Reasons to be Concerned

Conversations with friends centre around the current situation in the UK & Worldwide. We are all of an age group 60's -70's.- 80's. There are individual differences on certain topics, but we are able to argue without harming friendships. We actually listen to eachothers views. My friends are all reasonably intelligent & try to be well informed. On the whole we are a fortunate generation, well educated, ex professionals & financially secure.

We have lived through the 60's with the Vietnam War, Civil Rights & the Cuban Missile crisis. The 70's brought Stagflation, Watergate, an oil crisis & the Iran hostage crisis. The 80's brought disasters like Chernobyl & Challenger, the AIDS virus, Reaganomics & Thatcherism & the fall of the Berlin Wall, plus the rise of computer technology. In the 90's we had global economic & political crises & Recession, Poll Tax riots & IRA bombings. The 20th century brought the Global Financial Crisis, the War on Terror, real concern about the Climate Crisis & the rise of the Internet. We have experienced everything that life can throw at us & we have survived.

Change is inevitable, sometimes beneficial, sometimes not. Now we are all deeply concerned. We know we have survived really disruptive & difficult events, but this feels different. The World order is in a state of flux. It is highly unstable. Just at the moment when the need is for leaders who put the needs of humanity & the planet first, rather than their own wealth & power, there is a general complete lack of trust in politics.

Even if you aren't political, you should be concerned about that.

If, like me, you live in a supposed democracy, it is important that you can believe what your politicians say. It is important that you are confident that they are on top of their Brief, have accurate & informed advice from reputable people. There has to be short, medium & long term planning to solve the very serious & complex issues facing not just the UK, but the World. My concern is that I simply don't have that confidence in today's leaders. And I know I am not alone. Trust has evaporated.

It is also important that you understand the complexity of the issues & are willing to lobby to let the politicians know what you think. There is a debate about political protest & the disruption it causes. I'm just relieved that some people feel strongly enough about the issues to put themselves at risk. Even if you don't actively protest you have the mechanism to make yourself heard. Social Media gives everyone a voice. I accept that some of those voices would be better not heard. However what is at stake here is vital to our world as we know it. It is an existential threat.

A lifetime lived through all the exttremes makes me acutely concerned about just how different & dangerous the 21st century is. https://21stcenturylab.lincoln.ac.uk/ten-grand-challenges/ We are a free nation. many are not. https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2018/democracy-crisis