Age of Insecurity: Cultivated Eccentricity
Harry McQuillen
I’ve never tried to write anything where I’ve worked backwards in time. However this is a rewrite of an earlier column, completed before my recent trip to France. (More of that in the next edition).
The recent fire in the tower block in London calls for a rethink of many aspects of the situation. We all tend to have 20/20 vision in hindsight.
Our recent election was a humdinger. Accusations of Dementia Tax and Magic Money Trees are flying around. I reckon that our present parliamentary arithmetic could well lead to a Brexit of compromise and good sense. Perhaps that’s what politics is all about.
My earlier column referred to Nicola Sturgeon and co, fundraising for the costs of a second Scottish referendum. It is interesting that they’ve stopped.
Michael Flynn and his threat to blow the gaff on US-Russia contacts is just one aspect of the political omnishambles which has engulfed the Trump presidency. Rex Tillerson, the US Secretary of State is charged with being a friend of President Putin. The feeling is that the wonderful checks and balances and layers of lawyers so beloved by our Transatlantic Cousins will run and run.
Nearer home, Facebook may be used by Ofsted inspectors to assess things going on in schools. Could the same device be used to assess the true worth of Ofsted inspectors? Still on education, the Supreme Court ruling on holidaymaking in term time is bound to raise hackles.
How about the recently discovered version of a worm eating mushroom? Small worm, large mushroom. (Found in sand dunes apparently! – Ed). A senior medical man has talked about the way to cure the scourge of type 2 diabetes. The answer is to eat less and excercise more. I hate to say “I told you so,” but that’s what I’ve been doing all my life. The overall effect has been to have a generally healthy body, and mental processes that have clearly led to my Cultivated Eccentricity.
Finally, we must all calm down and face the world as it is, and not as we’d like it to be. We used to be a nation known for its resilience. Let’s all do some thinking. I’m absolutely sure we’ll all come to the same conclusion. People do best when they work together.
Harry McQuillen
