There is a certain joy about becoming old.
Sure, your joints pain you, maybe your back is giving you problems? Perhaps it's your eyesight or possibly your hearing.
I know, as I push well into my seventh decade it’s all of the above, and sometimes more. The problem is that although my body is in its seventh decade in my mind I am 19 going on 39!
Every two years I need to change my glasses. And currently, I am waiting for approval to upgrade my hearing aids. Some nights I leave my bed, three, four, or five times to visit the loo. I’m thinking about changing my car, and ask myself, will this be the last time I buy a car, for how much longer can I continue to drive?
I’m a member of a gym but have not been for a couple of weeks due to various acute aches and pains.
There is however an upside to this aging process as British actor Brian Cox recently stated “I don't give a f***!”. Cox, 75, admits he does not fear cancel culture since getting older and is happy to say what he thinks.
In my small way, I have noticed this to be true. The assumption is you are old, maybe feeble-minded, a ditherer, consequently few if anyone pays any attention to you. Your statements, outbursts, rants, and rages are put down to your advanced years. It is invigorating. You can say what your think, what you feel, within the realms of decency and civility, just like Alf Garnett used to do, and few if any, say a word of reproach.
But what is important is that, provided you have all your marbles, you are making a valid point, expressing your opinion, letting your voice still be heard. And like Brian Cox shout to the world, “I don't give a f***!”, I am happy to say what I think, the consequences dammed!
Much has been written about the religion of Woke, and how the Snowflake Generation and their cancel culture outlook has already caused irreparable damage to society.
There are 100s of articles on the Internet describing the damage that Wokeism has caused and its long-term effects on the current generation and future generations.
Of the many articles, I have read of late, Steve Hilton’s comments from last year are worth reviewing, do take into account his US-facing position. “We need to overturn Wokeism with our own revolution” https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2021/04/05/fncs-hilton-we-need-to-overturn-wokeism-with-our-own-revolution/
Here are three examples of Wokeism in the UK that frankly if not so serious would be hilarious.
Twitter bans Oxford academic who shared this Mail on Sunday article - but allows anti-vax rants amid fears over new 'online safety' powers letting tech giants censor legitimate journalism. The social-media giant banned epidemiologist Carl Heneghan from its platform. The article suggested Britain's Covid-19 death toll may have been overestimated. It comes as tech giants may find themselves being handed sweeping powers.
Wokeism demands the curtailing of free thought, free speech. YOU must conform to OUR vision, if you don’t well, as happened in the UK last year, you’ll receive a visit from the police who will want to check on YOUR thinking! And the tech giants those platforms were developed to encourage and support free thought, debate, exchange of ideas and opinions are now the censors deciding what is or is not acceptable. In other words, they have bent over to accommodate the Woke terrorists who are hell-bent on destroying our society. For the tech giants, it's all about a healthy bottom line. (I wonder if there is an AI program somewhere within the bowels of WIX, those platforms my blog is housed on, reading these words and demeaning them inappropriate, i.e. anti-woke?)
Above we have the banning of a distinguished epidemiologist, while below a leading UK university brand two of Britain's greatest poets problematic.
Wordsworth and Keats are branded sexist as Bath Spa University slaps a trigger warning on some of Britain's greatest Romantic poets. The university says William Wordsworth and John Keats might ‘disturb’ students. Bath Spa University argues warnings ‘ensure a safe and inclusive environment’.
You have just got to love Andrew Robert’s comments below. Simple and to the point - “only a moron” - that sums up exactly what Wokeism is all about.
File under snowflakes! National Archives staff branded 'morons' by a historian over trigger warning put next to the 18th-century Declaration of Independence flagging it 'outdated, biased and offensive'. A famed British historian has hit out at 'moronic' National Archives staff. The National Archives slapped a trigger warning on a key historical document. Andrew Roberts said only a 'moron' would be shocked to find that the US Declaration of Independence, written in the 18th century, is outdated and biased. Trigger warnings are being implemented more frequently in academia
What next Shakespeare? After all, there is much in the Bard’s writings that may well disturb and upset this pussyfoot, no balls generation.
I’m sure that John Milton’s Paradise Lost or Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales will prove too much for this spineless, mollycoddle generation. I dread to think what they will make of DH Lawerence’s Sons and Lovers, Women in Love, and Lady Chatterley's Lover? Or for that matter Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver's Travels?
Why not take a page from Nazi history and simply ban books that don’t relate to the Snowflake generation? We could hold massive book-burning events around the UK and US. Wouldn’t that be grand?
To me at least, part of the problem seems to be a lack of common sense. (Here I sound like my stepmother and that frightens me no-end.) But yes, we need to step back and look at the issues calmly, rationally, and with a clear unbiased viewpoint.
For a moment think about the hue and cry there are over many historical statues, the demand to change street names, pub names, military camp names. The list goes on.
Remove statues that commemorate historical achievements because the benefactor may have been or even was a slaveholder. Why can’t these morons learn from history? I am gobsmacked by their profound ignorance. How can they judge historical events and people without fully understanding the times and the circumstances? It beats me. And what of today's education system that appears to endorse this Woke outlook.
