Nostalgia ain't what it used to be

I remember a time when people thought kindness was a good thing. A time when people had the headspace to reflect. A time when people cared about those that care for us. A time when people thanked staff at their local supermarket. A time when people realised that they could make do with less. A time when you could go for a walk in a quiet and civil atmosphere. A time when there were positive stories on the news to offset the reality of life during war time. A time when headlines were about a 99 year old man performing an act of great humility. A time when we all clapped and cheered for the NHS. A time when we valued what we didn't have.

Yes, I'm talking about the first half of the lockdown.

Now it seems that anger is back in fashion, anger at the expense of appreciation. Rioting? yes that's back on the agenda. We have that Pre-Covid trend, stabbing, returning. Appreciation of those that help? clearly that's gone out the window as we see tons and tons of litter left for others to clear up from Bournemouth to Anfield. 

Maybe people in general are just horrible. Maybe the early days of lockdown scared people in a way that made them nicer. Maybe the real British public don't care about anything other than themselves and woe betide anyone who tries to stop them gathering illegally, taking drugs, stealing, stabbing, fighting, begging, being anti-social, not giving a shit.

Of course when discussing the lockdown it is vital to remember all those that have passed and the families that they have left behind. This is the true cost, but we had an opportunity to be better as a nation, to be kinder and care more, to actually give a shit

It seems that not only have we lost lives but we've lost the chance of a brave new world.

NEW WORLD ORDER?

A lot going on in the world right now. A lot of thinking. a lot of reflection and a lot of anxiety.

We are beginning to go out into the world, a changed world, a world in which there are new considerations and old issues re-addressed. 

A brave new world or a soon forgotten moment? that's a question that's hard to answer but worth thinking about.

A pandemic has dominated most of the first half of the year and will be sitting at our shoulder for a long time to come. Inequality has been sitting at our collective shoulder for a long long time and is now dominating global thinking.

This blog is about popular culture and these issues have, and will, not only impact global culture on a continuing basis, but will resonate in popular culture. The arts have allowed people to express gratitude to those who have helped us stay healthy and show support for equality.
TV has bought us blow by blow coverage of things and has an opportunity to inform and discus
s things going forward. Cinema; reliant as it is on customers, will have to adapt ,and in regards to the power and influence films can have we may see the continuation of diversity being taken even further.

But what of music? This has for some time been the voice of youth and the way in which messages can be relayed.  Do we have the figures in the industry to produce 'music with a message'? I'm not so sure. But then again I am not a young person.

A global pandemic and a global movement. Two major events at the same time. Something we have never experienced before. I don't think that, until some point in the future when we look back, we can realise the enormity of the times we are living in.

Those on furlough have not been having a holiday; far from it. Furlough has meant less  income, uncertainty, concerns about returning and a disruption to routine along with anxiety about what the future holds. It has also allowed time for reflection and trying to project what the world will look like in practical terms.

With time to think, many will have had time to process the goings on in the USA and the way in which an act of horrific violence has led to a movement. Time to think will have also helped people recognise what needs to change.

As we renter blinking into a different world we all have to adapt and we all have to find ways to embrace the benefits of a more equal society. Going through a pandemic together should have united us but maybe it took the murder of a man to do that.

TO PROTECT AND SERVE?

The Virus continues, Dominic Cummings is still a thing, Social distancing is becoming not so social distancing but events in the USA have taken over everyone's attention.

Those entrusted to serve and protect have murdered yet another citizen; another black citizen. This time, as opposed to multiple other times, without impunity it seems.

The response has been one of protest; the percentage of which has been peaceful. The protest has been huge and the President of the US has responded with talk of military domination, intervention and a Wild West attitude. Police Officers  are assigned to stand guard and intimidate protestors and they are heavily armed doing so.

In the US the constitution is quoted often (especially the 2nd amendment as it pertains to the massive gun industry) and the right to public assembly is there in the first amendment, yet the man at he top of The World's Greatest DemocracyTM is dead set against people having this right. His view seems to be that all protestors are criminals.

Let's make something clear. Looting is not a part of a peaceful protest. Looting is opportunistic behaviour that says something about the looter and their morality.

In a way, it all boils down to rights; human rights. The right to be treated equally, the right to seek justice, the right to leave your home in the morning and not be killed simply because of the colour of your skin, especially by those very institutions that are there to uphold your rights.

Murders, executions and assassinations of people of colour in the US by the police have been going on for ages (literally) and in this time of lockdown where news is dominated by one story the shocking film of the latest murder has struck a chord.

Bottom line is that people want justice and want lessons to be learned. People want the type of discrimination that leads to state approved murder to cease and they are taking to the streets to that end. This issue has united people, this issue has made people have the debate, this issue has prompted thought.

The response of meeting  protests with sanctioned violence is something that US politicians cite as monstrous behaviour in other countries but validate in their own. Then again the US was founded on violence, genocide and slavery so there is previous in this regard. However, the protests are showing that there are many, many, many Americans that abhor the way in which their fellow citizen's are treated and maybe that's why their president can't handle the show of support

Will this issue bring about change? who knows, but one thing that is important to remember about this issue is that the issue is a man's life. A man asphyxiated by a public servant, calmly and systematically in broad daylight and with an audience. 

If the elected leader of the country in which this happened can't understand why this has led people to take to the streets then he's dumber than he looks.