We are living in the country of lost things. Modern technology has left us bereft of those things now rendered obsolete or at least partially obsolete. Things like VHS recorders and tapes, audio cassette tapes, vinyl records, paper and hard backed books, newspapers. Smartphones have swallowed all of these whole. The sentimentality attached to those things from our past cannot be overestimated. However younger people are solidly indifferent to our “stuff”. Their homes are minimal yet efficient but also bare and devoid of any meaning.
As a country we have lost far too many things of value. We used to make glorious things that were feats of engineering, like ships (below). Now Brexit has left us feeling ashamed when we used to feel so proud of the things that we made.
This country also used to be a green and pleasant land, but now our wildlife is being decimated in the name of technological “progress”. Our almost insatiable thirst for on line shopping has lead to more congestion as fleets of vehicles carrying our wares clog the roads with pollution.
Our countryside was once vibrant and alive but today we rarely see a butterfly, a bee, a cuckoo or a fieldmouse. Bird song used to fill the air on crisp autumn mornings.
We rarely see or hear nature now. Our country has lost so much. Without all of these things we will lose our character, and our soul.
25 years of hopeful thinking 