Old King

Sunday, 25 December 2005

t’s been the beginning of the last century for the human race. I hate to sound like one of those sandwich board people but I have been predicting that “the end is nigh” for six years. As the old millennium ground to a halt, I warned friends that civilisation would not reach the next decade. It didn’t. The lack of civilised behaviour marked the official beginning of 2000. And it’s gone on ever since. Mother Nature has struck again and again and will do so this coming year with far greater force. The death of decency, kindness, tolerance and love has marked humanity as a dying species. Simon Jenkins said as much in his Guardian column when he presented verses from prisoners and wondered why the UK jails so many more than the rest of Europe added together. We Brits are pretty nasty and vindictive types. All we want is vengeance and pain. All we do is moan. Whilst contributing to the collapse of the world as global warming and pollution increases. Use of drugs? Up again. Alcohol? Up. What bothers me is that the younger members of our species just don’t care. We did, in the Sixties, when we were teenagers. We fought for the rights of others. Experiment with drugs if you want, we said, and marched for that principle whilst many of us – myself included – never took more than an aspirin. Free sex if both parties were happy, we said, and we all enjoyed ourselves (though we never anticipated willing partners deciding, years later, they had been unwilling or even those we politely rejected or never met finding financial or moral reward in lying). Be anarchist or Atheist or Christian or Muslim or Buddhist or Satanist… but always respect the beliefs of others, we said, not anticipating such codes becoming brutal and destructive. We drove big cars. We consumed like crazy. And we tended not to realise consequences. Well now some of those are with us and it’s time for our grandchildren to stand up and shout and do something about it. Except they don’t. Neither for themselves nor for their grand children. We were selfish but they are far more selfish. The ME generation is really screwing it for the next generation. And I really believe they may not inherit the earth. I actually do not think humanity will make it to 2010. Let’s hope I’m wrong. Prove me wrong! Do something about it.