50 Years On

 

50 Years On

 I visited England in the early 1970s in quest of knowledge. In 2022, I was there again to meet some loved ones, revisit familiar places and recall the past to formulate some comparisons.

Lake district was my favorite retreat in summer, and I had paid several visits in the early seventies. So, I went to see how it looked and felt after half a century. Rothay bridge had changed. Safety railings had been built, but the architect had maintained the old roman stone character. There was a tremendous increase in foliage, thanks to greater awareness of environmental quality. The pictures below graphically depict the contrast between then and now, both for the man and the scene.

In Manchester, where I studied for my post graduate degree the grassy grounds between the buildings had disappeared and new buildings stood tall. The roads, particularly Wilmslow Road was so thoroughly marked for traffic regulation that it looked like a work of art.

Elsewhere the architects seemed to have forgotten how to draw a straight line. Even where straight lines existed, they were seldom parallel or at right angles. This trend is not unique to UK, it can be seen almost everywhere in the world, thanks to innovations in construction techniques and building materials.

The overall environment and public behavior seemed rather subdued, perhaps partly due to nearly two years of the Covid isolation and partly the five-decade aging of the observer.

The intellectual estrangement that I felt during the visit represents the cumulative change in social and moral values that have taken place in certain parts of the world over the past century.

20th century presented a unique era of defiance and unrealism. As I ponder over the past, many suppressed thoughts scream to be shown the light of the day. A few examples are given below for the benefit of the reader.

1. Relativity and accurate prediction of the illusions of a moving observer were theorized in the first decade of 20^th century. Despite the religious convictions of Einstein and his contemporaries (God does not play dice) virtuality began to replace absoluteness. If it was impossible to measure absolute velocity or error was inevitable in any observation, to solve any problem the most viable compromises have to be found. The socio-psychological impact of relativistic thinking has been devastating. The ideals of absolute goal or identified destination do not exist anymore. Comparative or competitive achievement has become the measure of success. Idealists and ideals are things of the past.

2. Cinema and sitting in a darkened room to peep into the realistic projection of private lives of storybook characters became the favorite pastime of many people around the world. Film Industry became an essential part of economy and produced some epic movies that gained universal approval. However, as time passed, more and more intimate scenes became acceptable, and the sense of privacy (or respect for privacy) which is the corner stone of civilization began to erode. The result is that today people seem to take nudity as a norm and are totally insensitive to public display of pornographic material or human indecency. Oddly enough, it is called tolerance and respect for personal freedom.

3. Airconditioning and the science of taking heat from a cooler place and dumping it in a hotter place is another gift of the last century. Although it seems like a negation of the laws of thermodynamics, no laws of physics are violated. Today, there are many people who live constantly in controlled environment whether in home, office, airport, shop, car, train, ship or plane. They only step out in the open when the weather is pleasant. They must be reminded of changing seasons. They have no idea how the vast majority of mankind in their hemisphere is feeling at any given moment. In religious terms they live in a manmade paradise and think of themselves as gods of Greek mythology or Torahic traditions.

4. Capitalism and the conspiracy to take money from the poor and give it to the rich became apparent only after the publication of Carl Marx’s famous book. With the ability of the kings to impose taxes at will curtailed by parliaments, the merchants took their revenge on Robinhood. Although statistical per capita income in developed countries is so high that everyone could live in luxury, the reality is far from it. Most of the wealth belongs to 10% richest and the average person lives from salary check to check, often worrying about the needs of himself and his family. Thanks to the welfare system in UK, I did not see any homeless or starved people on the streets as is the case in some states in USA.

6. The United Nations Organization that was formed soon after the Second World War to prevent future wars and to develop harmony among nations of the world has gradually become an international institution to authorize aggression. The actions and inactions of the UN Security council, clearly dominated by five veto wielding nations, have easily identifiable shades of racial, religious and socio-economic system discrimination.

7. Sex education or reinvention of the basic instinct of life by the naïve has resulted in erosion of difference between sex and masturbation. While I was there in the early 70s many strange things happened. Homosexuality was legalized. Homosexual societies were formed in universities. John Morris of The Sunday Times became Jan Morris by surgical operation. A man was acquitted of murder charge on the alibi by of his friend’s wife that he was with her at the time the murder was committed. Later, proof was found that he had committed the murder and he was indicted ---- sounding the death knell for feminine honor. Frontal nudity became acceptable on stage. This time when I was there, I didn’t find any husbands and wives, there were only civil partners, and to my consternation they could be any combination of two-legged living things.

8. Eradication of beauty to promote sale of cosmetics is the least noticed disaster of human history. Ladies first offered themselves as models to painters and gradually became canvas themselves. It is hard to find a city-woman who would look beautiful for a whole month without the help of a beautician or the consumption of a large quantity of cosmetics and use of many electromechanical tools and implements.

9. There has been a remarkable change in the role of press and journalism from seeking the facts and educating the public, to monitoring public opinion and soliciting readership for commercial purposes. The distinctions between news, propaganda and rumors have become extinct. Live television broadcasting has dramatically changed the spirit of sport. The quality and admirability of sport are measured by their entertainment value. The span of glory for an athlete depends on the whims of his sponsors and managers.

(Copy Right: Muhammad Nasim, mohnasim@gmail.com)