complete hypocrisy. Corbyn and MacDonnell both supporters of the IRA to this day, both anti Monarchy and now CRAWLING absolutely crawling to these people because they have got a whiff of Power, excuse me whilst I vomit. Quite frankly I will not be voting for either of the main parties in the next General Election. My God, when I think back to Harold Wilson and John Smith and quite a few other Genuine Labour Politicians, I am disgusted that such filth like Macdonnell has ever reached so far. Back then we had more honesty, now nothing but two faced lying bastards on the Labour Bench.
Well Anna – I’m all in favour of a united Ireland and I would like to dump the monarchy. The IRA made the mistake of trying to force it through terrorism. That put them in the wrong. But the principle was sound. The Orange Order was implanted from Scotland to suppress the Irish and subjugate them to British rule. Cromwell and the Black and Tans were things to be ashamed of as was the British response to the potato famine. They allowed mass starvation.
What was this about McDonald supporting the monarchy. I haven’t heard that. You seem to have adopted a very strong attitude towards Corbyn and McDonald based on very narrow prejudices. I don’t like everything they say and do but they are fifty times better than the lying Tory scum who are busy doing nothing more than taking from the poor to give to the rich under the guise of austerity, running schools and hospitals into the ground and leading us to economic ruin.
You do seem to have become a virulent right-winger.
Anna – you so intrigued me about John McDonald that I had to go and check out what he’d said. I couldn’t imagine him supporting the Queen.
Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell called on the Duchy of Lancaster, which manages Her Majesty’s private estate, to be grilled over claims that £10 million of her personal fortune was invested in funds in the Cayman Islands and Bermuda.
That seems to be opposite to what you claimed he said. Where did you get your information?
The only road to power in democracy is compromise , potential high flyers must stand respectfully at the cenotaph and sing God save our Queen to have any chance of being voted for. Can you imagine what the press would print if future leaders did not respect Her Majesty? Our private thoughts can only be expressed by nobodies like me , and even then we could end up with death threats on Facebook.
Yes – the sweet rancid scent of compromise that leads to hypocrisy. Never mind, at least we tell it like we see it.
Someone told re Hollywood: “Hollywood ain’t what it used to be… And it never was”
Bumba – LOL. Good one.
Perhaps the past seems better to us because we were younger then and didn’t REQUIRE as much to make us happy? The older we get, though, the more complicated life becomes. I think for me it’s the less complicated life I hanker after.
There is a psychological bias to fade out the bad stuff and focus on the good – like childbirth. It is supposedly how our memories work. I was reading about it in Homo Deus (a great book).
‘ Alas that Spring should vanish with the rose!
That Youth’s sweet – scented Manuscript should close!’
Alas indeed. The years ravage what we have.