Positive

Despite the perils of sounding, or being, patronising, haughty or vain, and of taking, as messengers, the criticism that should really go to the culprits behind bad news, we are a growing number of people who at least try to counterbalance the massive assault on us by PR professionals like manufacturers of rose-coloured spectacles, sugar-coaters, dust-in-the-eyes throwers, smokescreen merchants, window dressers and plain liars, all trying to put one over on us, promising us the moon. Telling us we had a well-working NHS (which we haven't), effective law and order procedures (which we haven't), a functioning public transport system (which we haven't), that there is enough well-paid work for everyone (which there isn't) or that we are all equal (which we aren't). The bad things actually do happen. We don't invent them. Of course, most only concern people who cannot afford to "go private" as it were. And yes, life is better for us now than it was during, say, the Civil War, but, for goodness sake, are we not supposed to be approaching the end of the 20th century?

So, without us kicking against the pricks, we would all join the majority and end up thoroughly brainwashed, suffering quietly and cowardly.

Remember too, there is no democracy between elections, and the only way to get our opinion noticed, is through the media. Not that this gives us any real say, but at least we can make our views known to like minded people.

Back to Brian Derbyshire and the matter of unruly school children. He looked into it further and gave, in a second letter, an additional assessment, thus showing both sides of the coin. And it just may be that the unfortunate situation has improved since. What more could you ask for?

B Stuart

Lord's Stile Lane, Bromley Cross

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.