THE ONLY CONSTANT THING..
It`s an old saying, of course, but nonetheless true that the only constant thing in life is change. And it seems to me that the older I get the faster the changes come about. This week has seen the publication of details from the last Census and the most rapid change in this country`s demographics appears to be within the area of immigration. Perhaps predictably, the London Borough of Newham has only 17% of its residents describing themselves as White British. Compare this with the figure for Redcar in North Yorkshire where 98% have declared themselves to be White British.
Not surprising I imagine, as there has always been a marked difference between metropolitan areas such as London and the more rural backwaters of the country. But I was interested to see something close to my heart in that, in the previous Census of 2001, 37,000 people had recorded their nationality as `Cornish` by manually writing it on the Census form. Good for them. This time, despite campaigns within Cornwall, no tick-box was provided on the form to select Cornish as a nationality. Thanks to Cornwall Council, however, posters advised residents that they could identify themselves as Cornish by writing it in the section dealing with national identity, ethnicity and main language, the result being that no less than 83,000 have declared themselves as Cornish this time round. So that sounds like a change for the better.
Now, maybe it`s a generational thing but I find some of the changes taking place a little troublesome. For example, the whole business of communication is now so instant, what with Twitter, Facebook and all, that people seem not to think before they tweet - it`s all about instant reactions which are invariably to be regretted later on. As for me, I don`t need it, I don`t want it and I feel absolutely no need to be part of it either.
There`s a lot on the country`s agenda right now and I get the feeling that some are there just to be seen to be doing something, rather than concentrating on things that might almost certainly be more important. The controversies surrounding women bishops and gay marriage, for example, are issues about which my own generation might harbour views honed through upbringing and decades of experience.
I might have a tendency to support one but not the other but in doing so I run the risk of being pilloried as some kind of `ist` by a growing, self righteous lobby of `reformers,` when all I might be doing is reflecting the genuinely held views of a generation that finds itself more isolated in a world that is changing much too much and much too quickly. I wonder if we might be exchanging one form of implied intolerance for another?
Not surprising I imagine, as there has always been a marked difference between metropolitan areas such as London and the more rural backwaters of the country. But I was interested to see something close to my heart in that, in the previous Census of 2001, 37,000 people had recorded their nationality as `Cornish` by manually writing it on the Census form. Good for them. This time, despite campaigns within Cornwall, no tick-box was provided on the form to select Cornish as a nationality. Thanks to Cornwall Council, however, posters advised residents that they could identify themselves as Cornish by writing it in the section dealing with national identity, ethnicity and main language, the result being that no less than 83,000 have declared themselves as Cornish this time round. So that sounds like a change for the better.
Now, maybe it`s a generational thing but I find some of the changes taking place a little troublesome. For example, the whole business of communication is now so instant, what with Twitter, Facebook and all, that people seem not to think before they tweet - it`s all about instant reactions which are invariably to be regretted later on. As for me, I don`t need it, I don`t want it and I feel absolutely no need to be part of it either.
I might have a tendency to support one but not the other but in doing so I run the risk of being pilloried as some kind of `ist` by a growing, self righteous lobby of `reformers,` when all I might be doing is reflecting the genuinely held views of a generation that finds itself more isolated in a world that is changing much too much and much too quickly. I wonder if we might be exchanging one form of implied intolerance for another?
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