I Knew You Were Going to Say That

Listening to Joy Division (Oh No! One of those posts)

I hate the future! It creeps in whenever I wake up before the required time and fills the gaps of calm that sleep creates. Maybe it is never going to be the real future; that is reserved for the wackos who see major events. I see myself in some one-room hovel, hands over a guttering gas ring, surrounded by empty tins, a hostage of the kiddies in the markets who can’t see beyond next week and then only because they are off to some do with their cloned mates. The major worries usually pass when the cold of the day seeps in but like a bad dream, half-remembered, it colours moods and creates depression over time. And I am safe here.

I am glad that the BBC apologized for the programme (Bring Your Husband To Heel) last week where dog-training techniques were used to bring husbands to heel. There is the obvious and probably clichéd argument that if the programme had been about using the same techniques on women it would never have been shown. I know as well that some radical feminists might well say that it was redressing the balance of years of oppression of women. The BBC did say that it was just a bit of fun but even without the emotional element of an interview with whoever said that, it did seem as if they were trying to adjust the scope of the programme. After being slightly concerned by Michael Buerk’s comments about the women running the BBC, this does seem to have confirmed at least some of what he said. Am I straying into dangerous ground here? We have been given the idea that women have a greater intuition and ability to solve problems in ways that just don’t occur to men and certainly this is true. However, going as far as to say that if women ran the world, there would be no wars because of these abilities actually conjures up an image of a world as screwed up as this one. It would just be in different ways.