The State of the World.

THINGS are better than I or most give them credit for, and the cause of the majority of my disappointment with the world to-day is due to neglect of the things I love, but not neglect for human life and comfort. Food and drink are in abundance, food especially, to the point that waste instead of dearth is the great problem. Convenience is everywhere. So convenient has the world become that the problem tends to be ourselves instead of our circumstances; too much convenience it seems inclines us to inertia. Entertainment is everywhere in manifold and varied forms. If I wished to be a gregarious gadfly I could be, if I had the energy to make myself cook exquisite food I could do so, if I had courage enough to meet people I am not restrained from the possibility. Medicine cures at rates and in numbers unheard of in former times, vintage books are readily available, prints of marvellous paintings may be purchased. In England I regret the onset of horrid architecture, but I can still travel to see the glorious architecture of old. Though in many places there is litter and griminess, in others there is a wonderful cleanliness and design, such as in Kew and Kensington Gardens. The world is not at all a bad place for many people at present. Although we hear of terrible wars, these are fewer in number and less costly in life than most of the wars which occurred in previous æras of human history. In so many little respects this is a fine time to live in, and too much is feared of things like recession and stagnation. Plant me in a prosperous and beautiful surrounding and I hope I shall be happy, what matter if there is no growth? The trees look well as they are. Of course the prices go up in the shops, but we can afford for them to do so. I do not holiday, I am not flagrant. I have paid too much in the past for fine things, a particularly excellent set of the Lives of the Poets for example, but I am more or less convinced I possess all I could ever desire now. All that needs to be added to this general convenience and prosperity is a spirit of Peace. I do not mean in warzones, I mean in the places of business, in the streets throughout the towns of this prosperous hemisphere. Why should we strive till we are nauseous for a villa or a gaudy vehicle? Neither of them cure travel sickness. Why should it be necessary to wait with procrastination for the correct lover, with the desired features and characteristics, or the friend with the perfect measure of affability? Chesterton wrote, and I agree with him, that the people with the smallest lives live in the largest world. Every acquaintance becomes a giant in such a world, whereas the helter-skelter traveller turns every fellow into an ant. Why should anyone travel five thousand miles to the exact same SonOfDonald's restaurant, or spend months taking pictures of things which have been better photographed already? Let us turn to quietness and a contemplative manner of living, we enjoy the hard efforts of our forebears who ached and bled and sweat for this world we now enjoy. I wish for it to be protected, to be tended like a garden, each region for its people and each people brought into sympathy through communications, but I daresay I am altogether too retiring and morose to speak for the energies of this overbubbling age. One moment we are told we cause a terrible climate emergency due to our overpopulation and industry, the next we are warned of economic collapse due to plunging birthrates, the next we are commanded to recall how ignorant we are, then it is isolation from diseases, then it is marching against this matter, standing in favour of that. Who is anyone supposed to vote for? 'Vote for me I'm Green! (and I want the business opportunities).' 'Vote for me I'm Blue! (and I want the business opportunities).' 'Vote for me I'm Red! (and I want the business opportunities).' I used to be a megalomaniac too, and dreamt of my flights of oratory in the House of Commons, but I am prematurely ancient. I want to live in a tower and feed pigeons with cheddar.