Saturday, 21st November, 2009.
Are We Thick?
It seems that Westminster government – and, for all I know, The Queen of England – believes that the people of Wales are too twp to be able to run their own affairs.
If we want to start making our own laws, we must have a Referendum. It will be a costly process, of course. And we’ll have all sorts of groups running amok in our land trying to convince us to decide for ourselves.
If we are to be trusted sufficiently to vote “yes” or “no” via a ballot-box, are we not equally trustworthy of making our own laws for our own land already?
And, as history has taught us, freedom to run one’s own life is rarely given by those who control our lives. That freedom has to be taken. Revolution, anyone?
That Which Was Lost . . .
. . . is found. It was languishing in a cupboard in the Council offices in Llandrindod Wells.
The “it” concerned is some jewellery which was left to the Council – so the story goes – by a well-wisher. And the office-wallahs discovered that it had gone missing. Panic was the order of the day. It was suggested that it had been stolen.
Then, when the offices were being relocated or tidied up or repainted or whatever, down in the vaults was discovered . . . a cupboard. I would love to say that the discoverer opened it and found a long passage leading to a mysterious land.
But no – there, in that very cupboard, lay the jewellery safe and sound.
One would have thought that things of value – even those in the safekeeping of Councils and office-wallahs – would be deposited in a bank. Or, at least, in the same drawer as the tea-kitty.
Signs Of The Times
Recent weather conditions have caused havoc in our land and beyond. Our Welsh hearts must surely go out to our friends up there in Cockermouth. We, too, have suffered from storms and floods, both recently and in the past.
Emergencies caused by adverse weather are nothing new. Nor – if my memory serves me – is the current situation any worse than other years in the past.
However, despite modern technology and long-range weather forecasts, we still seem to be unprepared for such sudden events.
We in Wales have come to rely on the emergency-services – who do a terrific job, by the way – and government planning to sort things out for us. What ever happened to self-reliance?
I will tell you the answer to that question. We have been carefully conditioned to rely on Nanny State to bail us out whatever happens.
We rely on Big Brother to look after us.
Alas, even the phrase “Big Brother” has been commandeered by those who seek to control us and it now means “a form of mediocre entertainment which keeps the Proles in their place”.
Let us, the people of Wales, return to the old way of preparing our homes and our families for emergencies which might strike. Let us, the people of Wales, recognise and build upon the fact that we are still close-knit communities. For we are clever enough to run our own lives and to help our neighbours in times of trouble – and we do not need a Referendum to tell us that!
Archie Lowe
archie.lowe@laughingdragons.co.uk