This isn’t the world I want to live in.

LaCrep that is actually the point I’m making….rather than ‘rage, rage’ I’m too tired and disillusioned to bother about the rage. I don’t want to live in a world like this.

In the Bible, in the Book of Eccliasteses[which is about half way through the Bible], it says, "there is nothing new under the sun".

I take comfort from that.
Nothing that is happening is anything new. And hasnt been for thousands of years.

To my mind, life goes in cycles.
Or like a see saw. Has ups and downs.

The poem says “do not go gentle to that good night,” the opposite of what you mean.
I’d rather live now than during either of the world wars or most of history. There might have been a briefly better time in the 1960s to 90s but really, we’ve never had it so good.
I agree that there are things to be concerned about, not least Trump, but I focus on the good things - my family and friends, nature and the beauty of the world around me. Being spiritual helps too.
What’s the alternative?

Perhaps there is a halfway house between optimism and looking at flowers and going to bed terrified.

I don't know? Perhaps it's when the personal and the global collide, it becomes overwhelming.

BlueBelle, really good post.

And to think nearly all the current chaos in the world has been manufactured by one unhinged individual......not unlike a certain Adolf Hitler in another generation.

I was born during WW2, grew up with racism, homosexuals imprisoned, mother and baby homes, people with mental illness mocked or locked in horrific mental institutions, and much more. No generation lived in a land of milk and honey

Everyone I talk to says the same thing this government is ruining this country, just like the tories of the last 14 years. Maybe as we age we don’t like change.
I just wish I had been born just after the war- at least I would be eighty now.
Back in the day people pulled together, & helped each other out- now just seems to me everyone looks after themselves. We socialised down the pub (nearly all gone now) for a laugh & a chat. Now
I hardly know my neighbors around me.
Doors are bolted shut, All the houses have cctv. Days have long gone for popping in & out of each other’s houses-for a friendly cuppa- mum with a pot of tea always on the go. Oh just to just go back in time for a little bit.

Claremont that’s it exactly.

Thank you all for your thoughts on this. As a child I remember the newsreels at the cinema after WW2 - all those poor skeletal people being liberated from concentration camps and the Nuremberg trials. And yes, it was horrific.

I couldn’t understand how a silly little man with an even sillier mustache could control people and sway their thinking. I thought it couldn’t happen nowadays. But it has. What is so depressing is that it has revealed the lowest of human nature.

Claremont

Of course we can, and do, spend time watching Spring springing, listening to birds, and so so much more.

And we can 'decide' to not worry about things we can't change, and teh future of our grandchildren. But that decision comes to nothing when you get to bed with Trump's words in your head, or Vance's or Putin's, and wake up with them again. And breathe, do all sorts of relaxation exercises- but when you stop, they are still there.

And no, we have never faced a war like this next one, if and when it comes. Never.

I really don’t understand how you can go to bed with the words of these people in your head, wake up to the same and do relaxation exercises to block them out. You are allowing these people to dominate your life. What a waste of life when you have no control whatsoever over them. The people who are actually in your life are so much more important.

Claremont

Oh not at all, I was there much there.

But it is very different now, with very different nuclear weapons, smaller, targeted- and a whole bunch of mad, psychotic, narcissitic sick men in charge.

Oh not at all, I was there much there.

I think you said you are 73 in a recent post so would have been about 10 or 11? during the Cuban Missile Crisis so perhaps not fully understanding the implications?

DH was a child during WW2, as were my DB and I'm sure their mothers tried to shield them from some of the horrors and ensure life was as normal as it could be, despite DH losing his father.

I love your attitude BlueBelle.

I also hope still that our DC and DGC will have a future no worse than ours.

I was a child of the 60s from age 11 to 21 . I walked my first Aldermaston March aged 11. Sleeping in school classrooms and becoming separated from my family in the crowds!
In the 1980s I went 3 times to Greenham Common.
We had the fear of the bomb hanging over us. Protect and Survive (the government handbook)

Somehow, miraculously, the nuclear button was never pressed.

I can only pray that it doesn't ever.
So much else to fear.

I spent some time in my garden today noticing the new growth everywhere. It sounds corny but it is a miracle!

"The only thing necessary for evil to flourish is for good men to do nothing".

This is attributed to Edmund Burke, an Anglo-Irish politician 1729 - 1797

Oh not at all, I was there much there.

But it is very different now, with very different nuclear weapons, smaller, targeted- and a whole bunch of mad, psychotic, narcissitic sick men in charge.

That post was to Claremont.

I think we did when we lived through the Cold War. Perhaps you were very young and your parents shielded you from what was happening.
It was very frightening.

