-HOW I SEE THE WORLD

Hi again, Stuffed,

I read what you write with a lot of interest.

You write against riots and violence, but then refer to the Munich Putsch and to Hitler offering 'hope'.  I know how you meant it, by the way, and I've been there.  There is something in the National Socialist dream which is very attractive and it is a great shame that it contains a natural flaw which will always make it dangerous.

Make me 'Fuhrer' of Britain tomorrow and all your principal problems and concerns will be over - I will end poverty, end insecurity and make sure that everyone with any different or special need is taken care of.  Oh, I would love to do it.

Yet the fact is that from the first moment this would be dangerous.  I am a genuine 'good guy' and could be totally incorruptible in the service of my country and humanity, but I am vulnerable too.  Vulnerable to the politics of the ambitious which create and sustain the current mess, vulnerable to coup and assassination, even, in time, to death through old age.  And who picks up the gauntlet when I fall?  Moving from democracy, whoever picks up that gauntlet has tremendous power to undo any good that has been done, and worse.

Bad as things are, now, they could be far worse, and bad as things are, now, they ARE much worse in a great many other countries.

There is hope for the future.  There is intelligence and there are a great many people who share your sort of perception.  We actually get closer to what you and I and many others would like to see every day, often in small, almost imperceptible steps.  And the answer is education, in part, as always, but there is no simple, radical solution because people are what people are.

That is hugely frustrating, but it remains true.  Be very wary of anyone who promises otherwise.

Consumerism has, indeed, created the medium through which we are having this discussion and without which it is unlikely it would ever have happened.  It has given you a voice and it means that you can be heard, have been heard.  And that is the way forward.  Look for those others who share your views and look for realistic solutions, and try to be patient, as hard as it is.  Evil exists in the world, but there is a lot more good out there than most of us can, most of the time, imagine.

Look for ways to harness it.

Warmest best wishes

Patiens

Hi again, Stuffed,

I read what you write with a lot of interest.

You write against riots and violence, but then refer to the Munich Putsch and to Hitler offering 'hope'.  I know how you meant it, by the way, and I've been there.  There is something in the National Socialist dream which is very attractive and it is a great shame that it contains a natural flaw which will always make it dangerous.

Make me 'Fuhrer' of Britain tomorrow and all your principal problems and concerns will be over - I will end poverty, end insecurity and make sure that everyone with any different or special need is taken care of.  Oh, I would love to do it.

Yet the fact is that from the first moment this would be dangerous.  I am a genuine 'good guy' and could be totally incorruptible in the service of my country and humanity, but I am vulnerable too.  Vulnerable to the politics of the ambitious which create and sustain the current mess, vulnerable to coup and assassination, even, in time, to death through old age.  And who picks up the gauntlet when I fall?  Moving from democracy, whoever picks up that gauntlet has tremendous power to undo any good that has been done, and worse.

Bad as things are, now, they could be far worse, and bad as things are, now, they ARE much worse in a great many other countries.

There is hope for the future.  There is intelligence and there are a great many people who share your sort of perception.  We actually get closer to what you and I and many others would like to see every day, often in small, almost imperceptible steps.  And the answer is education, in part, as always, but there is no simple, radical solution because people are what people are.

That is hugely frustrating, but it remains true.  Be very wary of anyone who promises otherwise.

Consumerism has, indeed, created the medium through which we are having this discussion and without which it is unlikely it would ever have happened.  It has given you a voice and it means that you can be heard, have been heard.  And that is the way forward.  Look for those others who share your views and look for realistic solutions, and try to be patient, as hard as it is.  Evil exists in the world, but there is a lot more good out there than most of us can, most of the time, imagine.

Look for ways to harness it.

Warmest best wishes

Patiens