Indeed. The old British Labour Party had this as the closing song at every conference.
They really did believe in building a better world for future generations and were prepared to make the effort to make it happen.
I started going to school in a little mining village in the north of England. I was about four years old when I first heard this hymn sung , and the teachers were very strong in the Socialist traditions of England back then.
Well, you have to remember that my teacgers belonged to the generation that went to Uni and got their degrees right after the war. they saw the first labour Government use the money from death duties levied from the aristocracy used to fund the NHS, and all the rest of the Welfare State. They went into teaching because they wanted to be a positive influence on kids like me, growing up in the 50s and 60s, they preached very rudimentaly Socialism with strong Christian overtones (or was it rudimentary christianity with strongly Socialist overtones- hard to tell sometimes) to children under the age of 10
( ... )
Thanks for the rallying cry. I may print this out to aid me when the time comes.
Myself and my friend were talking yesterday. He's adamant there's going to be an uprising, but as he's in his late 50s he thinks he'll never see it, or perhaps be too frail to do anything. He's incredibly pissed off about the state of things. We often talk for hours about how completely fucked everything is, and trying to come up with ways of changing things. It always boils down to a change in government, or indeed, no government. He says he lived through the 70s, 80s and early 90s so he can smell when social unrest is building. (And also says he feels sorry for us 'poor young buggers'....Heh.)
By all means print it off. The point is that people told me when I was 6 or 7 that is was us that were going to do great things in the future.
Yes, I have seen the world change. Yet I still see so much that needs changing still. Ok, today there is the mobile phone and the internet. Things acan happen so much quicker now.
But getting people off of their arses is still the big problem. Yes, unrest is building - but what will happen when the masses decide to do something is another story. me, i have opted to join the Greens. It is where I see the future.One things is though , that accountability and transparency have got to be built into the system or it won't survive. maybe that sort of change is to big to make and it won't survive . the next 30 yrs will be 'interesting times' - do you read Terry Pratchett much?
Terry Pratchett is one of my favourite authors ever ever ever. And, strangely enough I'm re-reading Interesting Times at the moment. I just got to the bit where Rincewind finds the Red Army (after asking the worker in the field what he'd like the most in the world, and receiving the reply, 'A longer piece of string.') I understand what you mean. Most people just want an easy life...Or maybe they're so blinded by trying to survive that they don't see any alternative from their present situation?
Yes! I read about his days as a journalist. I think it must have further developed his sense of humour as well as giving him an insight into the weird quirks of humanity.
After 23 years, I'm still not 100% sure what I want to do. I keep coming up with whacky money making schemes - it all makes so much sense when you're lying there trying to sleep at 4am. But I'm also aware that most people don't really know what they want to do. I'm now just looking for a job which keeps food on the table, a roof over my head and clothes on my back. It's a bonus if I enjoy it.
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The old British Labour Party had this as the closing song at every conference.
They really did believe in building a better world for future generations and were prepared to make the effort to make it happen.
I started going to school in a little mining village in the north of England. I was about four years old when I first heard this hymn sung , and the teachers were very strong in the Socialist traditions of England back then.
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Myself and my friend were talking yesterday. He's adamant there's going to be an uprising, but as he's in his late 50s he thinks he'll never see it, or perhaps be too frail to do anything. He's incredibly pissed off about the state of things. We often talk for hours about how completely fucked everything is, and trying to come up with ways of changing things. It always boils down to a change in government, or indeed, no government. He says he lived through the 70s, 80s and early 90s so he can smell when social unrest is building. (And also says he feels sorry for us 'poor young buggers'....Heh.)
Argh. So much responsibility.
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The point is that people told me when I was 6 or 7 that is was us that were going to do great things in the future.
Yes, I have seen the world change. Yet I still see so much that needs changing still.
Ok, today there is the mobile phone and the internet. Things acan happen so much quicker now.
But getting people off of their arses is still the big problem.
Yes, unrest is building - but what will happen when the masses decide to do something is another story. me, i have opted to join the Greens. It is where I see the future.One things is though , that accountability and transparency have got to be built into the system or it won't survive. maybe that sort of change is to big to make and it won't survive . the next 30 yrs will be 'interesting times' - do you read Terry Pratchett much?
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I understand what you mean. Most people just want an easy life...Or maybe they're so blinded by trying to survive that they don't see any alternative from their present situation?
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After 23 years, I'm still not 100% sure what I want to do. I keep coming up with whacky money making schemes - it all makes so much sense when you're lying there trying to sleep at 4am. But I'm also aware that most people don't really know what they want to do. I'm now just looking for a job which keeps food on the table, a roof over my head and clothes on my back. It's a bonus if I enjoy it.
Thanks, again, for your support and kind words :)
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