Those ofvus old enough, had the best of times and know that but the young don't. This is all they know. We read of past times but really it's our experiences that shape us. It's up to each one of us to be a good example to the young. I think smart mobile phones should not be available to any child until the age of 14 or 15. No phones in class rooms. Keep to the watershed on tv and cut down on the bad language and a certain few who love to shock. The vision of Trump And Vance bullying a brave man has started something very big. The world has seen them for what they are and they have been called out, they've live with that the rest of their lives. Two over priviledged saddo's. Every generation has problems, there's more good people than bad, it's up to us to be positive.

Of course we can, and do, spend time watching Spring springing, listening to birds, and so so much more.

And we can 'decide' to not worry about things we can't change, and teh future of our grandchildren. But that decision comes to nothing when you get to bed with Trump's words in your head, or Vance's or Putin's, and wake up with them again. And breathe, do all sorts of relaxation exercises- but when you stop, they are still there.

And no, we have never faced a war like this next one, if and when it comes. Never.

If you spend time away from the media you will find the spring flowers coming up, the trees coming into leaf, lambs being born (soon!) and nature just doing what nature does.

Spending time outdoors on a lovely day with my grandchildren, seeing the delight and excitement at the 'little' things, on their faces and in their voices makes you realise what little is important in this world.

Wars will always be waged, people will always find change difficult, but realising the world doesn't really belong to us any more is incredibly liberating I think. It is for them now, and all I can do is help them to live it the best way they can...

petra

BlueBelle

Oh come on, I don’t feel this our parents lived through a world war my grand parents through two world wars
I ve lived through many personal problems
My children all have jobs careers and homes
My grandchildren all have had good educations 4 have been to Uni and 3 chose not to but have good careers They are all happy visiting the world, buying houses and cars running marathons and enjoying life All are hard working and getting far more opportunities than I had
The worlds is in a pickle but it’s been in one before many times

There are still far more nice people than nasty I can’t share this despondency snd misery
I smile or say hello ro everyone I meet and 9 times out of 10 they smile back
I ll never give up

Thank you for that. I thought it was only me who disagreed with the OP.

the worlds in a pickle but it’s been in one many times before
But we never heard about it, did we.

Our closest friend was on nuclear subs in the 80s. If some on here knew how really scary it was at that time there would be a real touch of the vapours.

Yes, I worked with someone whose DH was on nuclear subs.

BlueBelle

Oh come on, I don’t feel this our parents lived through a world war my grand parents through two world wars
I ve lived through many personal problems
My children all have jobs careers and homes
My grandchildren all have had good educations 4 have been to Uni and 3 chose not to but have good careers They are all happy visiting the world, buying houses and cars running marathons and enjoying life All are hard working and getting far more opportunities than I had
The worlds is in a pickle but it’s been in one before many times

There are still far more nice people than nasty I can’t share this despondency snd misery
I smile or say hello ro everyone I meet and 9 times out of 10 they smile back
I ll never give up

My parents lived through two world wars. Admittedly my mother was a child in WW1 but my father was a very young serviceman, and stayed in the services until well after WW2.

It is a worrying time but if we fall into despair it will not be good for younger generations, our grandchildren, to witness. They have gone through enough with Covid.

Yes, there lots of smiles when we were out and about today.

"Don't meet troubles halfway."
#mymother

BlueBelle

Oh come on, I don’t feel this our parents lived through a world war my grand parents through two world wars
I ve lived through many personal problems
My children all have jobs careers and homes
My grandchildren all have had good educations 4 have been to Uni and 3 chose not to but have good careers They are all happy visiting the world, buying houses and cars running marathons and enjoying life All are hard working and getting far more opportunities than I had
The worlds is in a pickle but it’s been in one before many times

There are still far more nice people than nasty I can’t share this despondency snd misery
I smile or say hello ro everyone I meet and 9 times out of 10 they smile back
I ll never give up

Thank you for that. I thought it was only me who disagreed with the OP.

the worlds in a pickle but it’s been in one many times before
But we never heard about it, did we.

Our closest friend was on nuclear subs in the 80s. If some on here knew how really scary it was at that time there would be a real touch of the vapours.

I agree that the world seems very precarious, but I refuse to feel despondent about my grandchildrens' future, or make myself miserable by worrying about something I can't control or which might never happen.
If we were to base the living of our lives on what-ifs and maybes, we probably wouldn't be living much of a life anyway. There's too much negativity, and I'm not going to add to it.

We don’t have good leaders. The press and population are so critical and narky about politicians and others in public life trying to do their best that the best people don’t want the important jobs. That leaves the country rudderless and that is frightening at a time like this.
Then we have the terrible instability brought about by Trump.
And we have lived through 15 years of austerity.
It’s no wonder we feel so helpless and hopeless.

Due to the internet and 24 hour rolling news we are more informed than ever before.

Why worry about things you have no control over?