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

I was about 11 when the Cuban missile crisis was happening, I have thought, since then, that the warmongers in this world will always have the upper hand, no matter how much we march and seek peace. Until every soldier lays down his arms and refuses to do what the rich people want (because basically, that is what they have to do) there will never be peace. I cringe at Christmas when its all 'Peace on Earth, Goodwill to Man' .... where??? and when???

Yes you did Bossyrossy but unfortunately you used the term start a war with regard to Jacinda Adhern directly after saying Thatcher went to war. The unspoken suggestion was that Adhern would not start a war but Thatcher did. Anyway apologies if that is not what you meant.
Mind you, Adhern lives in a country that does not share a border with anyone else, and the country is miles away from other countries. It’s pretty isolated. I’ve been, it’s a beautiful country, but very isolated. I doubt any opportunity for starting a war would present itself to Adhern. We have to compare like with like. If Adhern were the President of a European country that was invaded then I expect she would have her forces fight.

That was a very wise and insightful post Dickens

I feel the same Rameses.
It comes with age and I’ve cried about the War in Ukraine - just terrorising for the people there.
Find kindness and love and spread it too…

It was, unfortunately, the industrial Revolution that has escalated the destruction. At least they had the excuse of not realising what problems fossil fuels were going to cause. We know now but still carry on as if nothing was wrong.

Trouble has always been there...but you just don’t notice it the same when you’re younger.

My husband and I have just finished watching a two part documentary about Mary Whitehouse. We’d heard of her of course, but knew nothing of the extent to which she campaigned, being toddlers when she started....1963.

We were surprised at just what was going on in those former years. It had completely gone over our heads.

I really wouldn’t worry. I don’t think we’re any different to our ancestors, or those who are to come.

Humans have been destroying themselves and the planet since we first evolved. There have always been wars but now the weapons used are so much more sophisticated and deadly.
Anyone with any compassion will feel saddened by those who suffer at the hands of others.
I agree that it does affect me more now than when I was younger. I fear for my GCs in what is a very cruel world.

Dickens, you put my thoughts into words, more eloquently thanI could have.
Thank You.

Ben Fogle, apologies
And not dawning but damning
Autocorrect - I should check.

maddyone

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.

Well said maddyone

Incidentally, did anyone watch the Ben Foge programme about The Falklands invasion at night? It was very good and shone a light into the dawning reports about the very small contingent of Royal Msrines stationed on the island.

Their reputations have been damaged for 40 years by some of the misreporting of the British media, in particular that unpleasant arrogant editor of that dreadful rag The Sun, Kelvin Mackenzie who went on to destroy the lives of many other people.

I think the 'civilised' world is in a dangerous state at the moment.

Economic hardship creates a precarious environment where people look for someone to blame. Capitalism itself is a flimsy economic system because it's based on market forces and relies to some extent on winners and losers. It works OK when there is economic stability, but anything that upsets that stability (the rise in global energy prices, the pandemic, constitutional changes like Brexit (it matters not which way you voted, Brexit is a huge constitutional change, as was our entry to the EU club)... creates fear, unease and unrest.

And our leaders take political advantage of that unease and unrest because we are at our most vulnerable, and susceptible to being manipulated according to their whims and ideology. So it's a time when extremes of both Left and Right gain traction.

What is so distressing about it is that we, the people, as a whole, are a powerful force and if we could only join forces and convene together, we could summon our leaders - some of whom have helped create this fragile environment - and hold them to account, and demand that they take action that is beneficial to us as a whole.

But we don't, we cast around and blame each other, and our leaders exploit (and encourage) this divide-and-rule because it keeps them in their positions of power.

And that's why we feel, individually, helpless. Because we have no control over what is happening. We can only stand on the side lines and watch, and separately make our own gestures and contributions which we know instinctively are not going to change things, just alleviate immediate distress.

We donate to help the Ukrainian people - especially the women and children (particularly girls) who, as always, become the spoils of war. It's our need to do something, but that something is so limited. We want to stop the invasion, but we can't, and we watch helplessly as our various leaders take to the political stage and sometimes cooperatively and sometimes not decide the Ukrainian's (and our) future.

I'm the ever half full glass but have to confess that lately I've an inexplicable air of sadness about me. Couple of personal reasons don't help, but I mean in general. I think I was somewhat looking forward to the physical (not mental) release from covid and then Ukraine hit. Also I find the current political scene extremely depressing. Maybe it's just the constant bombardment? Who knows? However...... in spite of humans, Mother Nature is trying hard to get Spring through to us. I see many signs and try my hardest to cling to them. I do confess I have to dig deeper for the power of positive thinking at the moment. You are not alone OP.

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

I really feel we are only as safe as the nearest psychopath allows us to be.
Do everything possible to avoid a physical attack ( be it in ones personal life or on the world stage). But when the chips are down, all that's left is fight back.
If that means for us on GN sharing our sadness, commiserating and trudging on. Then so be it.
That said, the war in the Ukraine never leaves my mind.
It's the feeling of uselessness that weighs heaviest.

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`

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.

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.

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.

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’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…

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

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.

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.

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.

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.