Including Three Word Wednesday and Totally Optional Prompts.
Have you had a go yet?
Welcome to my Wednesday magazine post.
The US government is to help out homeowners who are facing difficulties, spending millions of tax payer’s money. Now, I know it’s hard on homeowners in this situation, but if all the money is spent trying to stop a recession, what’s left for once it’s here?
This madness is infecting Britain.
Billions are going down the pan, with government trying to do a Canute and stop the tide. The latest idea being aired is that local councils buy the homes of struggling owners and then rent them back to them.
This shows the corruption and mentality of the last 20 years. Britain used to have hundreds of thousands of local authority owned houses for those who couldn’t afford to buy. This was deemed wrong and they were sold off, cheap. So now things are coming full circle, and it’s right again! Incredible.
A report has said that a British single person need £13,400 a year.
This is for a minimum standard of living, and includes such ‘essentials’ as colour TV and mobile phone. Another report has said that our middleclass professionals can no longer easily afford to send their children to private education.
At first, these reports don’t seem to be linked. But they are. Britain used to have a very clear middleclass, comprising teachers, doctors, solicitors, engineers, etc. They were, in effect, the ‘nervous system’ of the country, making it run smoothly.
But they were more than this. They had a certain ethic and perks in return for maintaining professional, well mannered standards. They provided orderliness by example, rather than imposition.
The two reports above show that this vital social component is now disappearing, with the perks gone, and the working class merging, financially, with middleclass. To enjoy such perks nowadays, you have to be super rich. A new mass-class is arising without standards, with only a tiny super-class above them. Welcome to serfdom.
Having a day off tomorrow. Next magazine post, Friday. See you then.
(c) Anthony North, July 2008
I DON’T LIKE DOING WHAT I’M TOLD
I don’t like doing what I’m told,
it’s much more fun as things unfold;
Systems, rigid in their way,
I look, and often, I say ‘nay’;
I did it when I was in the forces,
once I was out, no one enforces,
what I do or what I think,
conformity, it really stinks;
I reason what’s sensible, and what is not,
if it makes sense, off I’ll trot,
‘cos we have to fit in with society,
or it’s anarchy between you and me;
But if it makes no sense at all,
rebel! That would be my call;
I say this to my wife, no fear;
What’s that?
Cup of tea?
Yes, dear
(c) Anthony North, July 2008
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THE LOST TRIBE – Fiction
They were one of the Lost Tribes of Africa, but they didn’t feel lost – at least, not now.
Times had been hard of late. Bellies were empty. But they had had times like this before – it would pass. Yet the Witchdoctor knew morale had to be kept up. Hence, he sat down by the fire, called for their attention, and told the story once more:
The great bird was seen in the sky, trailing fire, and as it landed there was a huge eruption. We ran to where the bird was and found him, lying beside it. He was alive and we nursed him back to health.
He was white of colour and he said he came from a place called The West. His great bird was of metal and with it he could fly many miles. And we were in awe of him, come from the miraculous gods.
For a while he dreamt of going back to his people, but it soon became clear that he could never walk that far, so he settled down to tribal life – at least, at first.
It began when he realized that the mud we smeared on us for hygiene was inefficient, and he made us soap. This was a marvelous thing, and we looked so much better. But little did we realize that manufacture incurred cost – and by looking better we realized vanity.
This was the beginning of the capitalism he brought to us. At first many complained, but he said we were being too narrow minded, and he spoke of his system, of the wealth, the comfort that could come from it.
And in so many ways we changed. He introduced plentiful stones of no value, but he placed value on them and called it money, and everything had a price, and we could have a thriving economy. And as time passed, and we found new places in society, we spent ourselves into fragmentation, with some becoming rich and most being even poorer than before.
With new values, our customs began to wane, and soon men took wives who weren’t their own, and fights began amongst us. Until the day came that someone committed the murder. It was through jealousy, a thing we hadn’t understood until the white man came from The West.
It was then that we realized that no one knew happiness any more, and we determined things must change.
He was banished from our tribe. What happened to him, we don’t know, but a couple of days later, far away, we saw the vultures circling. And slowly, very slowly our history turned once more to how it should be …
The witchdoctor had finished his story. They all knew it so well, but there had been a reason to hear it now. Finally, he concluded:
So think of The West when you feel things are not going well, and remember, there are always people worse off than you.
© Anthony North, July 2008
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