Each month during 2025 we’re offering two tiny changes which may help improve your life. This month …
As befits this slow news season, here’s this month’s smaller than usual collection of quotes.
Dire dealings with the fiendish race
Had mark’d strange lines upon his face;
Vigil and fast had worn him grim,
His eyesight dazzled seem’d and dim …
[Walter Scott, Marmion]
Life is strange. You arrive with nothing, spend your whole life chasing everything and still leave with nothing. Make sure your soul gains more than your hands.
[unknown]
Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed. Everything else is public relations.
[George Orwell]
There’s a funny thing in fiction, where it’s important that the motivations of the characters are clear to the reader. But in real life, the motivations that any of us have are often not even clear to ourselves!
[Reo Eveleth]
So many people from your past know a version of you that no longer exists anymore.
[Eric Partaker]
Do I contradict myself?
Very well then
I contradict myself
I am large,
I contain mult1tudes
[Walt Whitman]
“Why should we wish to ruminate on your most secret orgies?” said Dr Trelawney. “What profit for us to muse on your nights in the lupanar, your diabolical couplings with the brides of debauch, more culpable than those phantasms of the incubi that rack the dreams of young girls, or the libidinous gymnastics of the goat-god whose ice-cold sperm fathers monsters on writhing witches in coven?”
[Anthony Powell, The Kindly Ones]
I’ve been thinking recently about personal attitudes and the state of society. There has been a marked shift in the willingness of people to be active in the community, for the greater good of the community.
It’s been happening for quite a while, but has got worse since the beginning of the COVID pandemic. We now live in a world which has shifted away from community spirit to an almost ubiquitous focus on personal gain: “what’s in it for me?”.
People get angry about being inconvenienced. Their plans matter more than public safety, or the community. It’s selfish and ultimately destructive.
We’ve lost the civilising philosophy of “Do unto others as you would wish them to do unto you”.
As I say, this was happening before COVID; however the isolation of lockdown, the fear, and in many countries the indifference (or worse) of government have multiplied this “me first” attitude. Everything has become focussed on “how does this affect me?” rather than the broader picture of “how does this protect us?”, “how does this benefit the community?” or even “do I really need this?”.
Freedom has shifted from living peacefully with others in society, within the law, to “I can (and will) be allowed do whatever I want, regardless of anyone else”. That’s not to say that we should all be mindless, conforming drones. There is still, and always must be, a place for free speech, a variety of opinion, demonstration, and challenging the status quo. Nor am I saying that self-care doesn’t matter. But we’ve been brainwashed into a view that everything is a service we pay for (especially when it’s free!) and is therefore a right which must be provided here and now, or else.
This has not been helped by the political modus operandi which has become so polarised that there is no thought of compromise and common ground. Worse, what are people supposed to think when they see the politicians avoid any consequences for their lies, malfeasance and broken promises. The USA is demonstrating this in spades; and they aren’t the only ones. What’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.
We’ve gone from “we, we, me” to “ME, ME, maybe we”.
We’re seeing this in so many areas. One place I see it is as Chairman of my doctor’s patient group: patients are demanding to always have a face-to-face appointment with their GP – today! – rather than trusting the GP to make a decision based on the clinical need. Because if a phone call is sufficient (as it is in a majority of cases) it benefits everyone: it is less disruptive, quicker, and thus better for everyone as the GP can get to treat more patients (who may be at greater need). But no, I must come first; my desires are paramount.
How many these days voluntarily put themselves forward for community roles? For example: as school governors; as charity workers; as interest group newsletter editors. Judging by the number of organisations advertising (internally or externally) for people, the answer is “very few”. I don’t recall this being an issue when I was younger; there was almost always a volunteer willing to step up. And it is all levels of society, top to bottom, regardless of which method you use to slice the “society cake”.
The idea of contributing, even sacrificing, something for the community has pretty much disappeared. When enough people are putting themselves above the group’s wellbeing, things shift, trust turns to suspicion, every obstruction engenders anger; and the community starts to fracture. When “we” becomes “me” the community dies. Just as we’re currently seeing in society – worldwide.
It’s not so much #metoo as #MeFirst.
There’s a fuller exposition of this in the article When “What’s In It for Me?” Kills Community … . Ignore the naturist foundations to the article; it’s just as appropriate for any community, of any size.
Here are the answers to this month’s six quiz questions. If in doubt, all should be able to be easily verified online.
General History
Answers were correct when questions were compiled in late 2024.
Kubla Khan
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure-dome decree:
Where Alph, the sacred river, ran
Through caverns measureless to man
Down to a sunless sea.
So twice five miles of fertile ground
With walls and towers were girdled round;
And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills,
Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree;
And here were forests ancient as the hills,
Enfolding sunny spots of greenery.
Find this poem online at Poetry Foundation
This year our Ten Things column each month is alternating between composers and artists a century at a time from pre-1500 to 20th century. As always, there’s no guarantee you will have heard of them all!
Ten Artists Born in 18th Century
Just to prove that I occasionally do some real photography these days … Earlier in the week I was sitting outside our local hospital, waiting to be picked up after having just interviewed my wife’s consultant. Unusually for me the only camera I had on me was my mobile phone – I normally carry at least a small “point-and-shoot”. But I thought, let’s see if I can take enough OK shots with my phone to make a panorama.
I like this this joiner technique, which I originally saw done by David Hockney. The angled edges and not quite perfect fit of the images make the whole thing interesting.
Here’s the result. It’s turned out better than I expected.
If animals could speak, mankind would weep.
Anthony Douglas Williams
As well as everything else, each month I offer you something to think about and get the brain working. This month …
Observing a green apple increases the likelihood of all ravens being black.