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Our lives have been a developing scenario on every level.  We in the west now understand more about what motivates us than ever before. Historically  we started our journey in a world just recovering from a shattering world war. Some of my earliest memories are playing on bomb sites with military debris. A rising optimism and a rejection of the values that lead to war created us as Beats and Hippies both down deep and in their more cosmetic manifestations. For a while there it looked like we might be able to change the world. But what can only (in short hand) be called human nature and the sheer inertia created by a misplaced sense of abundance and mastery washed away the possibilities. The experiments in socialism failed when confronted by personal greed and the incipient pastoralism got largely  buried in accumulated stuff. So, guilt – no. Rage against human greed and stupidity – Yes. Despair at the world left for my boys – Yes. Guilt doesn’t  really cut for those who have kept the faith, nor for those who never had it but hypocritically pretended they did while it was fashionable. My emotion is Rage rather than guilt as we go none to gently into that great goodnight if you will excuse the paraphrase of a great poem.