Is it just me, or do others feel this too?

Rameses, I think what has hit home for me is how fragile peace actually is. We are fortunate in this country to have a benevolent monarchy and although perhaps at times imperfect, a fairly stable country. Even with all it's problems.

Yes I agree Rameses maybe we become more reflective with age. I was truly shocked by the barbarism and inhumanity during the ISIS take over in parts of the Middle East and now in Ukraine every day, horrific war crimes come to light. Sadly it doesn't go away man's inhumanity to man, that horrible dark side of human nature, scratch the surface and if the conditions are right, sadly still there in what we think of as a civilised society, we might just as well be back in the Middle Ages

I too feel like you and fear my ' safe ' works is falling apart. Rameses , you are not alone on your thoughts. It's is hard to understand such cruelty in the world. I try not to allow my thoughts to sour my love of life ! and I appreciate my wonderful family. There is still a great deal of good in the world.

I have been on CND & other demonstrations, involved in Greenpeace, supported refugees and politically activesince my student days . I think the last time I was moved to be on the streets was when I got on the train to Parliament Square to demonstrate when the PM tried to prorogue Parliament. But there have been events throughout my life that have shocked and distressed me: horrific situations of brutality across the world, war crimes , terrorism, exploitation, invasions and war..and the situation in the Ukraine is horrendous on many levels.

If you are a sad old git Rameses then I am one too.

World events have always concerned me but now I'm older I feel the pain of others, animals and the environment much more keenly.

I've campaigned for CND, Compassion in World Farming and have been a feminist my whole life and for a while in the 70s and 80s I really thought things would all be sorted before I was an old git.

Breaking from Europe, war, disasters, poverty, inequality and the selfishness of people when it comes to voting all make me sad, and if I'm not careful, despairing that we are not further on in being kind, generous and gentle with each other.

I try to concentrate on the joy of each day and the good in people and limit my exposure to politics and the news. It feels like burying my head in the sand, but the alternative eats away at me.

Had a conversation today with my bloke, and we were saying that the man’s inhumanity to man just continues through the centuries and in some ways we are no more civilised than inthe Middle Ages.

I knew from quite a young age that the world was a dark and dangerous place. I was about the same age as Princess Diana and in an abusive relationship when she married Charles and I watched in horror over the years as this beautiful, vibrant young woman became a scared and hounded woman. I managed to escape my abuser but she never managed to escape hers.

Rameses

No, it's not just you.

I sat in my garden today enjoying the early Spring day and thought about mundane things like planting, pruning, etc.

... then something in my head said, but for how long will you be able to enjoy this peace, this normality... knowing that women in Ukraine have probably not so long ago sat in their gardens with their families, doing mundane everyday things...

Civilised life is just a veneer, and it's fragile. There are too many hot-headed psychopaths in positions of power- as there always have been. But now they've got technology and nuclear power to play with in their fantasy world of power games...

It's just too depressing to think about. And I cannot unread what I've read, nor unsee the photo's I've seen of corpses lying in the streets... ordinary people like us...

The more life is lived, the more time is spent considering the past.

Fitzgerald ended ‘The Great Gatsby’ with just such a thought:

‘So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.’

I feel the same Rameses. When I was younger I thought nothing would be as bad as WW2 and that the world had learned from the terrible things which happened then...and in WW1. I have read so much about the concentration camps and it's astounding that humans can treat others the way they did.

Although [even as a child] I have always been aware that many, many people are capable of having a dark side, usually hidden but there if you look close enough and when it is triggered. Call me cynical.

I am appalled by rapists, murderers, power and money hungry individuals who will climb over anyone to get what they want. There is an evil side to this life and one of poverty, illness, suffering, torture, unkindness, violence, crimes, distress, and sheer stupidity etc,...caused usually by a selfish 'human' being.

So the veneer of civilisation is very thin indeed...as recent events in Ukraine show with horrific detail.

I never thought life would be as precarious as it is now, everything seems to be in the balance...food, climate changes, economy, housing, NHS stretched to it's limits, covid, all bills soaring to unbearable levels [for ordinary people] in what I have always imagined to be a relatively safe stable country.

I just thank God that I am healthy, housed, clothed and fed with the freedom to walk in countryside, in woods and on beaches, with my family close. And I pray for the people who can't say that. I appreciate every day. I'm lucky, so many are not.

As a race we are not evolving for the better in my opinion. We are not as intelligent as we think we are.

there isn't much compassion shown on gransnet as to how younger generations may struggle if they haven't had the same luck or opportunities as themselves
and there in itself is an example of lack of compassion and understanding

we are all responsible in judgement. maybe the bible didn't work

Civilised life is just a veneer, and it's fragile

I think I've always been aware of what was going on from a very young age, living through the Cold War and other dreadful events but realising, too, that we have to make the best of our own lives and appreciate what is around us. Should we feel guilty for living relatively peaceful lives compared to some people in other countries?

I've wept over so many dreadful events and realised that there isn't much I can do myself about evil or about natural disasters, only send aid, money to charities and hope it gets to those in need.

