Thought for today:
"What a topsy-turvy world we live in today! In the past, life was more simple and followed a natural order. Despite many material hardships which are generally unheard of today, most people seemed more content with their lot in life then than they are today; however humble that lot was.
The safety of children was the collective concern of their parents and parents in old age became the responsibility of their children. The community was essentially policed by the law, but was held in the accountability of everyone who lived in it.
Everything in the past had its place and everyone in every place had their pride. If one did something wrong and was challenged, one owned up and took their punishment. When you messed up, you cleaned up the aftermath yourself and didn't expect others to pull you out of the proverbial pile. When a robber got cornered by the Bobby, he held up his hands and said, 'Fair cop, Guv" instead of trying to leg it with all guns blazing.
Whatever one's status or intelligence level happened to be, it was generally accepted by all that if one wanted to get on, only hard work would get one there and that there was no work considered either too hard or too lowly for the proud parent raising their family or the proud person earning a living.
Not everything about the past was either rosy or desirable as anyone who experienced the dirt, grime and the bleak look of damp and paperless walls of the many poor households before the 1950's will testify. Those were much harsher times in many ways when one would need to look inside the home of a wealthy person to find a gold fish bowl that wasn't fashioned from a jam jar or a lavatory that wasn't shared by a number of neighbours.
And yet, our parent's generation have much for which to remain proud of. Instead of walking around with their heads in the clouds, dreaming of the day when they would win the 'X factor,' they got on with putting their families, communities and country first; winning two World Wars in the process, besides dismantling a global empire and granting its peoples independence. They may have held nothing grander than jam jars to sometimes drink from, but at least they held them high and walked in proud stride as they fought for what they believed in." William Forde: August 1ST, 2013.
"What a topsy-turvy world we live in today! In the past, life was more simple and followed a natural order. Despite many material hardships which are generally unheard of today, most people seemed more content with their lot in life then than they are today; however humble that lot was.
The safety of children was the collective concern of their parents and parents in old age became the responsibility of their children. The community was essentially policed by the law, but was held in the accountability of everyone who lived in it.
Everything in the past had its place and everyone in every place had their pride. If one did something wrong and was challenged, one owned up and took their punishment. When you messed up, you cleaned up the aftermath yourself and didn't expect others to pull you out of the proverbial pile. When a robber got cornered by the Bobby, he held up his hands and said, 'Fair cop, Guv" instead of trying to leg it with all guns blazing.
Whatever one's status or intelligence level happened to be, it was generally accepted by all that if one wanted to get on, only hard work would get one there and that there was no work considered either too hard or too lowly for the proud parent raising their family or the proud person earning a living.
Not everything about the past was either rosy or desirable as anyone who experienced the dirt, grime and the bleak look of damp and paperless walls of the many poor households before the 1950's will testify. Those were much harsher times in many ways when one would need to look inside the home of a wealthy person to find a gold fish bowl that wasn't fashioned from a jam jar or a lavatory that wasn't shared by a number of neighbours.
And yet, our parent's generation have much for which to remain proud of. Instead of walking around with their heads in the clouds, dreaming of the day when they would win the 'X factor,' they got on with putting their families, communities and country first; winning two World Wars in the process, besides dismantling a global empire and granting its peoples independence. They may have held nothing grander than jam jars to sometimes drink from, but at least they held them high and walked in proud stride as they fought for what they believed in." William Forde: August 1ST, 2013.
