I’m British, well English to be more accurate. I’m of the generation brought up in the 1970s, which to modern eyes, must seem extraordinarily grim. We lived through the threat of home grown terrorism, power cuts, endless industrial action and appalling wallpaper. Cookbooks had photographs which suggested many of the finished dishes had been sprinkled with uranium; most cars were built for a level of functionality that just about functioned. We were blissfully ignorant of social inequality because the old world attitudes of the class structure, were deeply embedded in us. Above all, English people were totally unable to express unbridled pleasure at anything. The words ‘nice’ ‘ok’ and phrases like ‘not too bad’ or mustn’t grumble’ were our observations on life.
We liked plain biscuits, plain sandwiches, tea from tartan flasks and weak squash. We were a nation stifled by modesty, understatement and mediocrity. Yes, there were outliers in that decade. We expected our music and performers to be very much larger than life (glam rock, punk) because we could by and large, partition our excitement off.
The 1980’s started to change these attitudes. We became more expressive, more openly frustrated, less reticent. We lived through the scourge of Thatcherism with its societal cataclysms. The old adages began to seem inadequate. Why not say that something was great or even very good? Why shouldn’t we get angry at inequality & injustice? I entered my adult years during the 1980s. I hated the Tories, not just disliked. I became an active supporter of Greenpeace because I felt passionately about environmental issues. I fell in and out of love several times in that decade, with all the subsequent surges in my emotions. I have a theory that young adults are the most certain type of human being. We see the world in monochrome, we don’t see nuance because that suggests disinterest. Maybe the truth lies with being young and not having experienced the complexities of a full life? It can and did prove exhausting to be so certain about the world for a sustained period of time. I am certain of one thing nowadays. I am more uncertain about most things. I can see nuance where once, it didn’t exist. My politics haven’t changed much since I became old enough to vote but I can see different sides of a political argument.
Our modern world to my eyes, appears permanently on the verge of the next crisis. Disaster is disastrous, horror is truly horrible. Our financial markets are skittish, nervous, volatile. We react instantly to world events without stepping back and watching events unfold. We have politicians who court popularity by polarising opinions. Brexit, the great lie, was fuelled by extremism and xenophobia. The centre ground of politics became a vast chasm where worthless opinions of moderation vanished. We became a monochrome political country. The UK had been admired throughout the world, as a steady and reliable world player. Thatcher changed that. We did regain the centre ground under John Major and then 13 years of Labour government but extremism must have been lurking under the surface.
We began as a nation, to be dissatisfied with ‘not too bad’. We decided it was ok to ‘grumble’. Nice was an inadequate descriptive word. People cried on television more regularly. We weren’t afraid to show our emotions. In some ways, England embraced the US zest for hyperbole and overstatement. Being great wasn’t enough; we had to be super great. We felt it necessary to talk about our ‘journeys’ , to overshare, to display exuberance. We looked back at our understated past and became aghast at how repressed we were!
As a child of the 70’s and adult of the 80’s; I never felt repressed. We laughed, cried and enjoyed stuff as much as people do now. We dealt with sadness and joy in much the same way but with one main difference. We had no means of sharing these emotions because social media didn’t exist. You focused your emotion at the object of that emotion. You didn’t engage the input of others because that would require you to go round to a friends house or speak directly to the person you were experiencing that emotional moment with. This isn’t understatement, this was merely a lack of technology available to share your feelings/thoughts/emotions on.
Today, at the end of September 2022 in the UK; we are facing a potential recession, being led by a very right wing Conservative government, who are ideologically hellbent on creating social hardship and division. The global pandemic has not gone away but subsided to a point where we now choose to ignore it. Every news item is covered endlessly and our financial markets are even more volatile. We as a nation, are hugely exhausted by the events and drama of the last two years. What we need right now is calm, sense and understatement. We need to rediscover the power of moderation. Not all change is effected by dramatic events. Change can be built steadily and with thought. We need to remember what it is to be British. To have a reasoned, sensible debate before taking any action. To remember what decency and fairness is. To think more ‘not too bad’ and ‘nice’. They are as powerful as ‘super great’ or ‘amazing’ in their own way. They acknowledge a sense of moderation which is more considered. It allows us time to take a breath in between catastrophes. We need to calm down but please don’t suggest we ‘keep calm and carry on’ as that wartime slogan has run its course. Maybe national yoga programmes for an exhausted populace? TV broadcasting a daily meditation at bedtime? There’s loads of ways to take the drama out of daily life but above all, we all need to calm the fuck down!
The John Linney 