Rameses

When I was younger I cared little of what was going on in the world and, generally, enjoyed life. I have been married and divorced twice and have two daughters in their (late) 30s and one grandchild. Apart from the usual ups and downs, along with a few family traumas over the years, life hasn't been too bad for me, although I am, in the main, a quiet and unadveturous person.

In more recent years however I have become quite absorbed by events, at home and abroad and frequently feel sad and powerless in the face of, what seems to me, signs that the largely settled, progressive and peaceful world that I have spent most of my life in, is slowly coming apart.

I think the war in Ukraine has brought home to me how fragile our lives really are and I feel like the human species, whilst making huge progress in medicine and technology, still exhibits the self-same characteristics of our predecessors that lived in the dark ages and middle ages. We learn nothing from our own history and I am of the opinion that virtually every animal on earth is kinder to its own species than human beings.

Sad old git, me? Probably, yes. I fear for the future of the younger generation across the world.

I really couldn’t agree more ?

We learn nothing from our own history
Sadly we don't because every so often another evil megalomaniac appears who is hell-bent on power and destruction.

I feel exactly the same. The young Chestnut spent her time living life with little concern about the news. But the older you get the more you look around you and see what is going on elsewhere. And it's not a pretty picture. I also agree that the safe world we knew seems to be fast disappearing. Maybe youngsters are coping with it, and are hopefully less affected. Maybe it's our age. I think you adapt to the world you are growing up in when you are young.

I agree with all that has been written on this this. I remember being very afraid of a possible nuclear war in the eighties whilst I was bringing up my children. When I was very young, at school, in higher education, and then first married, I don’t remember worrying too much, possibly because I was happy and young and not too bothered, perhaps selfishly involved in my own life. But I was very worried once I had children because the world seemed so unstable at that time. Now I’m appalled by the Ukrainian war, despite watching all the other wars over the years. And ISIS and the beheadings also appalled me.

If you can't be happy and carefree when you're young then when will you ever be? I wasn't weighed down with the worries of the world in my teens and 20s and I'm pretty sure my children weren't either. I feel great sympathy for that age group now, first the pandemic and now the war, and avoiding the news is almost impossible for them in this day and age. I hope their natural youthful optimism will help them enjoy life, but I'm sure many will suffer anxiety and depression from all the negative stuff going on.

Another sad old git here too.
But at least i`m a happy sad old git.

I’ve been fairly political ever since I had my children and wanted the world to be a better place for them and it saddens me that I now have to use up my remaining years still fighting for a better world. Why don’t humans learn from their mistakes? Not only are we destroying the planet for every other creature on it but destroying it for ourselves, too. I was so relieved when we were no longer afraid of IRA bombs but we’re in an even worse place now. One war leads to another…

missingmarietta

I feel the same Rameses. When I was younger I thought nothing would be as bad as WW2 and that the world had learned from the terrible things which happened then...and in WW1. I have read so much about the concentration camps and it's astounding that humans can treat others the way they did.

Although [even as a child] I have always been aware that many, many people are capable of having a dark side, usually hidden but there if you look close enough and when it is triggered. Call me cynical.

I am appalled by rapists, murderers, power and money hungry individuals who will climb over anyone to get what they want. There is an evil side to this life and one of poverty, illness, suffering, torture, unkindness, violence, crimes, distress, and sheer stupidity etc,...caused usually by a selfish 'human' being.

So the veneer of civilisation is very thin indeed...as recent events in Ukraine show with horrific detail.

I never thought life would be as precarious as it is now, everything seems to be in the balance...food, climate changes, economy, housing, NHS stretched to it's limits, covid, all bills soaring to unbearable levels [for ordinary people] in what I have always imagined to be a relatively safe stable country.

I just thank God that I am healthy, housed, clothed and fed with the freedom to walk in countryside, in woods and on beaches, with my family close. And I pray for the people who can't say that. I appreciate every day. I'm lucky, so many are not.

As a race we are not evolving for the better in my opinion. We are not as intelligent as we think we are.

I think you have well summarised my own position and sentiments with that response.

I keep trying to get all these things out of my mind - but can't.

I'm the same Rameses I wonder where it will all end and what will our grandchildren and their children have to cope with.
I agree with all the sentiments on the posts.

I too despair at the brutality of the war in Ukraine, the treatment of women in Afghanistan, and the lack of food, housing, and medicines in so many of the poorer countries of the world while others live a life of luxury.
Do you think the world would be a safer, fairer place if more women were in positions of power? I know there have been female leaders who went to war, Thatcher for one, but I can't help thinking it would be highly unlikely for Jacinda Ardern of New Zealand to start a fight.
I think women have more compassion than men, we think of our families and can empathise with women and children around the world and wish them no harm.
In my opinion, male egos and religion have a lot to answer for when it comes to creating a world where we can all live in peace and harmony.
I'll stop there before I break out singing "Imagine" along with John Lennon.

Bossyrossy, Thatcher didn’t start a war anymore than Jacinda Ardern did/would. Thatcher responded to another country who invaded the Falklands. It’s very different.

if only there were tue and visible karma, the bad ones always seem to get away with it and that is what gets people down, as if `what is the point in trying to be a good person`