Friday August 8, 2008
I have a feeling we are living through a bit of history. To be precise, that we are experiencing one of those turning points in history that, in retrospect, mark the beginning of the end of one era and the beginning of the start of the next. As an unqualified observer I can’t be certain, of course, but if the past is anything to go by then a lot of the signs are there:
- Social discontent
- Economic disorder
- Breakdown of law and order
- Inability of the political system to cope with the situation
And, yes, I am talking about England, and I am talking about now.
There’s little that I can do about it. There’s little that most folks can do about it.
I can however document it as it happens to me and as I observe it. I can write about it, and I can make visual records of it.
Yesterday two events in particular here in Britain stuck out of the mire:
- The failure of the Treasury to deal with the present rumour that the Government will remove or delay Stamp Duty on property transactions, thus killing almost all of what was left of the market stone dead.
- The Bank of Scotland financial figures which show a £6.x billion profit reduced to an £0.6 billion loss year on year.
Two events in America?:
- President Bush, on his way to attend the Olympic games in Beijing, making a public speech in which he rebuked the Chinese government for its human rights record.
- The sentencing of a Guantanamo-Bay suspect by illegal military court without proper legal representation–the poor guy hadn’t enough English to understand the deliberations or the ‘verdict’, and no interpreter was provided.
I’ve no doubt you could go through the world records of the day and pull out similar, or worse, events from just about every country on the planet.
Hey ho. I could be wrong. I probably am. There are doubtless folks out there who’ll take great pleasure in telling me I am wrong. Not to worry. I shall keep my ears open, my notebook and pencil at the ready, and my camera poised.
Time to create a record for the future.
Makes no difference if the reports are accurate, or slanted, it’s the fact that they are there, on public record that is important.
