What is this life about?

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What is all this about, this life?   Is it just a big income, a fancy house, and expensive vacations?  Is it even about a good-looking girlfriend or spouse who makes other men envious?  This seems to be a pervasive attitude, as the gap between rich and poor inexorably widens.

Well, of course I would expect the reader to deny approaching life like that.  Rightly.  Having sufficient money so that you don’t have to live hand to mouth and worry constantly about keeping a roof over your head – that is very natural and human.

But when you grow old will you be able to tell yourself, honestly, that you have led a good life, a life which has involved caring for others, with mutual love and respect; a life that hasn’t just focused on a successful career, but one in which you have won the admiration for your skill at dealing with others; a life of generosity, good humor, moderation and giving? 

If you can conduct an honest survey of your life and ask yourself whether it has been worthwhile, and the honest answer is just “good in parts, but could have done better” ( like most of us!)  then you can still put it right.  It is never too late.

 

Graves destroyed

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Xinjiang, China

China has destroyed and built over scores of traditional burial grounds belonging to the Uighur people in the northwestern Xinjiang province, as part of what critics claim is a ruthless campaign to wipe out the history and cultural identity of the region’s indigenous Muslim population. Satellite images published last week showed flattened earth and new car parks (or other facilities) on the sites of Uighur cemeteries. More than a million Uighurs are believed to have been detained in “re-education centres” in the province since 2017.

A deep, human disgrace!

All over the world we see reactionary, right-wing politicians taking control.  I fear this is not just a passing spasm, paralleling the emergence of the Hitlers of the 1930s world.  It took years of slaughter and effort to dislodge the tyrants, and in 1945 commentators were congratulating free societies for being strong and resilient enough to crush them.   Now we are going through a similar reactionary spasm.  But we must hold firm to Epicurean beliefs in moderation and resolutely speak out in favor of democracy and human rights for all human beings.  I hope no one considers these comments to be platitudes.   I am old enough to remember the bombs, the destruction, the homelessness and dislocation.  I wish it repeated on no one.

Slow walkers have slower brains

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A slow walking pace in middle age could be a sign of accelerated ageing, scientists have found.

Researchers analysed the walking speeds of more than 900 men and women from New Zealand, all of whom were 45 years old, and also gave them tests to determine their biological ages. Walking speeds – their maximum speed, and their average speed – proved to be remarkably accurate predictors of mental and physical health. In IQ tests, the slowest walkers averaged 16 points lower than the fastest; they typically had lower total brain volumes and cortical thickness; and their lungs, teeth and immune systems were less healthy.

Furthermore, strangers who were shown pictures of their eyes, and asked to estimate their ages, assumed them to be older than their fleet-of-foot peers. “The thing that is really striking is that this is in 45-year-old people, not the geriatric patients who are usually assessed with such measures,” said lead researcher Line J.H. Rasmussen, from Duke University in North Carolina. (The Week 16 Oct 2019).

My comment:  What will they think of next?  And what are the slow walkers supposed to do about the results of this weird piece of research?  There is , presumably, nothing you can do about your true, biological age, except just accept the facts.  You were born with the constitution you have; enjoy your life and accept that your brain volume is what it is.  You can’t go back into the womb and swap it for a brain the size of Einstein’s.

On the other hand, these researchers must understand that all they are achieving is to create more anxiety and unhappiness among the tens of thousands of people whose age is around 45, for no particularly good reason.  This type of research is not just a waste of time and resources – these researchers should be helping to create a generation of good, kind, thoughtful and moderate citizens, which is  what students are hoping to become (we hope).

There are too many university staff members who appear to be under-employed.

 

Problem parents

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British parents are becoming increasingly “abusive” towards teachers, a report by Ofsted has found. The schools watchdog said that teachers are coming under growing pressure from parents who expect instant responses to emails, complain when their children do not get top grades (regardless of effort), and defend their offspring’s poor behaviour instead of siding with the school. Based on the responses of 4,300 teaching staff, the report says the behaviour of children and parents is a key factor in low morale among teachers, who are leaving the profession in record numbers. (The Week, July 29 2019).

It is truly hard to believe this ridiculous behavior.  The job of a parent is to prepare the child for the real world.  In the real world there is no parent protecting you from criticism about the job you are doing, or about your Interactions with others.  You are by yourself, and, if you are spoiled and under-prepared for adulthood, it’s opportunities and challenges, it is the fault of the parents.  Teachers can guide, suggest and open minds, but they are not, and never have been, responsible for upbringing, good behavior, politeness, and conscientiousness.   Schools should tell parents that if they cannot support the school then choose another school, if they can find one.  Taxpayers should support teachers, those over-worked, underpaid people, doing their best.

 

Child protection

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Back in September the US government announced new detention rules that would radically scale back the protections for child migrants in America. Under the existing Flores agreement, undocumented children must be held in the “least restrictive settings” and released as soon as possible, ideally within 20 days. The agreement also entitles lawyers to monitor their detention. But the new rules scrap these provisions. Trump described it as a “humanitarian” move to counter the “illegal flow” of children to the US, but critics say it will effectively mean that migrant children can be held in detention centres indefinitely.  (The Week 2 Sept 2019).

As far as I am concerned this is a humanitarian issue, not a political one (although it is also that).  Those who fear immigration and feel the country is being swamped and  increasingly Spanish-speaking should recall the huge numbers, the waves, of Irish, German and Italian people who migrated to the US in the 19th Century.  There was a brief moment when, so huge were the numbers that it was suggested in Congress that German be the official language of the country; but it came to nothing.  Most migrants want to settle and work in the US, to become citizens. They  are no long-term threat.  Their children will be speaking English.  This is nothing new.  Release them.  Let them have secure and happy childhoods that will help them become good Americans.  This is the Epicurean way of dealing with the matter.