Prince Philip died yesterday, just shy of his 100th birthday. Tributes poured in from around the world for the royal consort, and expressions of sympathy for Queen Elizabeth who has lost her life companion of 74 years. There were of course the usual collection of no-class lowlifes who were slavering to denigrate him and rejoice in his death. "Nazi!" they incoherently shrieked from the safety of their keyboards, about a man who risked his life- and was decorated for courage under fire- fighting against the very evil of which they accuse him. It's always "Nazis" with that lot; they know little history and understand even less but have a vague notion that Hitler was like, really bad, and anyone who disagrees with their world view must literally be him. Prince Philip enraged the "woke" crowd for a variety of reasons, chiefly because he was a representative of the dwindling remnants of the British Empire, and because he had a habit of speaking his mind, ofttimes in a distinctly un-politically correct way. The woke brigade is shocked- or pretends to be- that a man who was born in 1921 and fought in World War II somehow didn't have the same priggish views and mincing, pretentious speech as a 21st century gender studies student. And so the keyboard warriors attack an actual war hero and pat themselves on the back for their "bravery". But then, the ideals by which Philip lived his life- duty, honour, and devotion to Queen and country- are foreign concepts to the bunch who think that tweeting a hashtag is an act of courage, and to whom nothing is sacred except gender pronouns. As I was thinking about all of this yesterday, I found my thoughts also turning to my maternal great grandmother. I never met her as she died before I was born, but I think that she was a very impressive woman. During World War I, her younger brother was killed in battle overseas and, while that loss was still fresh, she was caught in the Halifax Explosion of 1917. Alone at home the morning it occurred, she managed to get her toddler (my grandmother) and baby safely out of their badly damaged second floor flat, as well as her sister who had been severely cut by flying glass. They ended up spending the day- in December- sheltering with a lot of other survivors in an open field where none of the buildings could fall on them. When they were able to return home, it was to a windowless flat with glass shards driven into the walls, furniture, and floor, during the worst blizzard in a decade which lasted for several days. She had no idea if her husband, who had gone to work the morning of the explosion, was dead or alive. But she held it together and took care of their family; my great grandfather didn't make it home until three days later. He and many other men set to work digging bodies out of the rubble and carrying them to a nearby school that was being used as a makeshift morgue. Then, as they and so many others were putting their lives and city back together, the influenza epidemic of 1918 hit, and hit hard in the port city of Halifax. Through it all, my great grandparents kept on keeping on, unbroken, with stiff upper lips and even stiffer spines. I think of them often when I see stories like this: What does all this have to do with the death of Prince Philip? Not much I suppose, except that he, like my grandparents and great grandparents, came from a time period where many people faced terrible adversities, and endured them as a matter of course. I'm not saying that any of them were perfect, without flaws, because of course they weren't... like every other person who ever lived, they had prejudices, perspectives, and opinions- good and bad- influenced by the time and culture in which they lived. But I've no time for preening, mealy-mouthed hypocrites who've never faced anything more challenging than the internet going down for a few hours, yet eagerly clamour to proclaim their oppression and victimhood as if it were a badge of honour, having the nerve to judge and condemn their elders- and betters, by a considerable margin. For all their claims of "tolerance" they have none, nor grace, nor even the humility to question their own self-aggrandizing assumptions. Given the choice between a crusty old war hero and a whingeing social justice warrior, I know which one I admire more. Rest in peace, Prince Philip; you've earned it.
Comments
“We'll make friends with the wind and sky and sun, and bring home spring in our hearts.” ― L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Avonlea Related Posts: Season 2 of The Expanse is really quite impressive. It builds on and improves upon just about every aspect of the first series. We gain more insight into the lives and motivations of the main characters, and are introduced to new ones who gradually become important to the narrative. Considerable world building is also done and we become more acquainted with the state of society not only in the Belt, but on Earth and Mars as well. Having been introduced to alien "life" in the form of the protomolecule last season, series 2 makes us question whether it is a hostile force of its own volition, or whether it has become that in the hands of amoral and avaricious people who wish to weaponize it. We also get a horrifying glimpse of how they are doing this, and what they've created with it. This tends to make me more sympathetic than not with Holden's obsession with destroying all protomolecule samples. Although I also understand the argument that it needs to be studied in order to find a way to combat it if necessary. Unfortunately, most of the parties involved are bad faith actors, looking to get their hands on it in order to gain power or leverage over rivals and/or other governments. James Holden is obviously meant to be the moral center of the show; he genuinely has no ulterior motives. He is horrified by what happened on Eros, and seeks to destroy the protomolecule before anyone else- whether from Earth, Mars, or the Belt- can be hurt by it. This doesn't mean that he never makes mistakes or takes missteps, but he's truly trying to do what's right. His idealism takes a bit of a hit this season though, as he swiftly finds that pursuing justice- or vengeance- frequently means that a lot of innocent people get hurt as well as guilty ones. Holden and Naomi start a romantic relationship in this series, and as we learn more about her character, it becomes clear that she has divided loyalties. She clearly has some sort of history with the OPA and desires more political power- and better lives- for the Belters. It also becomes obvious that something happened in the past which haunts her and makes her feel guilty; when she warns Holden about the danger of using questionable means to achieve one's ends, even if those ends are righteous, you get the feeling that she's speaking from personal experience. Alex- the pilot- has really found his niche on the Roci, but is a little hard to figure because he seems to be full of contradictions. He's constantly trying to make the ship into a home, the crew into family, yet we learn that, after their original ship was destroyed in the first series, he never contacted his wife and son and now they think he's dead. The guy who seems the most in need of family ties has cut his own... it's weird and I don't get it- or respect it. Amos swiftly became one of the most interesting characters in the show for me. At the beginning of the first series, one might have dismissed him as the "muscle" but he's actually a lot more complicated than that. Yes, he often reacts to situations with extreme violence and doesn't seem to feel any particular remorse when he does so... but he's never gratuitously cruel. If he sees a threat that needs to be eliminated, he does whatever needs to be done to accomplish that, but he doesn't go out of his way to start trouble- he just finishes it, by any means necessary. We also see in this season that Amos regards himself as not being a good person, and believes that there's something wrong with him. Through a few statements he makes to Holden and also to Prax, we get hints that Amos had a very terrible- probably abusive- childhood which goes a long way to explain why he is how he is. In the first series, we often saw Amos looking to Naomi for direction, but as this season progresses, it becomes obvious that this isn't because he isn't capable of independent thought. On the contrary, he's quick to size up people and situations and on several occasions this saves the lives of the whole crew. The fact is, Amos worries about not having a moral compass which is why he looks to Naomi- and, as time goes on, increasingly to Holden- for moral guidance. He doesn't trust himself to know what is right, but he wants to be on the side of right, and that's not unimportant. It's also evident that whatever happened to Amos as a young boy (childhood prostitution is hinted at) it left him with an ability to express anger easily, but struggling with displaying any softer emotions. For example, when he and Alex get into an argument which escalates into a physical confrontation, Amos quickly overpowers Alex but then just as quickly backs off. He says that he doesn't want to hurt the pilot because "Then who would fly the ship?" But it's plain to see that he doesn't want to fight Alex because he likes him and considers him a friend... he just can't say that. This post is long enough, so in part 2 I'll discuss a couple of new characters and also the political and ethical dilemmas which occur in this season.
|
About MeI'm a lover of good books, classic movies, and well-written shows (as well as some pretty cheesy ones, to be completely honest). Categories
All
Archives
May 2024
Fun SitesOdds & Ends |