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Where Were You In The Great War?
There was a British poster, during the World War, of a young child sitting on her father’s knee and asking, in all innocence, what he did during the war. The idea, clear to all at the time, was to embarrass all those who had not taken part, not served the fatherland in some form of military role, to awaken a nationalistic feeling, awaken patriotism for the country, and avoid having to explain themselves at a later date. The same level of patriotism, of being prepared to serve the country and, if necessary, sacrifice your life, was raised again during the Second World War, and then seemed to disappear from the…
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Let The Red-Faced Blustering Begin
The question is posed every year: why do we have demonstrations for Gay Rights – in all their facets – when Gays have already been granted the vote, can marry, have equal rights, health care, job security just the same as normal people? As a subsidiary question, from certain quarters, comes the question of why there is not a White Male Day each year, and whether this lack is somehow sexist. For most thinking people, the answers to all such questions are very clear indeed, they just need to be reiterated every single year for the hard of understanding at the back. Last month I attended the Christopher Street Day…
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Misinformation: the Thin-Skinned and the Gullible
A close friend of mine received some unwelcome post recently: a letter from the local police force with an accusation of insulting behaviour. It referred to a comment she had posted on a certain social media web site – well-known for its own lack of legal responsibility, partisanship and the politics of its owner – where she drew, in no uncertain terms, the original poster’s attention to a piece of misinformation from a German politician, well known for a wealth of false claims over the years, and described the further distribution of such fact-free propaganda as more than just foolish. The poster felt that their honour and credibility had been…
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A Most Respectable Lifestyle
I suspect it depends a great deal on a person’s interpretation of Respectable, and whether it can be accepted for many different ways of life, or just from those in certain professions, and the former landed gentry but, as a child, it was a lifestyle which appealed to me. The fault is undoubtedly that of my grandmother – mother’s side – who talked of the old ways of the professional tramp, and the morals and standards some of them lived up to. How they traversed the country, seeking odd jobs and short-term employment in return for sustenance and a quarter to rest in, before moving on to new areas; unbound,…
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Fielding the Three Big Questions
There is a certain attraction to traditions, especially when visiting foreign lands, which draws tourists and others into a spiral of mixed feelings. On the one hand, it is good to see that the old ways are being respected and upheld. On the other the question of why people cannot simply let go, especially when it comes to traditions filled with outdated pomp and circumstance, costing the taxpayer a fortune without bringing them any benefits. Just as not everything which is new is good and worth pursuing, so it is with the old; there comes a time when traditions need to be consigned to the history books, taught in classes,…
