Frightening

[poliphilo]

I'm so tired of being told these are frightening times.

I lived through the Cold War. Now those were frightening times.

Or not.

Every generation thinks it lives in frightening times. What that means is it doesn't feel entirely in control.

What's the worst that can happen? We all die. Well that's going to happen no matter what. Get used to it.

Don't let the media scare you.  Remember they make their money by creeping up behind your chair and going, "Boo!"

There's more to life than politics.

Come off that news site.  Take a walk. Annoy the cat. Have a nice cup of tea.

Comments

[sorenr.livejournal.com]

There was a brief period in the 1990's when the world was full of promises of a better future. I feel almost Larkin-esque writing that; "between the end of the Chatterley ban and the Beatles' first LP"...

And now I've retired to the country, trying to avoid getting too engaged in politics and generally just watching the world spinning around. It will keep spinning, no matter how much we fuck it up.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Those golden times come round every once in a while- and fade very quickly.

I was lucky- my youth coincided pretty much with the, groovy, rainbow-coloured late 1960s.

"All you need is love."

[sorenr.livejournal.com]

And my youth coincided with that being retro-cool... While I was studying for my A-levels (well, the Danish equivalent)I was listening to my Mum's records with The Moody Blues, Pink Floyd and The Beatles.

But yes, it is a blessing to have been allowed a youth of hope.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I was in Switzerland- living in a Francophone society with Godard playing at the local flespit- when the Paris evenements kicked off. That was terribly exciting.

[sorenr.livejournal.com]

And I took part in occupying my high school, barring access to teachers and administrators, in protest against the French Moruroa atomic bomb tests. (But with the explicit support of our principal, so we weren't that revolutionary.) Our letters of protest were handed to Chirac two weeks later by a Danish journalist at an interview, all translated into high-school French by yours truly.

Mine began with the words "Monsieur le Président, je Vous fais une lettre que Vous lirez peut-être si Vous avez le temps"...

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I took part in occupying a university building during a period of student unrest in the early 70s. There were barricades. I manned them....

[sorenr.livejournal.com]

Ours was a privileged, white, middle-class occupation... We had no barricades, but politely asked people not to teach or attend classes. Not quite the "Les Miserables" scenario.

(My personal youth rebellion was to refuse to let my mother dye my hair blue or pierce my ears, instead opting for a side parting and button-down shirts...)