Category: consideration

What a year

My all too brief summary of 2020 and thoughts for 2021

2020 has followed much of 2016.

  • A change of president
  • Brexit
  • Deaths of many we’ve known and loved

Plus we can’t forget something that started in 2019 in China – Covid.

Here in the UK, we seem to have made a complete hash of it, but what can you expect from the country that brought you Brexit? Britain is particularly great at shooting itself in the foot. Voting to leave the UK, failing to shut down quickly enough, failing to wear masks, and seemingly creating or at least helping to spread the new Covid variant. We’ve done a great job of showing we can’t sort ourselves out.

Thankfully, this time around the change in president (in the US of A) is from the one many have named “45” to avoid using his name and giving him legitimacy, to Joe Biden, who immediately appears more “normal”. At least he is not focused on “fake news” or disrupting the world. Joe seems to be more about bringing people together. A total turnaround from what the world has experienced during the last four years.

We voted to leave Europe, and now it’s actually happening. The “oven ready” deal wasn’t quite that, though somehow Boris has managed to get something in place. I’ve no idea if it will be enough to save the UK businesses that I know are looking at what business they will still manage to run in this new world of the UK outside of the EU. Time will tell and I hope it will work, but I fear the British public’s choice was so ill-informed and we’ll never quite manage to be the Great nation we once were. Early analysis suggests that services, which makes up most of what Britain sells abroad to the EU will not be as easy or successful. What is still worrying is the noise that rumbles about whether Ireland will reunite, and if that does, it opens the doors for Scotland and possibly Wales to push for independence.

The deaths this year have almost reached 2016 levels. Sean Connery, Derek Fowlds (Basil Brush and yes Minister), Terry Jones, Nicholas Parsons (Just a Minute will never be the same again), Kirk Douglas, John Shrapnel, Max von Sydow, Bill Withers, Honor Blackman, Sir Stirling Moss, Little Richard, Vera Lynn, Ennis Morrison’s, Chadwick Boseman, Diana Rigg, Eddie Van Haley, John Sessions, Geoffrey Palmer, Dave Prowse, and Barbara Windsor.

And my Mum. 19th November 2020 will be forever etched in our family memories.

2020 ends with Covid throwing another spanner in the works with a new variant that spreads faster, so many of us in the UK are in Tier 4 – and if it continues, possibly a Tier 5 might have to be developed. I feel that 2021 will continue to be challenging with respect to the ongoing Brexit and COVID-19 situations, but there’s more to 2021 than that.

2021 holds a lot of promise, some challenges for sure, but like many people around the world, I’m positive it can only get better. When compared to the sh*tshow that 2020 has been.

Fingers crossed 2021 delivers on all the hopes and dreams. And on that note there are some positives to watch for:

And these are just some of the items to which we can look forward in 2021.

Make 2021 your positive year.

Happy New Year

An interesting time

Supposedly there is an old Chinese proverb about “may you live in interesting times” and is meant to be used as a sort of insult or curse at someone who has displeased you. The idea being that “interesting times” means bad things.

Many might consider the advent and actions taken as a result of the current coronavirus also known as Covid-19 as “interesting times”.

Instead, I’d suggest what it has done is shown us the “interesting people”. I’ve seen two main types so far, but there are no doubt multiple sub-categories.

The first is the person who panic buys, who continues to do the usual things even though they should self-isolate, who believes that their needs outweigh those of any others.

The second is the antithesis, the one who goes out their way to self-isolate, who will drop off groceries for vulnerable neighbours, the good Samaritans as it were.

Look carefully at your actions and decide who you are, and who you’d rather be.

Be the person who cares, who is considerate, who thinks about others.

Do you have a social conscience?

More and more these days it seems people are out for number 1 and blow the rest of the world.

I find this lack of consideration for others to be an abysmal indication of the direction our society is heading. Indeed, was A Clockwork Orange too predictive? It does seem to be going that way.

A counter to that is seeing that there are citizens prepared to do what they can to improve the lots of others.

This site, https://www.mysociety.org/, is just one such example. Fixmystreet is a tool I have used many times. The affected councils don’t always seem to react which is the most disappointing aspect of using the tool, but if everyone was to use the tool, perhaps they might get the message that some things really do need to be fixed.

TheyWorkForYou is equally a good way to monitor what your MP does, and I eventually gave up monitoring mine because all he seemed to be focused on was self aggrandisement and whether he could help his corporate chums. Never a word about constituents in a way that let you believe he truly represents you.

If we all used these tools, we could improve our society – and who knows – may be that would be a bigger step towards the care and consideration that we should all expect?