The parliament of silly old buggers
22 September 2024
PHILIP FITZPATRICK
TUMBY BAY - On most mornings of the week, weather permitting, a parliament of silly old buggers convenes for coffee and to discuss the woes of the world at a picnic table under a shady canopy near the Tumby Bay jetty.
Of late, the prognostications have become darker and darker.
The resident biblical eschatologist is now talking about the end of days, and both history buffs are competing in their comparisons of the present to the 1930s and the bleak days prior to World War II.
It’s not that my dog and I don’t agree with these learned views, but we are considering finding a route around the parliament on our morning walk so we don’t have to endure the gloom and doom.
Everywhere you look the malaise is deepening. Simple things like watching television or checking social media have become singularly depressing. Optimism, it seems, has ungirded its loins and gone to live in a cave somewhere in the hills until things get better, if that is possible.
As for the planet, it’s quickly turning into a pressure cooker under the steadfast greed and indifference of the monied classes.
A few people, myself included, are now wondering how long it will take the poor old planet to recover once we humans have gone.
Even in remote little Tumby Bay our impact is evident everywhere.
Acres of life smothering concrete and bitumen surrounds buildings that will take forever to erode away.
In the surrounding landscape vast tracts of mono-crops lap the last remaining stands of natural vegetation.
Will it be a thousand years or more before all traces of our disastrous reign over the planet fades and blessed peace finally reigns again?
For bygone we will be - just ask our parliament of silly old buggers.
PS Trump has experienced two assassination attempts to date. He must be wondering how long he'll survive if he wins the presidency in November.
I reckon it might be measured in months.
Such structures as may survive, perhaps brick and mortar with 'stone henged' in an empty moor, the picture seems grim.
Will humanity see through its wars (at one scale) and (at another scale) the crimes of person on person?
Phil may have noticed, one societal structure long touted as of great (and godly) worth has incurred a crumble of humble.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz7qpdl4jdyo
A report tells of a turn of events in Britain, at York as with that at Canterbury. Exclamations echo.
At this 50th anniversary of the damage caused by Cyclone Tracy at Darwin, it is worth mention that 'structure' became the focus and for more certainty in the collective expectation.
Posted by: Lindsay F Bond | 23 December 2024 at 08:41 AM
I've got three unwieldy Aspidistra plants growing in pots Bernard.
They are otherwise known as cast iron plants because of their hardiness. I was inspired to buy them after re-reading Orwell's novel after moving to Tumby Bay.
Two of them are on the verandah outside the front door - a kind of advertisement I suppose but no one seems to comment on their class significance.
Posted by: Philip Fitzpatrick | 22 September 2024 at 05:22 PM
Keep the Aspidistra Flying:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keep_the_Aspidistra_Flying
Posted by: Bernard Corden | 22 September 2024 at 12:42 PM