Think about this headline from a 2015 UK survey:
British teens think Churchill was a fictional figure
https://www.digitaljournal.com/entertainment/fifth-of-uk-teens-think-winston-churchill-was-fictional-character/article/422570
The article goes on:
Polling some 3,000 British people under the age of 20, the study revealed a stunning lack of basic historical knowledge — generally taken for granted by older generations.
For instance, a massive 47 percent of those queried said
the 12th-century crusading English king Richard the Lionheart was fictional, his illustrious military reputation notwithstanding.
In addition, 27 percent believed that Florence Nightingale, the ground-breaking nurse who helped injured soldiers recover their health during the Crimean War, was in fact a mythical figure.
By contrast, a range of fictitious characters that featured at some stage in British films and literature over the past few centuries were credited with real-life status. These included King Arthur as the mythical character most often mistaken for having been a living historical figure, with no less than 65 percent saying they believed he existed and was the head of a round table of knights at the castle of Camelot.
Fifty-eight percent said that Sherlock Holmes lived at 221B Baker Street in London despite the fact that the renowned detective only ever lived as a character in the popular novels penned by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
And, just over half of respondents said they thought that Robin Hood lived in Sherwood Forest, robbing the rich to give to the poor. Meanwhile, 47 percent of those polled said Eleanor Rigby was a real person rather than a fanciful creation of The Beatles.
Although not mentioned in this article, a significant percentage of the snowflake generation refer to Churchill as a murderer and are happy to deface his statue. These poor demented wallies can’t grasp the fact that because of Churchill, Arthur Harris, Curtis LeMay, Bernard Montgomery, and countless others, they are free to spew their rhetoric. Hitler promised a thousand-year Riech, they stopped the Nazi banner from flying over Buckingham Palace. (Thinking about it, if the Snowflakes think that Churchill is a fictional figure, they presumably have no idea who Arthur Harris, Curtis LeMay, and Bernard Montgomery were and what a debt of gratitude they are owed?)
Here is another example of Wokeism that will make UK readers cringe, throw their hands up in despair.
Now the Ploughman's lunch is canceled: Fury at 'woke' Devon pub as it takes beloved dish off the menu and rebrands it 'ploughperson's' in bid to be gender-neutral.
The Tors pub in Belstone, Devon is offering the 'ploughperson's lunch' for £12.50.
It contains same ingredients as the Ploughman's - but name is gender-neutral.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10659105/Now-Ploughmans-lunch-cancelled.html
Crazy or what?
And what about the case of US trans-swimmer, Lia Thomas. I have no idea if a woman with a penis can be considered a woman. For that matter can a post-op trans person be considered a full, complete woman or man? What I don’t get is when someone voices an opinion that seems at odds with the Woke Brigade, they are tarred as being anti, think JK Rowling.
People have different opinions, not everyone is programmed to accept without question a Woke doctrine.
Below is a recent article from the UK’s The Independent newspaper regarding Ms. Thomas ‘Trans swimmer didn’t have unfair advantage, data shows’.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/lia-thomas-trans-swimmer-data-b2044949.html?amp
And an article from the UK’s Daily Mail regarding a trans women cyclist ‘team GB cycling stars face losing their Olympics places to trans woman’
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10656169/Team-GB-cycling-stars-face-losing-Olympics-places-trans-woman.html?ito=native_share_article-top
It is of course heartening that trans people; M2F, F2M, non-binary, gender-fluid, and the complete spectrum of sexual status are involved in competitive sports at all levels, as well as other physical activities. But, if you will pardon the pun, there needs to be some form of level playing field. In other words, common sense needs to prevail.
Moving aside from trans people in sports, let us think about trans people in everyday situations. What happens when a trans woman is in a store and wants to try on a dress, skirt, bra, swimsuit, or any other article f clothing. We know from countless reports that many if not most women, particularly older women are uncomfortable to the extent that they may even leave the store. By the same token, the trans woman says I am a woman, why can’t I try on a dress or whatever like any other woman, why am I being discriminated against?
There is no easy answer. At least, I don’t have an answer. I know that several UK stores have introduced gender-neutral changing rooms which by their nature are open to all store customers. While this may solve part of the problem, it also causes issues with older people and their privacy regarding trying on clothes.
I have no idea how I would react to an M2F person being in the next curtained cubicle to me trying on a bra, dress, skirt? For that matter, how would they feel about an old man in the cubicle next to them? It is not being transphobic but it would seem a complete and open conversation is required urgently to discuss and agree on changing rooms in stores to ensure that everyone feels safe and comfortable. If we can put a man on the moon, it surely is not expecting too much that the issue of changing rooms, toilets and other related facilities can’t be agreed on.
On a personal level, I am in awe of those who at a certain age and with professional guidance conclude that they are in the wrong body. It must be a dramatic heart-wrenching step, rather in the same vein as coming out, while at the same time giving the individual a second birthday.
And finally, “The Woke are everywhere. They're in our schools, in government, and at our places of work. More importantly, the Woke are on the move. They are coming for you, for me, and for anyone else who does not subscribe to their quasi-religion. Don't fool yourself — you are not safe. The Woke are at war with anyone who opposes them, and it does not matter if you just want to be left alone. You will have to bend the knee or fight.” https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2020/06/how_to_fight_the_wokeand_win.html