| Topic: | Re:Re:Re:Wheelies...at long last – has the penny finally dropped.....? | |
| Posted by: | Dan Murphy | |
| Date/Time: | 13/11/14 09:05:00 |
| From a brilliant book by Paul Kingsnorth, called "Real England" (sub title - "the battle against the bland") "In local papers and local pubs, in community centres and shopping centres, you'll hear people talking about the individual components of this machine*: this new housing development; that new megastore; this street market closing down; that pub disappearing.People feel that something is wrong; they just don't know quite what, or why, or what to do about it ow how to bring it all together. They don't have the language or the permission to discuss it. If they do bother to complain, it is usually patiently explained to them that these are small, insignificant local issues of no import to the grand scheme of things. They are told to think about something more important: economic growth, perhaps, or the War on Terror. And if they persist they are called "luddites" or "nimbys", pigeon-holed as reactionaries, or nostalgic grumblers. No-one, runs the sub-text, has the right to take up arms in defence of their place, their sense of belonging, their attachment to locality. We should all have better things to do. Well I have come to believe that there are few better things to do. I have come to believe that this matters a lot." * Kingsnorth is reflecting on J B Priestley's 1934 book "English Journey", where he talks about the obliteration of local distinctiveness in the name of progress and development. |