In the middle

We know what happens to people who stay in the middle of the road. They get run down.

Such is the importance of his role in the creation of the National Health Service that the idea of criticising Aneurin Bevan is equivalent in my psyche to that of criticising Winston Churchill. Shamefully I know little about this lifelong adversary of Churchill except for a few choice quotes, including the one above though it’s not a comment I care for. Voltaire said “Think for yourselves and let others enjoy the privilege to do so too”, but I find it difficult to square this message of tolerance with Bevan’s warning on indecision. I read it as more of a threat; get out of the way (or else) whilst we give battle to the Tory “vermin”.

Many years ago I saw an interview with a young member of an anti-fascist group; he use to be a fascist, he explained, but now he hated them. Commendable perhaps, but at the time I wondered whether it was hatred that continued to fuel his day, and the behaviour of numerous direct action groups since has done little to dispel this suspicion. They were different times and I suppose it’s not so much Bevan’s comment that concerns me; it’s the decision of others to revere it today. I much prefer “The purpose of getting power is to be able to give it away”, it sounds almost Thatcherite.

It’s the end of the world as we know it

Approximately 1600 years ago the world ended. I’ve often wondered if Ammianus Marcellinus, alive at the time of the catastrophic defeat of the Roman army at Adrianople, lived to witness the formal division of empire into East and West. Did he live long enough to see the sacking of Rome only 15 years later, and if so how did he feel? How does anyone cope with the end to their world?

Speaking of work, it’s been rather mad today. I’m tasked with supporting products on which I have little knowledge yet bizarrely… it’s also been rather fun. I think that’s the word - I guess I like the challenge. It’s quite a rush when after many hours you fix a problem; and rather sad that it’s not diminished in the slightest by the thought that with a little more knowledge you could have solved it much quicker. There’s a long and winding road ahead and perhaps enough to keep me interested, dare I say employed, for the foreseeable future.

Speaking of improbabilities, I’d rather like to see the Moon this weekend but finances (I don’t have any) will probably dictate otherwise. I’ve some time off work in a few weeks; if I’m lucky it will run until then. There’s a pile of unwatched DVDs at home crying out for my attention. If I’m really lucky I’ll be allowed to watch those too.

Speaking of science fiction, my PC decided to auto-install IE8 this week. My first completely unscientific impression is that it is indeed better, faster, stronger… but not good enough to win me back from Chrome.