Anger Management

There are many Irish bloggers who assure the reader
that they are ANGRY.

I usually back out of any blog that decides to share
a whimsical polemic on the woes of contemporary society.
We are not subjected, as were people in the past,
to arbitrary afflictions like plague, imprisonment
at the drop of a hat, marginalisation for being "different".
The worst our present government can do to the voter
is to ask anybody over 70 to fill in a long,
rigmarole of a form, explaining why they should
be entitled to a medical card.

This is enough to bring the grey brigade out in force onto
our streets, and, given the chilly weather we have been having,
this seems a bit extreme, as they are in danger of catching cold.

I have a fairly keen interest in how this problem will get resolved.
I will be old one day as well, and I wonder how I would respond to
being told that what the government gave with one hand it is now
going to fooster around with until it has squared circles,
balanced budgets and generally made the economy ship-shape.
I expect that by the time I reach over-seventy I shall need
some fiscal expert to help me fill in forms.

Put not your trust in princes, etc.,... etc.,... comes to mind.

Which brings me to the ANGER.

What, I ask myself, is the use of getting angry with social
institutions?

They cannot feel, think, organise or delegate.
They depend on the humanising qualities of individuals
who run them for their functionality.

The debates on TV have me rivited.
One group was accused of bussing old people from the
back of beyonds to stand in the cold in front of the Dail.

From what I know of the doughty generation who reared and
educated me, they don't need free transport to get moving.

They are on the move...

We may all look out...