04/20/2010: "Election issues - Freedom!"

as a kid, growing up in the 70s was "top fun" - obviously we didnt have the pressures of the adults, but looking at the freedoms we had then to how we have become in recent years again, can be a real eye opener...

Crime and the police:
then
- a police officer would turn up when people least expected it
- police were rarely seen
- wouldnt dare do something that brought the police to your own door
- police called for a incident, theyd be there before youd put the phone down

* the chances of getting a chase off a policeman was unheard of - dad would paste us if the police had to call on us, it was a stigma frowned upon by my parents and others who live close by - the police knew your parents, and would be at your house before you got home!
* the only time i recall the police at our door was when our puppy escaped from the garden and got run over, caused a big scene it did with neighbours and friends all wanting to know why they had called on us

Lifestyles:
- we had a bonfire every year, all the parents came up to light it and share fireworks and food
- christmas, many of us were in each other's homes sharing toys and families enjoyed a drink or three with the neighbours
- we could borrow eggs, sugar, milk or bread from our friends across the street
- our back door was never locked unless we went on holiday for a week - this includes when we all went out, when we were out shopping, etc. we didnt get broken into once.
- "aunties" or neighbours mums would crack us if we got cheeky or gave lip or misbehaved, then our mums would crack us when they found out about it
- friends mums would also feed us or make us ice lollies etc
- bikes were left out in gardens, perfectly safe and secure
- water fights were common apart from the summer of 76
- we made bogeys (go karts) put together bikes, etc.
- we would walk 3 miles each way, four times a day to and from school and home and back at dinnertime, in complete safety
- we could play out in summer, from 8am to 7pm at night with jam butties, tv was mainly for adults in the evening
- nowhere was off limits for kids to go, places werent boarded up or fenced off etc.
common sense was taught at school - playing on building sites was frowned upon, as wqas playing near water, but using common sense and staying safe, it was left upto us mostly
- you could eat fruit and veg that was growing in the ground and trees, which was safe
- you could bring back home a bucket of frog spawn, tortoises were found in fields, you could build "dens" out of old wood and plastic or tin sheets that you found
- we made friends with neighbours and their cousins etc, that came to stay in holidays
- want a catapult.... we used to make them, along with dutch arrows, slides, sledges, bogeys, etc etc.
- swearing by children was rare, god forbid you ever swore within earshot of your mum or dad.... id get soap in my mouth if they ever heard me.

hazey lazy days of summer were fantastic - even the time spent helping out local farms with their haybailing, out in fields all day, with sandwiches made by farmers wife, for NOTHING, we knew the milkman, hed give us a free pint now and again, at christmas hed come in and have a drink with mum and dad and play on our tv game or bar football table, have a kick about with us, etc.
i wish i could take the sprog back then for just a day, to show him the freedoms in life we used to have.

we never had pots of money, neighbours used their skills to help each other out, we needed some sheet metal boxes, which we got in return for dad putting up a garden fence, concrete posts and all.
neighbourhood kids were the same..... sharing what they had, fail to share your 10p mixed bag with the gang, and when they got one, youd not get any!
a new football was a godsend.
empty streets for major finals of the fa cup, wimbledon, grand national, etc.
milk was safe on the doorstep - as was the milk money in an envelope - spare key under the mat to protect it from rain and not to hide it away from burgulars.
people didnt have 25% of their wages drained off in insurances that never paid out because they found an excuse or blamed a clause in the contract - simply because they werent needed.

the customer was always right, refunds were given without the need for a court case, but these werent needed as businesses on the whole didnt rip their customer's off.

litter on the streets was rare, as we had plenty of litter bins and they were emptied regularly - streets were gritted in winter - greengrocers were present in even smaller towns/villages
couldnt get served in pubs as everyone knew your parents, it was pointless trying, and going home drunk was not done!
drinking alcohol or taking drugs under the age of 16 was rarer than hen's teeth - as was receiving a phone call - a mad dash for the phone in our house when someone called.
we didnt ring or text our friends, we hung around with them and had conversations, chilled out, etc

now compare that with today's world
hardly anywhere for kids to go - most places are out of bounds, fenced off boarded up etc.
police are everywhere - we are watched everywhere by cameras, PCSOs, etc.
police do not know our families, they dont know whos on their "patch" most of the time they have to come from a different town - incidents where police are needed are largely ignored by police and individuals.

drugs are common place - boozing on the streets fuels fightings - adults and some kids carry a weapon!

public used to have rights of way.... now everywhere is trespassing
when was the last time you saw a tortoise when out walking? when did you last pass a marshy bit of field where it was full of frogspawn?
kids out on bikes have to watch their every turn incase they get knocked off.
could you leave your bike out in the front garden now and it would be safe and wouldnt be touched?
could you leave your back door open at all times?

everything today is spin and marketing - insurances that increase all the time despite you not making a claim - companies frightening you into buying them
not only do you get stung by shops/stores/banks etc, but you have to write to them and wait weeks even months for any action, which most the time they do nothjing, so you have to take them to court to get what is rightfully yours!
everything costs money!

your fruit an veg is grown using chemicals, pesticides and gas waxes, and flown into the uk from african countries and packaged in bags with the british flag on it - people wonder why so many get illnesses.....

fun for a family now involves paying for parking, having a car and its costs or public transport that is 3 times the price of running a car, with half the service.
it involves paying over the odds for a simple lunch or meal out - dare to renew your family passports and it costs you more than a week's wages as it cannot be 10 year ones anymore.
bombarded with junk on tv, games consoles that sell you a cd (which costs about 80p to make) for Ł30 odd quid, to exercise in your front room, doing what you would have done for free normally, if the playing fields/tennis courts hadnt been sold off

the whole concept of life now is a joke - we have the most advanced technologies, designed to make our lives easier, yet its threefold more complicated and unsecure as it was back in the 70s.
everything is a profit making machine today, from websites and tvs trying to sell us something to shops selling things for the same/higher price as last year, but now advertising them as "sale prices" - as if the people really believe it!

things are no longer black and white, left or right now - the government, the businesses, the lifestyles of us all have made them all complicated whilst telling us it makes our lives easier.

in the 1970s, a married couple could live with only one person working full time, without any child tax or working tax credit payments from the taxpayer!
if the 2nd person got a part time job then brilliant, but whilst they were not working or only working part time, they were looking after their children!
none of this - working to pay a child minder bull that is becoming more and more common everyday....