Well these are interesting times!
Not that that is necessarily a good thing, mind you. In fact the Chinese are purported to have a curse that translates as 'May you live in Interesting Times", and although I wouldn't for one second like to lay any blame at that venerable civilisation's feet, I fear it may just be coming true.
Here's why.
That's Annus
It would be true to say that life at the seated perspective has been less than ideal of late. In fact it would be even truer to say that 2016 has been a bit of an Annus Horribilis (need to be a touch careful on the spelling of that one!) for myself and Tina, my erstwhile better half. For more details see here, here, or even here.
So, yeah, plenty of 'interesting times' in 2016; and not just on the home front either.
The year has also seen celebrity deaths on an unprecedented scale. David Bowie, Gene Wilder, Muhammed Ali, Prince, and Alan Rickman will of course be known, and I suspect loved, the world over. There's also Caroline Ahern, Victoria Wood, Terry Wogan and Ronnie Corbett who, although perhaps not known quite as widely, will be a sad loss from the UK's entertainment firmament.
A Week In Politics
Then there's the debacle of the Brexit vote; a decision put to the country in the form of a referendum to decide whether Britain would exit or remain in the European Union. For me, the decision to leave was... well it wasn't the way I would have liked things to go personally, let's just say that. The fact is that is what the people voted to do though, and my only reservation with that is that some of the facts, figures and projections given by the 'Leave' campaign in particular have proven to be less than reliable.
I'm not going to suggest for one moment that MP's may have been economical with the truth (Imagine, a world where politicians lie. I know, unthinkable!) but by the same measure I'm not going to hold my breath waiting for the much vaunted £350 Million a week to materialise in the NHS's coffers.
And then we have this week's election on the other side of the pond, and the advent of President Trump. I don't think that I'm alone in being just a tad shocked at that particular result and also a little bit disappointed (I'm not angry, just disappointed) that a nation that at least likes to think of itself as the greatest in the world (depends on the metrics I'm afraid, dear cousins) would elect someone who's campaign I've followed with an increasingly morbid sense of curiosity.
via GIPHY
A Dangerous President
Of course, as a member of a minority group myself, what concerns me most about Mr Trump is his treatment of such groups. His statements on people of colour and his immigration wall, his possible rolling back of marriage equality, his, um, somewhat patchy record regarding women's rights, his open mocking of a disabled person. Just one of these would make it difficult, if not impossible for a politician to seek the highest office in this country. Together, I think you'd find someone standing all alone in an increasingly widening circle of people ready to deny ever supporting, or possibly even hearing of, him.
This is the will of he people though, and why that is, well, I'm not sure. I'm no political analyst (Can't afford the suit) but I do see fear in this decision
Things are pretty bad right now, economically, and a lot of people are hurting. There's a mistrust of the political classes, an uncertainty about the future, and, I think, a need to find someone to blame.
There's also, in my opinion, a real desire to go back to 'the good old days', the times of plenty, a mythical time of apple pie and swing dresses, a time before all this 'political correctness' spoiled everything. The trouble with that is such times, although, no doubt great for a white, heterosexual, male, able-bodied character like The Fonz were not quite as fantastic for those that did not fit that template.
United We Stand
Our freedoms and our rights are things we rightly hold dear, they are things that we fought for, that our ancestors died for; and on this Remembrance Sunday we should remember that those rights and freedoms extend not just to Fonzy and co, but to everyone. In a world becoming increasingly fractured, we should remember what unites us.
Since the election social media and mainstream news have both been alight with stories of intolerance, of people being verbally and physically abused for what makes them different. It saddens me that on a day we remember sacrifices made to defend ourselves against such a culture it once again becomes necessary to speak out against the insidious forces of bigotry and prejudice.
We can be so much better than that.
Until next time.
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