Here in the UK (and elsewhere around the world) we are obsessed with celebrating the few who have achieved mega wealth. We allow the simple act of having raked in more cash to be viewed as a bigger measure of success in life as opposed to counting how happy a person was when they shuffled off this mortal coil.
Take the buildings we revere, restore and pump more and more money into the upkeep of.
Huge mansions, stately palaces, rediculous follies and more get viewed as treasures, maintained and restored by national charities and shown off as the pinnacale of the times achievements.
Yet what we never hear celebrated is the wonder of the human spirit and the people who existed in these times. I am not referring to the lords and ladies of the day but rather the everyday people who actually built the country, who grafted hard to put the fantastic things in place which actually made a difference in life. We only ever hear of wealth not those who worked very hard so others could achieve it.
I am going to say something controversial now…
… I think we should get rid of it all.
The palaces, the ancient buildings, the statues to lords, etc. Pull it all down.
Why must every bit of green space in a town be built upon so we have no connection with nature while ancient and unused buildings are allowed to stand untouched save for multi million pound restorations so we can be reminded of how these people were viewed as ‘better’ than others. It shouldn’t be that way.
The green space in towns is needed and necessary for the mental health of the nation, the ancient monuments are not and are treated in reverential fashion all while the lords and ladies who once occupied them never gave the populous more than a cursory thought.
Take Belsay Hall. The wonderful owner who decided they wanted the villagers land to make into a garden so turfed them all out of their homes on Christmas day then added further insult by making the same villagers work to build the garden! Today we celebrate this awful person and English Heritage shine a light on the oversized building and its surrounding areas. The poor displaced workers are almost completely forgotten outside of a single written piece that almost plays it as a humorous note.
It isn’t though is it?
It is just another example of how those who have managed to achieve wealth have (usually) done so at the expense of the rest of the people in the world.
When I read about history, I want to hear about the people and their lives rather than the ones who used their (or their families) wealth and power to command others. Invariably that power was gained through the destruction of others lives and this is not what I would like to see celebrated.
Lets learn to celebrate the ones who built everything up rather than those who sat sipping tea while others broke their backs in labour.