The world of the Old Guard

 

As you have noticed by now if you have read much of anything on this site, I spend a lot of time damning the damnable Old Guard and its pretensions.  Now, I know that many of my readers are somewhat puzzled by the sort of world that would produce such a monstrosity so, for your entertainment and enlightenment, I offer here a list created by a rather bizarre Australian who has written about his views of the impending demise of civilization.   Most, if not all the things on list will probably strike you as absurd and make you either want to laugh at it or spit in the face of the person who wrote it, but it is a pretty good overview of the type of culture that the Old Guard came out of and it serves to explain some of their absurdities and why it is unworthy of any serious attention in our more enlightened age.

 

Now remember, this was written by an Australian, so a few of the things, such as Guy Fawkes Day, may not be clear to American readers.  This is his site for those who wish to look at it. http://www.users.bigpond.com/smartboard/index.htm

 

 

Have fun, and take your blood pressure meds.

 

Chuck

 

 

The Shedding Of Tradition - from 1950 -2000
January, 2001

Tradition is the customs established by communal experience, and is the foundation of social wisdom. Since 1950 our society has abandoned:

• Murderers are executed.
• Suicide is a crime with failed suicides liable to be punished by the law.
• Justice must be seen ( the names of criminals and their accusers are no longer public knowledge.)
• Schools teach the traditional use of language, including fixed spelling, plain English and grammar.
• Imperial Measure )
• Men are expected to strive to behave like gentlemen, women like ladies.
• Ladies before gentlemen - a direction for males to always give way before females thereby ruling who should go through a door first etc
• A gentleman always gives up his seat for a lady who is standing
• A child always gives up their seat for an adult
• Children should only speak to adults when spoken to by adults.
• Children should be seen and not heard by adults.
• Children are chastised at the discretion of an adult if they are insolent.
• Matters between family members are domestic disputes and are not the concern of the law.
• Unless people involved know each other intimately they should address each other by their title and surname - Mrs Smith, Master Brown, Miss Adams. ( Titles have disappeared along with the use of surnames. )
• Strangers must address each other as Sir or Madam.
• People in authority are addressed as Sir or Madam.
• School children refer to each other by surname.
• The father is the head of the household, his word is law.
• A father is expected to be the sole bread-winner for the family.
• A mother is expected to devote her time to her family and her home.
• Housework is the responsibility of the female members of the family, and is not a concern for the adult males.
• Meals are prepared by the mother for the whole family to sit down and dine together.
• Each family has a doctor who has long experience of the family and visits when his patient feels too ill to attend surgery.
• A family consists of two parents and children.
• A family with only one child is considered to be raising a spoilt child.
• Childless parents are pitied as being unable to achieve pregnancy.
• The social stigma of divorce which is considered a sign of failure
• Marriage is permanent unless one partner dies, or betrays the other sufficiently for divorce; which is then resolved by a trial which identifies and punishes the guilty partner.
• Couples who live together out of wedlock are considered to be living in sin, and receive no legal recognition of their status.
• Only a virgin bride is entitled to wear a white bridal gown.
• If an unmarried man makes a girl pregnant he is expected to marry the girl.
• A child born out of wed-lock is a bastard and despised as a product of sin. With the cost of raising the child to be born by the identified father or the mother.
• The social stigma for being an unmarried mother; she receives no pension from the state and is despised as sinful .
• A man and a woman can only share an hotel room if they are married
• Smoking is a pleasurable activity which is only forbidden in areas where a flame is dangerous, or in those few areas set aside for non-smokers; the bottom deck of double-decker buses, the odd railway carriage.
• Christian names have a standard spelling (see those displayed by the girls on store check-out)
• Neighbours are expected to be quiet
• Work attire is expected to be smart unless the demands of the job make it impossible.
• Men have short hair, women have long hair.
• Only men are soldiers, police constables, boxers, footballers, bus drivers, etc.
• Homosexuality is an illegal and despised activity.
• Nudity is forbidden in the media and in public areas
• Swearing is forbidden in the media and public places.
• Children are taught kerb drill as soon as they attend school for their safety depends upon it. Traffic is not expected to slow down outside schools.
• Customers are served by, and are expected to take the goods selected by, the shopkeeper.
• People are expected to go to church or Sunday school on the Sabbath
• Tradesmen are expected to use the rear door to announce their presence.
• Celebration of a life-times service to one firm upon retirement with presentation of a time-piece.
• The stigma of having a dead-end job.
• Celebration of Guy Fawkes on the evening of November 5th.
• Labels appear on the inside rear of a garment
• Red Light means traffic must stop until a green light shows. As of 1999 it is possible to see drivers deliberately ignore red traffic lights; they do not just speed in an attempt to beat the red light, but halt at the red light, check the intersection, then proceed.
• Babies do not appear at the work-place. Since the year 2000 I have witnessed babies being regularly minded by the staff working in two separate shops .

 

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