Friday 16 May 2008

Is Life in Wales Worth Living?

There must be something dreadfully wrong with the state of society in Wales (and in Britain) today. It is as if people have nothing to live for, that they cannot see a future for themselves in Wales. It is necessary to look deeper into the psychology of those who have given up hope and have come to the conclusion that the only thing to do is to end it all. There is hope for a brighter future for Wales, but first its people have to break away from the notion that they will always be a second-class forgotten nation, that they always have to depend on a central government standing aloof and remote from the needs and interests of the people of Wales. Wales is slowly but surely finding its own identity, reviving its own historical roots and aspiring to its own apparatus of democratic, community-based government, a government which cares for its people and their welfare.

First, we have to dispel the illusion which has conditioned the minds of so many, through false and distorted education, the illusion that they are British subjects (subjected to Britain), that Britain is a nation (which it is not), that Welsh is an archaic language of no relevance to contemporary modern society (patently untrue), that the Assembly of Wales is a puppet government of the British State. The battle for hearts and minds goes on and Wales needs its youth to acquire the vision of what is possible and what is meaningful, not to seek an escape in personal oblivion.

8 comments:

Normal Mouth said...

What an odious and reprehensible post.

Is there nothing, not even the grief of parents, that you aren't prepared to use to push a party political agenda?

Shame on you.

Anonymous said...

NM.
You are not questioning why this is happening. Of course we sympathise with the parents but we have to look at the underlying causes. It is not about party political agenda. It is about the future life and welfare of young people in Wales and what can be done to address this tragic phenomenon. It is your own political motivation which activates your response as you view nationalism in purely party political terms and not in the context of the Welsh nation.

Normal Mouth said...

No, Alan. I view these deaths as tragedies for the people involved as their loved ones, not as hooks upon which to hang an ideological point.

I think it's absolutely despicable to summon these people to your cause, when you have no idea what they were thinking when they decided to take their own lives.

I urge you to consider withdrawing this post, or at least to editing out the references to the Bridgend suicides.

Anonymous said...

NM.
These things cannot be ignored. They have to be addressed and it is an uncaring society that does not make great efforts to investigate the causes of these tragedies. Merely saying that they are not linked in any way is to obscure the facts. Facts have to be faced however unpleasant they may be. Why should these references be edited out when they are realities?
I have no interest in your "ideological points" as I am not concerned with ideology and neither is the Party of Wales per se.
The difference is that we are concerned for Wales and the people who reside here and not for the purpose of political agendas.
I dispute the contention that British parties represent the true interests of the nation, mainly because they are unionist inspired.
Contrary to your view I do not intend to make this post as a vehicle for the cause, as you put it, but as a plea to consider the wider implications.

Normal Mouth said...

I'm not asking you to ignore them. I'm pleading with you to show some respect.

You have no idea why these people did what they did. Stop using them.

Anonymous said...

This blog just continues to descend to unfathomable depths in its efforts to promote Alan's Plaid supported, skewed and blinkered attitude.

Why Plaid continue to allow this drivel to be published in their name is quite beyond me.

Alan has already caused great offence with his racist images and with his description of Welsh troops as mercenaries.

Normal Mouth:

Please don't plead with this creature as you will only encourage him.

He simply shows his own and his Party's callous disregard for the feelings of the bereaved.

He's beneath contempt.

Alwyn ap Huw said...

Normal Mouth said:
What an odious and reprehensible post.
Is there nothing, not even the grief of parents, that you aren't prepared to use to push a party political agenda?


I think that you are being too harsh on Alan here Normal!

He Makes a valid point when he says that when people give up hope, and decide to kill themselves that we have to ask "why?".

Those who commit suicide and their families may not see the "why?" within political terms, but there are certainly political implications.

Lack of appropriate social care and health provision, economic and employment issues, educational problems, law and order issues and a lack of a sense of "belonging" to society have all been raised in relation to these deaths.

All of these issues are related to things that are in the remit of different levels of government. Those governments are run by political parties. Where they have failed there is nothing that is "reprehensible" in saying that they should be held to account.

Normal Mouth said...

Alwyn

Alan has re-edited his post to omit explicit references to the Bridgend suicides. I am grateful that he has done so, and having re-read the article, it makes the point that you identify no less clearly for it.

It is legitimate to ask why large sections of society appear to be unhappy and what we can do to address that state of affairs. It is legitimate to suggest that an alternative constitutional settlement would help. I merely object to individual tragedies - that background to which we know very little about - being invoked to support this cause.