When I was born in 1932 the world was in the grips of the Great Depression but eventually it recovered and life went on. We didn't have a lot but we were happy.
From when I was 7 until I was 13 World War 2 was being fought in so many countries including our own.
I remember there being trouble in Malaya but was too young to understand what it was.
Then there was the Cold War. I don't think people in the southern hemisphere were affected as much as those in England and European countries. Here we were being told there may be a communist under very bed and in the US that was taken even further with many being proven to be sympathisers even if they were not.
The Korean and Vietnam Wars came and went and nobody really understood what they were all about and of course communism was, I believe, at the base of those troubles.
In later years came the invasion of Iraq and then Afghanistan and in both cases there is ongoing trouble in those areas, trouble I feel will never be completely resolved. Phil's grandfather fought in the Afghan wars in the mid 1880's and they seem to have continued on ever since then, in one form or another.
Now we have ISIS and the terrorist attacks in so many places where innocent people are being killed, maimed and displaced.
We had the dreadful terrorist attacks first in London and then in Paris and now Belgium is suffering.
Why have I listed all these events? Because it makes me wonder what makes mankind tick!! Why so much hatred and so many killings. When I sit and really think about it I find much of it is caused by regimes that want to take over places or in other cases by one religion or another. I am not a religious person but have never criticised what another person believes in as I feel that is their right to have those beliefs. I don't expect them to try to indoctrinate me and have never had a friend do so for which I am very grateful.
Are these present happenings worse than any that went before or just different? Will mankind ever agree to resolve its differences and learn to accept each other as they are instead of constantly wanting to change them or take what is not rightfully theirs?
When I have these type of thoughts my mind always returns to John Lennon's song "Imagine". I do think John had it all worked out and I can't help agreeing with him,
