Black is the Colour?
I have to admit I laughed out loud when
reading Peter Donegan's wonderful history
of the Irish Nation in the 1980's.
All of a sudden, 'Eighties Fever has hit the media.
Perhaps the shock of recognition, the easy comparison between
those recessionary days and the days to come is the cause?
Sometimes I have the sensation of having lived for centuries.
This may be because every event on our island is slotted into
a very long historical memory system.
Cut down a tree and somebody is bound to start intoning
"Cad a dheanfamíd feasta gan adhmaid?" in a dreary voice.
Impose a draconian budget and people start a long litany of
woe of the sufferings of the past.
In fact, the 'Eighties were uncomfortable in some ways
but we did get enough to eat and even though the population
was in a peculiar hour-glass shape, with the workers supporting
a very large number of children and older people,
we got through it through sheer hard work.
Everybody was on a bicycle in those days.
This will probably never happen again.
You would want to be barking mad to set off to
work at dawn into the traffic that clogs most
Irish towns these days.
Cycling is now quite dangerous and the fumes
from exhuast pipes is directly aimed at
any cyclist's respiratory system.
It's also unlikely that the Black Economy
which fuelled the 'Eighties is in danger
of returning.
We are living in a Brave New World of
indoor work and computer generated activity.
Let's see what we can make of it...
reading Peter Donegan's wonderful history
of the Irish Nation in the 1980's.
All of a sudden, 'Eighties Fever has hit the media.
Perhaps the shock of recognition, the easy comparison between
those recessionary days and the days to come is the cause?
Sometimes I have the sensation of having lived for centuries.
This may be because every event on our island is slotted into
a very long historical memory system.
Cut down a tree and somebody is bound to start intoning
"Cad a dheanfamíd feasta gan adhmaid?" in a dreary voice.
Impose a draconian budget and people start a long litany of
woe of the sufferings of the past.
In fact, the 'Eighties were uncomfortable in some ways
but we did get enough to eat and even though the population
was in a peculiar hour-glass shape, with the workers supporting
a very large number of children and older people,
we got through it through sheer hard work.
Everybody was on a bicycle in those days.
This will probably never happen again.
You would want to be barking mad to set off to
work at dawn into the traffic that clogs most
Irish towns these days.
Cycling is now quite dangerous and the fumes
from exhuast pipes is directly aimed at
any cyclist's respiratory system.
It's also unlikely that the Black Economy
which fuelled the 'Eighties is in danger
of returning.
We are living in a Brave New World of
indoor work and computer generated activity.
Let's see what we can make of it...
posted by Tales from the Birch Wood. at
10:41
3 Comments:
For me, the hardest part is the currency shifting, rather than any amount of budgetary concern. Truly - balancing between two currencies when one is constantly shifting ... that's the challenge. The rest? Bah - I don't own much, so what does it matter?
The interesting aspect of the past few weeks is the degree to which we all seem to look at the economic landscape from our own fiscal perspective.
Since I remember the degree of social upheaval caused by the long lasting recession in the 'seventies and 'eighties I think that strategies will be needed to ride this credit crunch out.
We are not yet "officially" in recession, but being prepared is half the battle.
It's a question of morale rather than anything else. I like your approach which has a sense of freedom from being trapped in materialism. However, when people start losing work and jobs, it makes everybody stop and think...
and this is beginning to happen.
Yes - I think that's the most difficult thing, isn't it? To maintain any sort of optimism in the face of plight. But ... well, I'm a student and barely have time to think about my schoolwork, between working part time and lecturing occasionally, so ... my head's in the sand, in a way. I haven't turned on the TV for a week, we vote by absentee ballot so we're already done with that and, so, out of sync with the rest of US voters. 165 blog feeds, and I can't seem to let go of any of them, so - no, the recession will have to go on without me. :)
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