What! Bad
Times?
A
short essay of thinking questions.
Written
and read by Nigel A JAMES
There
seems to be a modern disease! A thinking disorder! Everything
everywhere is rotten and bad, and the end of the world is approaching
at speed! And, the people who are suffering the most (as
they see it) are well educated, right here in Europe, and between
20 and 40 years old. And, worst of all, they believe they know
best! But, they have never experienced anything other than
good, and, as far as their understanding of bad goes, they are
illiterate.
Of
course it's easy to point to what's going on in Africa, the middle
East, Egypt, Iran, Iraq and so on. Things are certainly not as they
should be, but, in order to get the real picture, it is necessary to
start looking at the flowers which are growing right under our feet!
And,
right here in Europe is where we have to start looking, and to do
this we have to start asking questions. Is the 2nd world
war still going on? Are people still being shot and murdered in
Northern Ireland? Are Poland, Eastern Germany, Czechoslovakia, and
Hungary still in the hands of the Soviet Union? Is the Berlin wall
still standing? Well, it wasn't there the last time I visited Berlin!
And,
what about the environment? 40 years ago we were promised,
that, within 30 years all the forests would be dead and that most of
central Europe would have been swallowed by an ever expanding
desert from the south! As far as I know the forests are still as
green as ever, and I still can't see a desert from my balcony
window! And, by the way, there is still enough oil to go round, and
it's likely to stay that way for a very long time!
And,
much of the rest of the world is OK as well!
America
has a black president! Would this have been possible in 1961? Where
has apartheid gone in South Africa? Is the Vietnam war still
raging in the far east? What about Korea? And so-on and so-on!
So,
why are there still bad times? The answer is human nature. It us
who create the problems, and it us who cure them. This is why
we should never ignore the fact that everything that happens is
nothing other than a reaction of that which has gone before. And this
includes everything from the first world war to 9/11! And, this is
why understanding and being able to read the past is the key to the
future.
So,
will the future be easy? Certainly not, but it could be. As soon as
we start living without revenge then things will happen!
Inclusion instead of exclusion is the answer! In other words –
forgiveness. Our world is getting smaller so let's start
thinking small in a very big way! Things are great, let's start
building on that! Everyone everywhere has something to offer, and
this includes you!
Vocabulary
and phrases
anything
other than – nichts anders als
approaching
at speed – nähert sich sehr schnell
as
they see it – von ihrem Sichtpunkt
cure
(to cure/cured/cured)– heilen
desert
– Wüste
environment
– Umwelt
ever
expanding – immer ausbreitende
experienced
(to experience/experienced/experienced) –
erfahren
forgiveness
– Vergebung
illiterate
– Lebens unkundig
revenge
– Rache
still
raging – noch im tobende Gänger
worst
of all – am schlimmsten von allem
Nigel
A JAMES – Christmas 2013
