Oh my God,
what we Scots call “Dismal Jimmies” are out in force spreading doom and gloom
throughout the land. They groan that Civilisation is supposedly on the point of
collapse, the pain of coronavirus is only just starting, allege others, while
some other scaremongers tell us the economic shock will be the worst for 300
years, looking back to the South Sea Bubble of 1720! Their own bubble actually
needs pricking as it is all “Bollocks”, the outpourings of the professionally
miserable, those projecting dire long-term conclusions from dubious assumptions
– the very same mischief-making we saw in spades over Brexit. Yes, we face real
difficulties, but those who wallow in others’ suffering or who knowingly seek
to dampen our proud spirits at this desperate time, only deserve contempt.
We humans
live in hope, that spur to our strivings and struggles. It is hope for a better
future that animates and stimulates us in dark days. Sometimes indeed that hope
is more important than actually reaching the goal. As Pope puts it in his Essay
on Man;
Hope springs eternal in the human breast:
Man never is, but always to be blest.
Hope sustains us in adversity. Nelson
Mandela lived through 27 years of harsh incarceration yet emerged a positive
and conciliatory leader. Our nation was unified during the Blitz, inspired by
Churchill’s rhetoric, confident of ultimate victory. After years of hideous
communism, the Russian spirit shone through the writings of Solzhenitsyn and
the defiance of nuclear scientist Sakharov, providing hope for a better world.
And that world is surely coming.
 |
| Churchill, the bearer of Hope |
Our leaders in the UK
have not yet inspired us. The absence of convalescing Boris leaves a gap, which
his charisma could fill. Get well soon! Dominic Raab, that boxer and karate
black belt, cuts a timid tongue-tied figure, unsure of the way forward, in awe
of the experts flanking him. Too often they speak the dim language of
officialdom, cautious and unrevealing. No doubt some of their ideas are
mistaken, but I know nothing of epidemiology and cannot cavil. The notion that
we can do little until a vaccine is developed sounds defeatist and lazy to me –
our economy cannot wait in limbo very long. Our politicians must master their
brief and make firm decisions in all our interests.
Many like me are born
optimists, often echoing Voltaire’s Pangloss in claiming that All’s for the
best, in the best of all possible worlds. Even Voltaire did not believe
that! In my optimistic mood I can think that HS2 will bring boom-times to the
North, that Arsenal can win the League and that the Saudi purchase of Newcastle
United is a wise move! I can dream cosily that Trump will lose in November,
that Erdogan will repent his wicked ways and that Kim Jong-un will embrace a
gentle school of Buddhism!
Alas, none of this is
likely and we just soldier on in heartfelt hope. We can seek to live up to the
high poetic diction of Shelley:
“To suffer
woes which Hope thinks infinite;
To forgive wrongs darker than death or night;
To defy Power, which seems omnipotent;
To love, and bear; to hope till Hope creates
From its own wreck the thing it contemplates;
Neither to change, not falter, nor repent;
This, like thy glory, Titan, is to be
Good, great and joyous, beautiful and free;
This is alone Life, Joy, Empire, and Victory”
To forgive wrongs darker than death or night;
To defy Power, which seems omnipotent;
To love, and bear; to hope till Hope creates
From its own wreck the thing it contemplates;
Neither to change, not falter, nor repent;
This, like thy glory, Titan, is to be
Good, great and joyous, beautiful and free;
This is alone Life, Joy, Empire, and Victory”
Onwards and upwards!
SMD
16.04.20
Text
Copyright © Sidney Donald 2020
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