Am I on the wrong side of history?

    Hello, Lovelies.

          Have you ever noticed that the world we grew up in looks nothing like the world of today? Could we ever go back to the good old days? But, were they really that good? Who doesn't love 'old school'?  Is London a true representation of the wider world, or am I just living in the M25 bubble? And why are my deeply held values so at odds with Brexit Britain?  What if everything I believe in is wrong? Am I on the wrong side of history? 

    Growing up in South London in the 80s' was fantastic. The second world war had ended 40 years previously. The 50s' brought us popular cultures, like movies and the advent of television. These sought to entertain us while reinforcing our collective values of faith, patriotism and conformity to societal norms. The swinging 60s' was the decade that shook Britain. This was the first decade that teenagers were free from conscription. Contraception. Young people were finally given a voice and the freedom to do what they wanted, and, boy, did they! Then rolled in the 70s'. The grey decade. Top of the pops ruled the airways, with screaming teens wearing clothes that wouldn't have been out of place in the  50s'. Picket lines, Ted Heath, bad hair and the formidable Iron Lady, Maggie Thatcher. Yikes. 

    The 80s' had conservative politics, the fall of the Berlin wall, MTV, shoulder pads and very, very big hair! Who remembers crimping their hair?  It was a great time to be alive. School was all about feelings, grammar was a thing of the past. Free milk every day in schools. And playing out in the street until supper time was an everyday occurrence. We were all equal in our own unique ways, weren't we? Well, as long as being unique meant that you looked the same as everyone else.  I remember going to a very lovely primary school, full of white, mostly clean, faces. Middle school was the same. I went to a religious high school, where we all looked the same. All from the same backgrounds, all going to the same after school clubs. All wearing the same fashions, listening to the same music. Good old days. Why can't we go back to times like that? Okay, so there was a massive gender pay gap. Women still weren't allowed to do certain jobs, the glass ceiling was a very real thing. Women wore skirts, being the gentle gender. Motherhood was still on the top of most girls lists. Well, the lists they told everyone about.  

     London continued to grow in population.  People from all over the world moved here, and although they always had made London their home, now it was seen as a positive thing. They brought their cultures, food and languages, and in London, they found their futures. We massively diversified. We grew, as a city, with richness and vibrancy. The more people felt safe in London, the more Londoners opened up about their lives, and being 'yourself' no matter what that meant, was beginning to be seen as acceptable. Being gay was now cool, whereas before, you were sent to prison for loving someone of the same sex. I became a vegetarian in 1987, and although my food choices were severely limited, I could now choose what I ate. Fashion split, and now there were many different ways to dress. Remember the Clothes Show? Music went in so many different directions, that I can no longer name all the different genres. The world was opening up, and we could grow up to be whatever we wanted. Whatever we were told we could be. 

    Then privatisation began. The boom. Those above us knew what was best. All we had to do was vote in the way we were told, and all the many plates in the air would keep on spinning.  Who needed free milk in school? Only those who were too work-shy would need free things. Proper British middle-class children didn't need free school meals. Only those who were beneath you needed them. Then, it was all the fault of those horrid foreigners, they come over here and take all our jobs, our homes. But we didn't need to think about that, as long as we proper British people were okay. Then we were told that it was all the fault of those power-hungry women, they bullied their way on to boards to become CEOs. Then they wanted equal pay. But, we were told that they would get it one day. Just not today. Let's just keep the status quo. But was any of that right? Was it ever okay to take what we were  told and not question it? Was keeping the norm more important that all those other people? Why did we punch downwards and not up to the people telling us all the lies? Why didn’t we fight then?  

    Then came Gen X, the millennials, Gen Z and now Gen Alpha who not only wanted to shake up the status quo but to destroy it. They wanted to fight for equal rights. For freedom of speech, for justice. But we were told that the young were powerless, that they were libtards, snowflakes. Well, let me tell you that one snowflake is a uniquely beautiful thing, but when snowflakes come together they can bring a city to their knees. 

    Is it right to fight for people? Everyone, regardless of where they are from? Is a human life intrinsically important and valued? Is it right to keep the status quo, or should we be fighting for equality? For recognition?  For acceptance? Is it wrong to stand against prejudice and hatred? Does the place of birth have to dictate your ideologies and beliefs? Was 1984 a forwarning of our future? 

     

     The world of today is a million miles away from my childhood, and as much as our systems are broken, and we are running in the wrong direction, if we don't fix the broken now, it will be harder to do so in the future. What side of history do you want to be on? As for the past, I think I'd only want to go back to visit the music.