The People are not the Enemy!

For many month now, all we’ve been hearing is the cuts are coming, the time of austerity is upon us, we must tighten our belts – and expect to do without – the bankers have destroyed our economy – we bailed them out but the greedy ungrateful so and so are not helping nor do they intend to help – and on and on and on…….!

And again this morning, we learn that Osborne may have to revisit his deficit reduction programme, and slash some more as the last figures were too optimistic!

All this negativity as actual and as crucial as it might be is destroying the psychology of this nation, its killing hope and optimism and covering the country with a haze of despair.

This post is a result of daily observations. In my everyday pursuits I started to see peoples’ anguish; began to see it on the faces of ordinary folks who are anxious if they are the next victim of this recession. This look of uncertainty and fearing for ones future is as painful as the loss of that future. Some, even the most destitute of us are resilient and can handle whatever life throws at them with a smile but most aren’t, and this media frenzy albeit, fuelled by announcements and leaks is hurting the public’s psyche.

Of course, it’s not the job of government to spread happiness, but it is the responsibility of government to protect its people form harm – in this case physiological harms – that’s why I became excited by the Government’s idea of measuring happiness!

However I have a dream!

I know it’s a big ask, an impossible and maybe even a lofty one, but it is my hope that the media, who also has a responsibility, at this difficult time, considers the nation’s mental health and put it before ratings and viewership. I guess what I am hoping for is a media ‘measure of austerity’. They too can cut back on pitting one side against the other, competing for the scariest possible headline and sensationalising every move for their own personal gain. As I said; a dream!

Most of us have never, fought a war in our homeland – maybe we can treat this time in our history as wartime and do what our parents and grandparents did during the war, collectively lookout for one another, where the strong is helping the weak, because at the end of the day the enemy isn’t the people, its this economy!