Monday, May 21, 2007

A GENERATION, or three, THAT HAS NOT REALLY LIVED
Recently our resident senior and historic scribe, Anticant, has claimed that the lousy state of today can be traced back many years. If not to the failed elitism of Reith then at least to the pessimism of a W.B.Yeats which is the failure of a "Second Coming" in the 20th century. Indeed the sperm count is rather low today anyway so who cares, in fact. But Anticant has a good point. Excitement, for example, today is a "Happy Consciousness" at best ( devoid of real excitement that always includes disaster areas and failures) or, at worst, a consumer consuming well insured and standardised fun. If it was the 1970s that really showed this move to a generation that had not even begun to live it was the damned Americanised 1950s of Harold Mcmillan and his "never had it so good" copy of the USA standard of excellence that gave birth to this McDonaldised world of yuk.

Forget the political economy or even the BBC priests of rightousness. Such evidence is banal. Forget the insipid inspirations from public schools and Oxbridge in their rally against Fordism and scientific management. As any social historian worth her salt knows it is the "things that really matter and the things that mean" which are evidence. With this reality check in mind let me "inkspot" the situation by using real evidence of the coming of a generation that has never really lived.

We look to crisps. In fact "SMITHS CRISPS". There was a time when those crisps in the packets were an adventure. The packet was often sealed so the crisps remained crisp and dry. But there were many times when that packet was not quite sealed well enough and the crisps were rather damp and soggy even. To select a packet of Smiths Crisps was an adventure. But there was more. Inside every packet was a small blue bag filled with salt. Those that wanted to salt their crisps would take this small blue bag and open it and then sprinkle the salt to taste. Those not wanting salt would throw the bag away or pour it down a male or female shirt or blouse. This was real life and excitement.
Sometimes this small blue bag of salt would, however, also be damp. To open a bag of crisps in those years was to live on the threshold of risky times. Liminality OK !
Of course there is and was a moral to this atmospheric condition. Those understanding the sensuous adventure will no doubt embrace heartily this "bildung" but those of the generations that have not really lived will misconstrue real life as an appropriate act of sickly SATS and PRATS - "all made out of ticky-tacky and they all look just the same".

10 comments:

anticant said...

Did you see that a woman whose small child dropped a couple of crisps on the pavement while waiting for a bus had an £80 on-the-spot litter fine slapped on her by a Council warden?

The Council have now apologised, but really.....

zola a social thing said...

No I did not see that Anti but I sure do believe it.
What to do?
First cut council warden pay packet and get em hungrey. Warden eats crisps and says thanks to small child.
Society in equalibrium again.
smiles all round.

anticant said...

Have you also seen ][today's 'Times'] that the Home Office is considering making it a LEGAL OBLIGATION for doctors, council staff, and social workers to inform the police about anyone they believe either to be "potentially violent" or at risk from such people, so they can be put on a register and placed under surveillance?

Such 'potential criminals' might include those with a history of domestic violence in their families, heavy drinkers, or mental health problems......

For sure, Orwell was a much more convincing prophet than Nostradamus.

anticant said...

And do you realise that if you poured your unwanted salt down a shirt or blouse [or burqa!] in Blair's NuBritain you would almost certainly have an ASBO slapped on you?

zola a social thing said...

It is time for the UK to apply these same techniques to those in power is it not?
Anticant : Thanks for increasing my sense of frustration at parts of this world. keep on.... It is far too late to be pessimistic.

Anonymous said...

Any of you following the fight for dignity I have been pursuing will know of the case of the 'frozen water' atrocity.
Bad enough - it is now leading the GMB competition for the stupidest answer toa H&E query.

This particular stupid and corrupt official involved managed to outdo himself this weekend.
He shut all the cemetaries on 'Health and Safety' grounds due to shaky headstones!!. Locked people out (and also 'in' as Lavvy said).
A local Minister threatened to personally take a pair of bolt cutters and open the way for mourners. Eventually the new SNP Councillor got them opened.

The Murdoch organ gave a quote from the Council : 'We were worried the stones could fall over and injure the graves' inhabitants'.

What can you say?.

Anonymous said...

That happened at the cemetery in my home village up in Derbyshire. Well, not quite - they (the council) didn't close the cemetery. They took the gravestones out - some of them by knocking them over and breaking them. No word of warning. The explanation was that they weren't complying with H&S by having deep enough foundations.

Out-bloody-rageous. No apologies, nothing - but they did fix them again come the inevitable outcry.

Sorry if this is going off topic.

Anonymous said...

Well on topic, big man.

zola a social thing said...

I used to appreciate the literature and theatre of the "Absurd" but it seems that absurdity has taken itself very seriously indeed.
You guys at least present some hope to the likes of me and us.
All well on topic methinks.

anticant said...

Ken Frost's wonderful "Nanny Knows Best" blog [link from my arena] dishes up several of these contemporary absurdities every week. They would be hilarious if not so dismaying that we are 'ruled' by such cretins.

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