Our real life Cruella de Vil
Returning to UK after the longest period away since I returned, in 2004, from living in Romania there’s so much to write about. Should I settle on a theme or just ramble away as is my wont? The latter is more my style so here goes.
Britain used to be the most liberal of countries and we thought of Germany as very strict and restrictive. Now it seems to have reversed. Stupid regulation after regulation governing everything here, so called ‘Health and Safety’ reaching ridiculous proportions, every child seems to have an allergy so cannot eat this or that (we’d have starved!), excellent recruits for the Nazi SS, unintelligent bullies, controlling train travel (at least on Northern Rail) and car parking, not all of course but a substantial proportion; teachers now expected not only to teach but to take over the role of parents in the most basic of ‘education for life’; teachers and nurses bogged down with stupid form filling rather than getting on with the job for which they signed up, so leaving their professions in droves. Essential utilities companies, like British Gas (foreign owned of course), hiking their prices by stupendous amounts while rewarding their senior executives with massive pay rises.
We have a perfect Cruella de Vil leading the country using leaving the European Union (I refuse to use that dreadful ‘B…..’ word) as a perfect excuse to remove the power from Parliament and put it in the hands of a few of her lieutenants, so called ‘Ministers’.
Of course, everything is the fault of the immigrants, especially if they’re from eastern Europe or Muslim – I don’t think.
In fact, it’s the fat cats who are determined to get even fatter and roll in their slime.
Even (now this is going to upset 10% of the population) my previously favourite radio station, Classic FM, has sunk further into the money-making mire with repeated self-congratulation from the majority of the presenters, advertisers who seem to think the audience is made up of cretins. Their much (self) lauded 25th birthday concert, with a superb orchestra and chorus (the Liverpool ‘Royals’), was largely rubbish with no obvious reason for the bits and bats played. There was a super rendition of Bartok’s violin concerto by a young man, only 21 I think, and a premiere of a very interesting, exciting, piece composed by a young woman, only 23 years old, whose name I cannot remember but I’ll be seeking her out. With that fabulous orchestra and chorus why the devil didn’t we get, eg, Beethoven’s 9th instead of that mishmash of bits of this and that?
What prevents me jumping in the car and going back across the water? An elderly lady’s smile, sitting on a wall in my village main street and discussing the weather with me yesterday morning while waiting patiently for her bus.
September 14, 2017 at 11:02 am
I have read this many times. Yes, as Kristina said, seems like most leaders are here to disappoint, when they should be here out of love for their people. Or at least to try to leave the world better than they found it. Always the the optimist 🙂
September 14, 2017 at 11:37 am
In Britain we have basically two types of politician, career politicians who are usually from the richest sections of society, and those who come into politics because they want to do some good. Unfortunately, the latter often start with good intentions but are ‘corrupted’ by the system.
September 14, 2017 at 12:05 pm
I totally agree with you. They all presumably start with good intentions 🙂
September 11, 2017 at 3:44 pm
I know it is not really the point of the post, but “every child seems to have an allergy so cannot eat this or that” might be forgetting the massive reduction in childhood mortality that comes with this perceived fussiness. Many of these kids would not be “starved”, they would be dead. 😦
*climbs off high horse*
Sorry – but couldn’t not mention it! With the rest I agree. We have no sense of community anymore, so no sense of responsibility, fueled by decades of conservative (small “c” as much as big “C”) social policies based on “each for themselves”, forgetting that those that need the most help, are those least able to help themselves. Bah. THIS is a why I hide in books… 😉
September 13, 2017 at 1:10 pm
Hi Rich, good to hear from you. I take your point but I am convinced that ‘allergies’, real or imagined, were far less frequent when I was a child. I believe this was partly due to children not being protected from things which would have allowed them to develop immunities, partly due to increased introduction of harmful additives in our food, partly due to the particular pollution from traffic, among others So for me, settling for treating the allergies or avoiding foods which cause them is simply tackling the result not the underlying cause. Of course there are allergies which are inherent in a small sector of the population which don’t fall into the above categories, probably those which potentially kill.
September 10, 2017 at 8:35 am
Seems like most leaders are here to disappoint. I’m sorry this is what you came home to.
September 13, 2017 at 1:16 pm
It does seem so. I don’t know anything about Slovenian politics so I don’t know how it is for you there; maybe I’ll have a look sometime. I do, however, think the Western world is very sick.
September 9, 2017 at 6:35 am
Quite a shock after Rumania I bet. Glad to hear the weather remains British.
September 13, 2017 at 1:19 pm
I was indeed; the corruption in Romania is very apparent, that in UK is, I think, just as bad but different and far less apparent. Definitely UK has become the ‘rip-off’ country of Europe.