Progress is
a stubborn beast. Too fast for some, too slow for others, it marches on
steadily, relentlessly, oblivious to sticks and carrots.
Recently we
have witnessed an attempt to hobble its advance. Reactionary forces worldwide
are intent on slowing down the pace of change. This is only to be expected –
the rich and powerful do not give up their privileges without a fight. We say
that it is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. But
when it comes to wealth and position the opposite is true. It is harder to have
had and lost than never to have had at all.
Ah, the old
world order! White, straight, male and god-fearing. A place where boys wear
blue and girls wear pink, where gays are outlawed or cured, where atheists are
damned both in life and death, and where lesser ethnic groups just get on with
the menial tasks. I know my place!
Nostagia
for days that will never return. The world has moved on, woken up, grown up.
Hence this desperate turning back of the clock. Trump, Bolsonaro, Salvini and
the likes, modern day King Canutes ordering the waves to retreat. Let them
rant, let them hold their illusions, have their swansong.
They are the past.
They cannot
last.
We carry
on.
