Living in the past
What is it with the British people; they are so hung up about past glories and achievements that they seem to be incapable of looking to the advantages of the future.
This nostalgia seems to occur in every walk of life from work to sport and to home. Listen to football fans, whenever there is a major tournament and they immediately bring up the 1966 world cup and how England beat the world; never to be repeated or get anywhere near the finals since.
People go on about the British Empire, when I doubt if there are many alive today that can recall it or even know what countries were part of the Empire. Others keep referring to the 2 world wars as if they were great times. I am sure for those that lived through those times they could never be considered “great”; though as a United Kingdom we behaved admirably and with courage against overwhelming odds and eventually peace was restored.
The same goes for many of our current state backed services such as the NHS and education. How many times do we hear people say “Bring back Matron, that’ll sort out the hospitals”? It is possible this may be right but people have this mental picture of Hattie Jacques strutting around and instilling fear and order into everything. There is some merit in the idea but with today’s technology, equipment and demands on the service Matron would not be up to the job; a team of matrons may be the answer rather than the health trust managers.
We all reminisce to our school days compared the standard of education today, once again there are some areas that I feel were better in the past, but we have to look at how the world has changed and kids today are being raised in a digital age with masses of information easily accessible 24/7; whereas we had to resort to public libraries (school libraries were nearly always poor) and asking others. Lessons we had are no longer relevant today so education must move with the times; however that is no excuse for mathematics, spelling, grammar and some knowledge of the history of the UK. Yet kids today have to develop new skills to help them compete in a future rapidly changing world.
Many of us look back and say “things were better then”, were they? Most homes only heated one room in the winter, we had frost on the inside of our windows, we only had 3 sets of clothing (school, best and play), baths were once a week and food was limited by the seasons as no one had a fridge and only basic foods were imported.
The problem is we all like what feels comfortable, hence we do the same thing every day; people dislike change and the fear of the unknown or of doing something different.
Back in 1975 the UK voted for change by joining the EEC and the benefits that go with working together. At the start this change was a benefit to all of Europe, yes there were some downsides as some goods increased in price but others dropped. The easier movement of goods and people throughout Europe also benefitted many as has the peace that goes hand in hand with trade. However the EEC soon metamorphosed into the EU and the benefits are being eroded by over regulation, unelected leaders and big business that wants control of everything that we do.
The UK has now had another referendum on our continued membership of the EU and much to my surprise has decided to leave, I thought that the British people who are averse to change would keep the status quo and remain. However I was wrong.
Now that we have decided to leave and “go it alone” it is time for the whole country to pull together and make this work. We must stop harping back to “yesterday” and the “good old times” we must look to the future with excitement, vision and opportunity.
The future is there for all to see, we must let go of the past and the constraints of an old bureaucratic Europe and we must look to the future.
Like Lots wife we look back at our peril.
