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

if you watch the new BBC 2 series Art That Made Us it would appear it was ever thus so, all about power and riches. And looking at Rishi Sunak just confirms that..

I used to teach my pupils that if someone is being bullied, silently stand behind them. Don't shout or threaten, just make it plain that person is not alone. They don't have to be your friend, you don't have to like them. You just have to despise bullying.
This works only if violence hasn't started.
I weep at the bullying that is going on against Palestinians by Israelis. I hear of horrors in Yemen. The UN was meant to be the ones who stood behind the bullied.

The US and the UK have flourishing armament industries
www.statista.com/statistics/267131/market-share-of-the-leadings-exporters-of-conventional-weapons/

I've not led a sheltered life I've been very aware of world events been politically active and worked in areas of multiple deprivation for 30 years so ....

Am I the only one who says no? I think that the difference is that today we have more access to news and immediate reporting...but does nobody remember the cuban missile crisis? The London bombings? Vietnam? Korea? two World Wars? 9/11 and Bin Laden? The Cold War? the Berlin Wall? Shall I go on?

Of an age to remember WW11 and watching cinema newsreels of its horrors can say I never feared so much during that time than what my feelings are now for our planet 21c.

I think we are more aware due to social media and the internet. Humans have been forever thus.

Dylant1234 totally agree with your comments but it needs everyone to make a stand it's sad to see what's happening to the poor Russian people who are making a stand in their own country

Rameses I feel just like you. I think the things that are happening now in the world is worrying for the future. The greed and wanting power over others and the cruelty that comes with it is horrendous.

Maddyone
With you 100%
Lives as in any war, would be lost. What could were there no response to Argentine intentions does not bear thinking.

Mankind is capable of great and wonderful things - we are also capable of dark and despicable deeds. No one gets to the top of the pile by being ethical and moral in their dealings.

As a species we ruthlessly prey upon our kind; we are naturally selfish in a bid to survive, to not be left behind, to move from needs to wants.

Today we learn of atrocities in real time, where once it was through the news media. How many remember the horrendous genocide in Rwanda, how many opened their doors to the terrorised?

If we live a life trauma free we may be blessed but perhaps not a fully rounded person - what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.

“Lest we never forget” - hah - we are too immature a species to live harmoniously.

I can’t change others - I can only live my best life, offer kindness but don’t take any siht. And don’t believe one word coming out of Boris Johnson’s mouth.

greenlady you are correct. There have been so very many terrible times all through our lives, but they were not beamed round the clock into our homes. There were a couple of news bulletins a day, and as a young woman I often didn’t even watch them. When we were teenagers and young marrieds many of us were busy with other things. Well I certainly was anyway. As a teenager my friends, school and college and so on kept me occupied. As a young woman I did watch the daily news but then got on with my life. Was I selfish? Possibly, but I think I was just preoccupied with other things. Now though, I find myself crying quite often when I watch the news about Ukraine.

I do remember how appalled I was though when I saw the picture of the little Vietnamese girl running down the road with all her clothes burnt off and her skin peeling as a result of a napalm attack. I’ve never forgotten that picture. Vietnam seemed so very far away then. Since then I’ve been to Vietnam. The world seems smaller now.

How very true,

Your post has really hit home with me, Rameses. I struggle with feelings of impotence, frustration and sadness of what lies ahead for my grandchildren and other young family members.
I have become much more politically aware as the years pile on and cannot comprehend how Government reaches some of its decisions.
Things have changed so much, particularly in the last decade. I’m sorry to say that my hopes for a kinder society are slowly fading. That said, I really do believe that the majority of folk are good and just want the best for their families. Sadly, it’s a small number of people that spoil things for everyone.

My experience has been a little different to that of OP.

As a teenager and young adult I was very interested in what was going on in the world. I was 13-14 at the time of the Prague spring and the Six Days' War-

As I had many Jewish friends at school I couldn't ignore what was going on in the Middle East, nor did I want to. The Prague Spring affected me personally too, as a dear school-friend had relatives in Germany living in West Germany, but very close to the Wall.

For a while in my forties, my own life was so difficult that I had little strength to spare for inernational affairs, or home politics.

Now, at 70 I find myself again with time to follow what is going on in the world. I have never believed that peace was just there - my earliest recollections of international politics was a crisis on Cyprus, then Nasser nationalizing the Suez Canal, the Cuba crisis, the troubles in Ireland, the building of the Berlin wall, the Prague spring, the uprising that Soviet Russia put down harshly in the Baltic states, Vietnam.

I haven't made the effort to put them in the right order - you all lived through them too, Do I need to mention Africa's struggles for democracy?

Can any one of my contemporaries really believe we have lived at peace? Yes, all right, our part of the world has been fairly untroubled, I'll grant you that, but the threats have always been there.

