Seeing the light

I've posted before about how this current generation - my generation - have got to be the most selfish generation ever to have held power in Britain. I say this because we seem to be forever changing things to suit what we want and, in doing so, deprive future generations of the opportunity we had to enjoy things we took for granted.

For example, my generation enjoyed free tertiary education. University students got grants, college students were sponsored by employers and there was an abundance of apprenticeships in all manner of trades and skills. Forget all this rubbish about how only 20% (or whatever it was) went to university - back in the seventies as many, if not more school leavers went on to tertiary education than do now and they didn't end up with a £40,000 debt for doing so. So selfish.

Another example, although not currently in place, is the idea of getting rid of the traditional six week school summer holiday and replacing it with a four week break instead. Why? Why would we want to do this when the majority of us remember those six golden weeks of our summer holidays with such fondness? Why? Because it doesn't suit us to have kids today taking six weeks off - it interrupts the social and personal lives of the now generation too much, apparently. So selfish.

The latest idea is to change our clocks to Central European Time. Why? So that more of "us" can enjoy an extra hour of daylight when we most want it. Forget the inaccuracy of this statement - no matter how you set the clocks you get the same amount of daylight - it's the sheer selfishness that astounds me. We're told that if we set the clocks forward to CET we can have an extra hour of daylight to enjoy a drink or go shopping. Seriously? As if Britons don't seem to spend enough time getting bladdered or worshipping in the secular cathedrals we call "shopping malls" already!

Perhaps the most stupid comment was that it would make people happier. Really? Bearing in mind that happiness is an entirely subjective thing - what makes me happy won't necessarily make you happy - it seems pretty obvious that the idea of getting up and going to work or school in the middle of the night makes most people pretty bloody miserable.

I'm old enough to remember the last time they tried this in the late sixties. It was an unmitigated disaster. I remember getting up in the dark, eating my breakfast in artificial light and walking to school in the dark. It was dreadful. I also remember how hard it was to get to sleep when it was still daylight at 10PM. Truly awful. And today, as a parent, I know how hard it was for my kids to get to sleep when the sun was still shining and how hard it was to get them going on those cold, dark mornings.

Those who tell you switching to CET would be good for "us" - don't mean you and me. They mean it will be good for them and them only.

They are utterly selfish.