Well, the nights are drawing in. Before we know it, Christmas will again be upon us. It’s something for the kids to look forward to, I suppose – a couple 
of apples and an orange in a sock at the bottom of the bed that morning. A dead tree will no doubt stand downstairs in the corner where the real present lies – an I.O.U. to be paid in better times, should they arrive. The cat will probably play safe again and go missing for a few days, in case we can’t afford a bird for dinner. It usually does. Animals have a sixth sense, don’t they? Then it’s New Year, and if enough visitors call with a piece of coal there’s the prospect of enjoying a warm night or two. At least that always brings the moggie home. I wonder if he hides in the chimney?
I feel like I’ve gone full circle. Of course, the first time around we were recovering from the horrific second world war. An estimated 73 million 
people died worldwide as a result of those few years of stupidity – and mostly for the beliefs of their politicians. You know, those people we reward handsomely to look after us? To my mind, the only winner of the whole affair was God. It seems He was on everyone’s side. All those nations of warriors had right on their side as they charged into battle, killing people for God and country. We fought in the name of freedom too, and with some substantial help we won. But where are those freedoms today?
It’s a funny old world, isn’t it? People growing up not ever knowing the beauty of those freedoms, their real worth, cannot understand the rapidly decreasing minority of us who still affectionately remember them. We, likewise, cannot understand the dictatorial Nanny State they seem happy to tolerate today. And they wonder why many of us pity them.
They associate yesteryear with poverty, hard work, and a shorter, grimy life of coal fires and smog, with very few luxuries, and they can see nothing there for which to yearn. As I remember those years so well, it was every bit as bad as that, and maybe worse in material terms because for a while 
everything was rationed. But amongst all of that bleakness we had something great, something people were prepared to die for, that we’ve now left behind us, and we shouldn’t have done. It was precious.
My life has progressed from chamber pots and end of the garden freezing cold, spider-infested, outside loos with wooden bench seats, to indoor warm and luxurious bathrooms with hot power showers; from women spending every Monday in an outhouse prodding washing in a boiling copper, to now simply popping it all in the automatic machine; from gas mantle lighting and coal fires, to electricity and central heating; and from oscillating accumulator radios, through the 7″ black and white box television sets with their excruciating 15KHz whistle and ever-changing focus, to the all singing and dancing wall-wide plasma screen entertainment centres of today.
It’s been a hell of a journey, and I was one of those who helped to get us here. But do you know what? For most of the way, we still had that precious thing we’ve now lost. Progressing naturally into easier times, with advanced technology and luxuries everywhere, didn’t rob us of it, nor did a growing population. No, it was stolen from us relatively recently, and by our politicians. You know, those people we reward handsomely to look after us? But for them, we would still have it today.
As a young lad I worked hard, saved my money, and bought the best bicycle for streets around. Yet I never needed to padlock it. It was always where I left it. We had one of the first televisions in our street, and in those days they were worth a fortune. But the only time we locked our backdoor was when 
we went away on holiday. Later, as I grew older, my first few cars were always left unlocked, and providing I drove responsibly, nobody ever bothered me. Within reason, I could park them wherever I wanted to, and I was rarely charged to do so. I was fifty years old before I felt the need to nervously look over my shoulder as I made my way home late on a dark night. Today I even do it in broad daylight. The generation of today laugh at hearing such stories, and they will come out with excuses why it couldn’t still be like that today. But I think they know, because I know, it really could – but for our politicians. You know, those people we reward handsomely to look after us? Humankind, and its society, is extremely malleable, so our every tomorrow is actually made by the politicians we elect today. They make us what we are.
Once we made the society we lived in for ourselves, and we looked after one another responsibly, caringly, and respectfully. As individuals, we had that freedom to do so. Now society is imposed upon us, and it is a nightmare of rules and regulations, of charges, taxes and penalties, where everyone is watched over as a suspect for something, and neighbour is encouraged to spy upon neighbour. Sorry kids, it looks like we picked a few really bad politicians over the years. You know, those people we reward handsomely to look after us? So should by some terrible misfortune you get there first, just don’t go telling any of those dead soldiers of yesteryear about what it’s like today, will you?
