“There’s no discipline these days,” I overheard from some old timers today. Back in the day they followed orders. Things change. No discipline anymore.
But discipline relies on strong leadership, underpinned by uncompromising belief. This was National Service, Queen and country the emblems of a faith system that built strong men and unquestioning obedience.
Now our leaders have been proved wrong. Discipline towards whom? Beliefs in aspiration are wrong. Greed is not good. Whether Iraq or the economy, the doubters have been vilified.
It’s a bit late for me, struggling to find work and with a dwindling redundancy package to offset my mortgage arrears.
So I’m a little miffed when our glorious leaders attempt to encourage the consumerist agenda by lowering interest rates, reducing VAT and generally trying to encourage us to spend.
As if.
Faced with uncertain times, what is the natural reaction? Show more discipline. Believe in self-sufficiency. Protect yourself. Food and shelter, that’s all you need, Maslow would have us believe. Thank God for the scientists.
These are the principles that were drilled into our forebears through National Service. It was self-discipline as much as obedience. Just do, don’t think, or question. When should you start to question? Ever the seen The Hill, with Sean Connery? He was good then.
And now those self-same leaders that were so smug when their beliefs held strong, when the stock market grew, property values soared, and life was measured by possession, are still trying to peddle the same old lie.
Spectacular fail.
As we obey the concept of self-discipline the world system falls apart. Muted mutterings from Davos echo of a humble realisation; it was wrong. They were wrong. We were wrong to believe them. Even now, they are still wrong. What do you want me to do, cash in my meagre redundancy payout and buy a 48 inch HD-ready TV? Tell me, how can I protect myself, framed in your unhappy utopia? How can I obey you?
It’s all rubbish. From National Service to the dwindling concept of a welfare state, society’s debt looms larger than the paper-based debts of the global trading rooms. Everything is wrong, angry brainwrong. There is no solution, just periods of time whilst we await the accommodation of alternative beliefs and the revival of an empirical failure. We are all stupids and the stupid thing is that we still live with this shit.
Interesting times.