I agree Rameses. The horrors unfolding now in Ukraine make me sick to my stomach and I feel utterly powerless to make any difference to the mess we have made of our world. I will be glad to be out of it all - I have never wanted to live to be old, and I already feel that at 60. If fate plays a dirty trick on me and keeps me alive for a long time then I am determined to at least keep telling my grandchildren that they shouldn’t have children. We are all so coy about talking about the (many) negative things about having kids. It is somehow seen as wrong to tell your kids ‘I wish I hadn’t had you’. (It doesn’t mean you don’t love THEM - it’s just that maybe kids stopped you from doing many things, and you, and the world, would have been better without adding another generation to the mix?)
I have been careful not to to pass this message to my own children, but I am going to do whatever I can to encourage the grandkids to stay child free!!

Bossyrossy

Maddyone, I didn't say Thatcher started a war, I said that she went to war.

And it restored her popularity at a time when it was waning.

There’s no argument with that Hannah but it wasn’t what we were talking about.

No I feel exactly the same 2 kids mid 30s, 1 grandchild...what's the point in being caring and nice anymore?

I feel similarly to you Rameses. I have been active in politics and social justice all my adult life. The present turmoil of the bravery and sadness of Ukraine, the poverty of life conditions that the energy crisis will bring, the low quality ethics of our present government. I could go on but feel powerless at the moment.

I've always been a political person ,took interest in what was happening and marched with CND since I was 13 ,marched in support of the Palestinian people for decades ,anti war protests ,local protests against Labour closing our hospital 20 odd years ago and much more.I've always been aware that the Nuclear base over the hill from me is a major target in the event of war .
.I'm pleased that young people are more interested in politics nowadays and I think that we (Scotland) have the most politically aware younger generations in Europe ,in fact I know we do its well documented .
I watched a Nato or UN meeting yesterday ,not sure which as I came in half way through it .A young Irish woman was berating the room of well dressed ,well fed .mainly men .
Her take on Ukraine or any war was that nobody really wants it to stop ...otherwise they would stop supplying the arms to feed the conflicts .Take the weapons out of the equation and make people talk .Sounds simplistic but theres a lot of truth in it ..The UN has applied resolutions on Israel for decades that are just ignored ,weapons are being supplied to both Ukraine and Russia innocents are being killed daily .
Surely in the 21st century wars that kill innocents should be banned worldwide.....if the leaders want to fight let them and their sons do it and leave the rest of us who want a peaceful life get on with it .

Totally agree we appear to be in a dreadful period in time I'm so scared for the future

I think with the formation of NATO and the UN, many in the West hoped we were seeking a more peaceful future.
We have since been "at war" in one form and another almost continuously however. For most people in the UK, it has not perhaps seemed an immediate threat except for those whose friends or family members have been caught up in terrorist acts or serve in the armed forces.
It does, sadly, seem that there will always be wars.
I definitely thought in the 60s and 70s that life in the UK was getting better and we were seeing more equality and opportunities. I assumed we would keep going in that direction and that if I had children, life would be better, safer, and more full of opportunities for them and that, somehow, the world would be a more peaceful, cooperative place by now.
In the last few years in particular, I have felt that we are galloping backwards to the dark ages with poverty, deprivation and inequality increasing massively in what should be a rich, prosperous and fair country.
I now worry about what the future holds for my grandchildren.
It is tragic that by working together across the globe we could eradicate war, poverty and most diseases and probably bring climate change under control; yet greed for money and power, corruption and apathy continue to cause untold harm to individuals, nations and the whole planet. So, so sad.

@paddyann54

‘I watched a Nato or UN meeting yesterday ,not sure which as I came in half way through it .A young Irish woman was berating the room of well dressed ,well fed .mainly men .’

Clare Daley, MEP for Dublin

Too many sticky hands gunning for all-out war in Ukraine.

The events in Ukraine have been so appalling, and are on our screens and therefore in our minds all day; people of my Grandparents generation scarcely knew what was going on in the next street, or the other side of the town. I agree with you; I see the face of a stricken child in the newspaper and it makes me cry. The weeping soldiers are heartbreaking, and on it goes. Violence towards each other, unspeakable cruelty to the poor anmals who share this earth with us, and careless destruction of the planet by people who might one day come to realise you can't eat money, when of course it will be too late. It is depressing - but I refuse to be bowed. I have a life, I thank God I live in this country, and I try to do what I can to help the less fortunate. What else can we do?

I think it is wishful thinking to say if we stopped supplying weapons to Ukraine the war would cease. Putin wants total control. He won’t negotiate (Macron tried). Without means to defend themselves the Ukrainian people are literally lambs to the slaughter.