It has long been obvious to me that I am wildly
out of sympathy with the contemporary world and that I harbour many dated
attitudes and expectations. I ascribed much of this to old age and general
geriatric irritability but I now realise that the world I once knew, the
liberal-democratic West, is indeed breaking up rapidly, if it is not already
broken. A last-minute jailbreak, as in a Hollywood action movie, is required
before the process is irreversible! OMG!
Wanton Russian
destruction in Ukraine
What are we to make of the following list of
recent peculiar absurdities?
(1) Harry Potter author J K Rowling is
in apparent danger of being prosecuted for denying transsexual broadcaster India
Willoughby’s assertion that “he” is a woman.
(2) King Charles is pressed to apologise
to Prince Harry for mistreating him in his youth and undermining Meghan Markle’s
position in royal circles.
(3) Britain is expected to eat humble
pie and pay huge reparations to Caribbean nations for the historic institution
of Slavery in the 16th to 18th Centuries.
(4) The unelected UK House of Lords seeks
to frustrate all attempts by the UK government to deport illegal immigrants or
fly them to Rwanda for assessment.
(5) The discredited Metropolitan Police
manage to arrest a demonstrator waving a sign saying “Hamas are Terrorists” - pro-Hamas
demonstrators in their thousands are untouched.
(6) British Jews live in fear of violence from
Islamist fanatics and their Leftist supporters on the streets of London. The MP
for Golders Green (Mike Freer) is standing down due to intimidation.
(7) US Presidential candidate Donald Trump
praises Putin (“genius” and “savvy”) and privately speaks well of Xi and
Hitler. He leads in all the polls.
(8) Pope Francis enrages Ukraine by
advising her to wave the white flag and negotiate peace with Russia to end the
war.
(9) Chinese influences and money stifle
debate about that country’s aggressive policies and repression of dissenters.
(10)
UK
media and advertisers continue to peddle the myth that Britain has very substantial
black and Asian minorities. The 2021 census figures are a mere 4% and 9%
respectively.
Pro-Palestinian demos
in the streets of London
All the above are examples of the distortions
of thinking and erratic behaviour prevalent in the West, weakening its hard-won
Liberties and dimming the warm glow of our Enlightenment.
Going back to first principles, most Britons believe
in toleration, giving much latitude to a wide range of opinions. People should
be able to express their views in any way, within certain limits. Those limits
forbid the use of violence or intimidation or expressions of racial, sectarian
or tribal hatreds. We have built a long-established system of parliamentary
democracy which must change with the times, but preferably gradually and with a
broad measure of electoral and public support. The judiciary must apply the law
with integrity and be uninfluenced by political pressures.
“Activist”
vandalizes Balfour portrait at Cambridge University
The problem of social disintegration in the
West, viewed from my admittedly geriatric ivory tower, is that our society has
lost its moral compass. But I am truly talking about people who have no moral
compass and to whom “morality” is a mere joke. How can we explain a cash
economy to avoid VAT, practiced by every tradesman, too many politicians “on
the make” in US, UK and Europe grasping at bribes, or ruthless company
directors gaily committing grand larceny as if it were their “entitlement”? Where
does morality sit with those civil servants and academics who “cancel” all dissenting
voices with unrelenting malice, and are complicit in the distortion of historical
fact?
To be sure, we in the West need to reset our
priorities. It is too easy to blame governments in office. Rishi Sunak is an
honourable fellow but his country has tired of his party. Joe Biden is too old,
but who isn’t? Macron, Scholz and Meloni may be somewhat uninspiring, but new
leaders are just outside the door, - the West has so much in its favour. It may
not have the manpower of China and Russia, but the West has the brains, the
technology and the resources to overcome all her foes.
The West’s priorities, not unlike those at the
start of the Cold War, are rearmament and advanced technology. Her industrial work-forces
need to be mobilised and energetically managed. Climate targets, high welfare
payments, triple locks, unaffordable health services and immigration policies
will have to take a back seat meanwhile or be drastically reformed.
Our large educated elites, need to show our
people the way forward, to lead, galvanise and inspire. Step forward now!
SMD
17.03.24
Text copyright © Sidney Donald 2024
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