14th August 2011

Anarchy abounds. In Middle East dictatorships it was ever so, but in the democratic West?  Of course, the French have always been quick to shout revolution.  But in England?
Unlike societies of the past, modern media is awash with images of young people enjoying expensive lifestyles. I blame John Lennon. Ever since he stood on that stage at the London Palladium and showed no respect for older people in the audience, things started to change.
When I first started work 45 years ago, my wage of 8 pounds p.w. was standard, and it was expected that I run errands and make tea for more senior workers. But, over the years - and it was very hard - I climbed the ladder.  There was no alternative - no welfare benefits - so I had to be patient. And, because at 16 I was forced to work, I had to wait until I was 50 to earn my English degree.
But today, the impatient young see what they want and they want it NOW.  By every means possible: smash, grab, injure, shoot and steal.  John Lennon, instead of singing Please Please Help Me, should have sung I Will Work and Work until I Can Improve My Life. It can be done - I proved it!

17th December 2008

I see that French teachers and students are revolting again! Faced with this unrest, Nicolas Sarkozy has backtracked on his flagship education reforms. He had such high hopes of making sweeping changes to the school curricula, but in the wake of recent street violence in Athens, he was fearful of that happening in Paris also. So Education Minister Xavier Darcos announced on Monday he was delaying for a year a broad overhaul of the school curriculum, a move seen as the first major retreat from reform since Sarkozy took office in May 2007.
I was put in mind of protests in the UK a few decades ago. It's as if people sometimes get bored of the everyday grind and need something to fire them up. I was intrigued to see that, despite France's capitulation with this latest wave of education protests, Parisians had already been so worked up they couldn't stop the momentum and went ahead with the protest anyway!! So, scheduled nationwide marches still happened, with violent protests spreading to Brest, Rennes and Lille. It's not that I'm diminishing in any way one's right to comment on issues that impinge on your life and career. Rather, it's more that because these northern cities are struggling with so much economic hardship, it would only take a small match to light the flame of unrest amongst people who are looking for someone to blame. Then, it becomes less of an educational issue and more of an anarchist's fieldday. There are trouble-makers everywhere just looking for something - it doesn't matter what - to drive a nail into the democracy they hate.
I do hope that, because of the similarities with the 1929 economic collapse, Europe isn't heading for more and more conflicts. Just when we were beginning to settle down here......