The bright side

I thought I’d start the New Year with a moan. Why not? Everyone else seems to be at it. Saying the country is broken, finished, a toilet. A lot of negativity which does nobody and good. And it’s all nonsense.

Now, I’m not saying there’s nothing wrong of course. As a country we’ve done some stupid things - Brexit, ending up with Boris or Liz Truss as PM, falling for the monetarist claptrap, selling off the family jewels as Harold Macmillan put it. There’s a long list, and some people have been hit hard.

But here’s the thing. Some people have always been hit hard. It’s nothing new. It doesn’t mean the country is broken. It does mean we should do something about it – including changing some of the things which have made things worse such as Brexit, and the ever-increasing gulf between rich and poor. Time to recognise the mistakes and put things right.

I’ve just been reading a description of an unfriendly, crime ridden dump that I don’t recognise. I can only speak from experience, and my experience is that most people, most of the time, are friendly and helpful. Sure, there are a few miseries about, and the thugs and scroungers are always with us, but the headlines exaggerate their numbers. Naturally those who are struggling need someone to blame. And are often pointed in completely the wrong direction by the media, not least the papers. But that’s only a small part of the picture.

The positive side of things is that we live in an overwhelmingly friendly society. The NHS and the BBC have their issues which make it easy to forget just how good they are, and that they are the envy of the world. We have a beautiful country, with a stunning coastline, mountains, lakes, forests and rivers and a rich heritage. Our cities offer sport, culture, and entertainment. We need to broaden access to all this but it’s all there.

We also have a thriving multi-cultural community, a blessing we never deserved given the evils of empire, but one to revel in. We remain attractive to new influxes of people – and despite what we read in the papers this is overwhelmingly a good thing. We need them. Birth rates have been falling steadily for a long time, and we are not producing enough children to keep the lights on in the future, to do the jobs, to pay the taxes, to support the non-working population, by which I mean the old and the young. In this respect we’re in a hole and heading for a deeper one – but we have the immigrants. They’re our ‘get out of jail free’ card.

Eric Idle famously sang ‘Always look on the bright side of Iife’ and we should. There’s always a bright side.

So, my New Year’s wish and resolution is ‘no more moaning’. Where there are downsides, do something about it. Remember all the positives. Count your blessings -and have a very Happy New Year.

Pleasure

spray on face
roll of boat
sun on waves

turf underfoot
mountain air
view from summit

walking through vines
poetry bench
town spread out below

grand old oaks
slim silver birch
mystery of woods

bracken and heather
walking the moors
somewhere a grouse

simple greetings
talk and laughter
home