Ann Allan: Disillusioned

Few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total; of all those acts will be written the history of this generation.

Robert Kennedy

I’m slowly becoming one of the disinterested and disassociated voting public. I can see now why people don’t vote but what I can’t see is why the people who vote, vote for the people they vote for. ( Take your time you’ll get there).

We hear the old adage you get what you vote for and unfortunately we do. But is there any choice? The same old faces reappear at election time. They trot out the same old cliches and those who get out and vote, vote for yesterdays men and women. We listen day in and day out to their arguments, their whataboutery and their archaic and outmoded beliefs. They quote in some cases from the bible, using the ‘good book’ to justify their beliefs. Hard luck if you’re not a believer. How many times have you also heard ‘ the vast majority believe such and such’ No we bloody don’t. We are a mixed society and becoming more secular in our make up. If you are going to quote the vast majority I need figures, statistics to back up what you say.

We are verging on a stagnant society. Some want to move on, some want to stay in the past. We seem to take one step forward and ten steps back. I have young grandchildren. They know nothing about the troubles apart from what they study at school or have heard from listening to the family reminiscing as to what it was like growing up in the 70s and 80s. It could be the Boer war being talked about because it was not their ‘war.’  It was our ‘war.’ It is in the past and our grandchildren want to live in the present and look forward to the future.  I do too.

To those who lost family and are waiting for the perpetrators to be caught it’s probably not going to happen, albeit in a small number of cases.  I’ve heard some discuss the question as to whether victims perpetuate their victimhood?  I think that depends on the person. Many of us go through life without any major tragedies in our lives but there are those who will suffer. Those who do suffer a tragedy can deal with it in one of two ways. They can let the perpetrator/s ruin their lives permanently and be a victim or they can decide not to let the perpetrator win and take away anymore of their quality of life. They can accept what has happened and move on. The reality is that while victims  are waiting for justice life is passing them by. The joy of living is removed from their lives and they relive over and over again events that are in the past.

We have been told that there is little hope of bringing perpetrators to book.  Can victims  accept that in their case it may not happen? Can they put the past behind them and learn to enjoy life again with the acceptance that they may never get the justice they are seeking? I would like to see a line drawn under the past. I would like to see compensation paid to all victims to help us move forward. This would not include victim makers but those who were maimed or those families who lost a family member. I would like this to happen so that my children and grandchildren can break free from the past. I dont want them paying the price for a war that was nothing to do with them and one that they don’t even remember.

I would also like to see the number of terms a politician can serve restricted to two terms. It works for the American presidency so why not here?  That way maybe we could freshen up the faces that we can vote for and that might help weed out those who are in politics for the wrong reasons. We wouldn’t then be stuck with them untill they fall of their perch.

I know there will be many who will disagree with me but that’s all right. We are all entitled to our opinions and that’s mine. We are struck in the past celebrating events that are long gone. Continually looking back and it’s not as if we learn from continually looking back, it just breeds another generation who can’t get past the past.

C’mon people, it’s time to think of our children and future generations. Don’t leave them with our legacy of the past.