Monkeys in T-shirts

Margaret Thatcher was right.

 

There is no such thing as "society".

It turns out, we are just a bunch of T-shirt wearing monkeys!

And like all monkeys, we live in relatively small troops, where we seek physical protection and emotional support.

But here's the thing; why did we invent the word "society" in the first place, if it does not exist?

Looking back through the 20th century, I think there was a sense of society, at least at times when large numbers of people needed to unite behind a common cause.

For example, in both of the World Wars, people agreed to join armies and risk their lives for the greater good. Now I know that not everyone was so keen. But it appears that the majority of men and women of my parents generation were prepared to fight, and die if necessary, in order to protect their country, its citizens and their way of life ...or what they may have called: British society.

 

If, like me, you were born in the 1940s or early 1950s, you probably knew at least one kid at school that had suffered with paralytic polio. I was born in 1952, which was a particularly bad year for the disease in Europe and North America.

The kids I knew that were polio victims had withered arms or hobbled around with calipers on their damaged legs.

Ian Dury photo from Wikipedia by goro memo
:https://www.flickr.com/people/45489981@N00

Quite a few popular musicians and other famous people, who also grew up in the 1940s and 50s, suffered from the nasty effects of paralytic polio, including Ian Dury and Steve Harley, both having to hobble around on stage with the aid of a walking stick when performing.

So I'm also thankful to my parents generation for putting their trust in the polio vaccine. Polio is still around, but only exists in-the-wild in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Covid is largely an old people's disease. If I had a god, I'd thank him for sparing the children with this one, as over 98% of deaths in the UK where covid was implicated, were adults over the age of 50.

When old people die, its sad. But when your children die, its tragic!

I can understand young people thinking "what's it got to do with me?" (...after all, I was young once ...no, really!).

But I don't fully understand why people should preach the anti-vax gospel. With millions of doses pumped into arms all over the world, there cannot be a better tested vaccine in the history of mankind. I guess some people are fearful of injections, and some are just bloody-minded.

I only hope that at some point in the future, if a new virus comes along that targets those under 15 years old (rather than the over 50s) that people will come to their senses and do everything they can to protect the vulnerable.


But who knows?

After all, we are little more than monkeys in T-shirts!