When I was a boy in the 30s we were taught in Sunday School that the world would come to an end at the millennium – translated as sometime in the future. In retrospect the whole idea was obviously crazy, because in 70 years there would be the millennium, and nobody seemed to notice the fact, but a lot of us believed that in the future the world indeed would suddenly cease to exist altogether, not just the world that we knew, which in fact is the case. Three things last week generated these thoughts, one was clearly the spread of mayhem to the Indian Subcontinent, at such an incredible level. The second was that someone was trampled to death in New York, just for going to a sale, brought on by the credit crunch; and the third occurrence was that one day there was ample parking in our High Street at 11 o’clock in the morning, unheard of, allegedly because a store in Belfast had a 25% off, sale.
I notice that Gordon Brown, is choosing a lot of photo opportunities to smile at the cameras as if he had discovered the wheel. We are also told, although not fools enough to believe it, that Labour is climbing the ranks in the popularity polls. If they are, I suggest that this is as a result of the screaming rhetoric of the Conservative leader. There used to be a running joke that the Brits abroad, not speaking the language, would shout ever louder in English to get their point across. What I really find incredible, and against the philosophy that Brown is proposing, in order to get us out of the financial difficulties, and to keep money flowing, are these insane high-pressure sales by the larger companies, to the detriment of the smaller traders, and thus shifting large amounts of money into select pockets. It is evident that the idea of a bargain is irresistible to a lot of people, irrespective of whether the need is real or imagined. I was always a little sceptical of the government doing exactly what they were urging us not to do, get into debt. But when it is set on a particular path, to me it would seem that some sort of rules should pertain that make us follow that particular path for the good of the majority, not just those with spare cash, or a hefty cash flow problem.