Why Is It Now Wrong To Cherish The Way Of Life, That We Once Held Dear?

[anotheoldgit]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2337702/SIMON-HEFFER-Coronation-dream-politicians-betrayed.html

Is it now wrong to still cherish our way of life?

/// But steadily over the past six decades — particularly in the past 15 years or so — those aspects of Britishness and key institutions have all too often been insulted, rebuffed, ridiculed, despised, attacked and, to all intents and purposes, destroyed. ///

How very true, but not just by politicians.

[Brenden]

We should not go hungry em but with the hugh influx of migrants and the amount of people living on the dole (I know in some cases they have no alternative) where is the money going to come from to support the welfare system, which I think in such a lot of cases has been blatantly raped by persons who should not be entitled to any benefits.

[Canary42]

Should I cherish food shortages, being dragged into an air raid shelter every night, father away in the western desert, etc. etc.

No thanks

[emmie]

canary, which is what i said on the other thread about poverty in USA, it was pretty bad back in the day, and some seem to think we were all rolling in it after the war, not quite...

[emmie]

Brenden, sadly that is also a big problem with welfare, that some are getting handouts that shouldn't, if you have never paid in, unless there are circumstances beyond your control, how is it possible the state will keep you, cradle to grave...

[Brenden]

Funny em you really did not notice how poor you were when you were young, only as you got older - as you said nearly every neighbour was rowing the same boat in the east end.

[anotheoldgit]

Canary42

/// I was born in 1942 - things were certainly worse then than today. ///

Lets see you would have been the great age of 11 back in 1953, far too young to come to any conclusions about the way of life of an adult.

[anotheoldgit]

Canary42

/// Should I cherish food shortages, being dragged into an air raid shelter every night, father away in the western desert, etc. etc. ///

It's 1953 not 1943 we are talking about, WW2 ended in 1945.

[emmie]

even the west end or south of the water. Poor was poor in any place, the East End was dire, i only have to listen to friends, or watch the documentaries of those times to know just how bad it was. Our family wasn't destitute, but i did know some who were, even in the 1950's

[THECORBYLOON]

What age are you, anotheoldgit?

[jim360]

I don't actually think it's wrong to cherish old values. I just think it's incredibly unfair to criticise the modern world and many of the people in it while also brushing aside the huge amount of progress that has been made. Things that have improved include: equality, healthcare in general (although in some areas things appear to have gone backwards), average wealth, educational standards overall.

The world these days is also far more connected than ever before -- certainly globally. This is not always a good thing, but being exposed to people from other countries and other cultures far earlier is something that the older generation never had. I know and have regular conversations with people from all across the world -- in the past most people knew only those in the same village. This is a different kind of friendship, but none the worse for that.

On the other hand, I think people generally enjoy knowing those about them and something of the personal touch has been lost from many parts of life. In part this is because those same parts of life have become bigger, comparatively cheaper and "more efficient" -- but at the expense of being less personal.

Anyway, those are some of my thoughts, take them or leave them. I hope it's fair. It's just as ridiculous to pretend that everything has improved as it is to pretend that everything is worse than it was "back in the day".

[Svejk]

Many a true word spoken in jest, trigger.

[naomi24]

^^ I agree.

[FredPuli43]

aog, just how old does someone have to be to make a proper comparison between 1953 and now ? At a guess you'll say it's whatever age you are and older. Am I right?

[woofgang]

oh good one fredP, best answer!!

[baza]

today will be one of the good old days for our children and grandchildren.

[Gromit]

OG

I shouldn't have to remind you that food rationing was still with us in 1953.

[boxtops]

There were still food shortages in 1953, AOG - the queen bought her wedding dress on clothing coupons. I remember sweet rationing - in fact, I've still got my ration book.

I wouldn't want to go back to those days. Life expectancy and health is better overall these days. I don't want to live my life looking in that rear view mirror.

[emmie]

life overall is better, and no i wouldn't want to either, but there are some things that have gone for good that were worth preserving.